Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. The corporation - once a Web powerhouse but now agonizing over a range of options to revive flagging growth - on Tuesday said it appointed former Rovi Corp CEO and International Business Machines Corp veteran Alfred Amoroso and ex-eBay COO Maynard Webb as independent directors. Yahoo's board has come under fire from investors impatient with the company's persistent inability to effect a turnaround, and frustrated with the apparent indecisiveness of stakeholders over ...
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has vowed to fight an "anti-business culture" in Britain, warning that a row overexecutive pay and bonuses threatens the country's fragile economic recovery. "Let me say something about the row over bonuses and pay," Osborne said in a speech to the Federation of Small Businesses. "Of course rewards for failure are unacceptable -- and those who believe in the free market are the first to say so. But a strong, free market economy must be built on rewards for success." The Labour Party has heaped pressure on the ruling coalition to curb excessive pay for top executives, using a House of Commons debate to demand the return ...
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Tuesday he is resolved to settle a longstanding territorial dispute with Russia at an annual rally calling for the return of all four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido in northern Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported. "We'll continue to make steady and determined efforts to move ahead with negotiations," Noda said, stressing the need to sign a peace treaty with Russia. The four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - has been the subject of a territorial dispute between the two nations since the end of World War ...
Amanda Knox's Italian lawyer has filed an appeal of her slander conviction in Italy, a Knox family spokesman inSeattle said Monday. In October, an Italian appeals court overturned the young Seattle woman's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her British roommate in Perugia. But the same court upheld Knox's conviction for slander — for falsely accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of involvement in the slaying. Lumumba was freed after two weeks in prison for lack of evidence. Knox later said she was "manipulated" during her lengthy police interrogation. An appeal of the slander conviction was filed Monday, Knox family spokesman Dave Marriott confirmed. He doesn't know when the Italian ...
The Dutch railway will remain 'vulnerable' during wintry weather but Dutch Rail (NS) and track operator ProRail did not help matters during the current cold snap by the late introduction of schedule adjustments to cope with the conditions, transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen told parliament in a briefing on Tuesday. The NS and ProRail assumed on Thursday of last week that there would be three to five centimetres of snow. When the forecast was increased on Friday morning to between 10 and 15 centimetres, it was too late to change the timetables automatically, Schultz van Haegen told parliament. Drivers and conductors ...
Greece can leave the eurozone without damaging monetary union, European digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes says in an interview with the Volkskrant on Tuesday. Kroes, a member of the Dutch ruling right-wing Liberal party VVD, is not a supporter of Greece exchanging the euro for the drachma, but says: 'It is absolutely not a case of man overboard if someone leaves the eurozone.' The commissioner is very critical of the new Greek government and says they are not fulfilling their promises. 'Too few spending cuts, too little restructuring,' she says. She says the Greeks should follow the example of Italy where the new ...
Mitt Romney hopes his presidential campaign hasn't ignored Rick Santorum's aggressive attacks for too long, as caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota on Tuesday could reshuffle the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum largely bypassed Florida and Nevada to blanket the two caucus states with criticism of Romney and lay the groundwork among conservatives who have great sway in the process. RivalNewt Gingrich praised Santorum's strategy as shrewd even as he signaled he had no interest in exiting the four-way race, which also includes Ron Paul. "I think that Santorum's going to have a pretty good day," Gingrich told reporters on the eve of the caucuses. "He targeted differently than I ...
Glencore and Xstrata agreed an all-share merger worth $90 billion (56 billion pounds) on Tuesday in the industry's largest ever deal, creating a commodities powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading. Glencore, the world's largest diversified commodities tradinghouse, will issue 2.8 new shares for each Xstrata share in a deal they said was a "merger of equals." The ratio is a 15.2 percent premium to Xstrata shareholders compared with its share price last Wednesday before word leaked out about the merger talks, a joint statement said. "A merger between Glencore and Xstrata offers a unique opportunity to create a new business model in our industry to respond to ...
US White House hopeful Mitt Romney aims for another big caucus win in Colorado on Tuesday, as his well-oiled campaign machine works to cement his position as the Republican front runner in the US presidential race. Polls suggest he should triumph easily in the western US state -- where he scored 60 percent in 2008 -- although there is a tighter race in Minnesota, where last-placed Rick Santorum is hoping to snatch a win. Romney's main rival, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, is battling to stay in the race after two heavy losses in a row to the former Massachusetts governor, who ...
As President Christian Wulff remains mired in allegations of impropriety, anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) has called for politicians to use the case as a chance to open up German politics. “We are very concerned that people seem to be starting to think that all politicians behave like Wulff, and that would be fatal,” Christian Humborg, TI Germany’s managing director told The Local. “I think the Wulff affair is a wonderful opportunity for German politicians to react to the cynical attitude that this is normal, and improve things,” he said. He said the fact that the authorities were investigating whether Wulff and his ...
Just when you thought every last bit of Marilyn Monroe had been put up for auction, including the crypt above hers at a local cemetery, along comes the couch from her shrink’s office. Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions says the psychiatric sofa will be offered June 26 and 27 during the Hollywood Legends auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino Las Vegas. Other Monroe-abilia up for grabs: her Chanel No. 5, personal photos,... [more]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to the United States on Monday to attend an international summit on nuclear security and terrorist threats. Some 40 international leaders will be in Washington for the talks, during which US President Barack Obama is expected to focus on improving relations with China and pushing sanctions on Iran. Merkel plans to discuss Germany’s particular wish to prevent dirty bombs, which the country... [more]
Any airstrike against Iran by the United States or Israel would be “unacceptable,” the chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Monday. “This is a last resort that exists in the plans of both the United States and Israel,” Nikolai Makarov said. Western powers suspect that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at making weapons, while Tehran claims it is pursuing nuclear technology for its civilian... [more]
Hollywood funnyman Jim Carrey has defended Tiger Woods following the sportsman’s highly-publicised sex scandal. “No wife is blind enough to miss that much infidelity,” Jim wrote on his Twitter page. The golf ace is fighting to save his marriage to wife Elin after alleged affairs with over ten women came to light. “Elin had 2 b a willing participant on the ride 4 whatever reason. kids/lifestyle. Tiger Woods owes nothing... [more]
Tiger Woods has vowed to take time off “to re-evaluate things” after finishing fourth at the US Masters – his first competition since returning to golf. And although Woods equalled a Masters record with four eagles, the American struggled to a final-round 69, as countryman Phil Mickelson won the tournament. “I finished fourth. Not what I wanted,” Woods said on his first public performance since the revelations... [more]
President Barack Obama’s pledge to one day rid the world of nuclear weapons runs up against global realities this week when representatives from 47 countries try to craft an agreement on keeping nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands. Sweeping or even bold new strategies were, however, unlikely to emerge from the two-day gathering that begins Monday. But Obama invited the swarm of world leaders as an important step to intensify global... [more]
“Team Germany” from Leipzig has won the US Space Administration’s “Great Moonbuggy Race,” where student design, build and race vehicles that tackle challenges faced by engineers of the lunar rover. The four-person German team, from the Leipzig-based International Space Education Institute (ISEI), won first prize in the high-school division after a decisive race in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday, NASA... [more]
China is softening its recent muscular global posture, muting criticisms of the U.S. at a time of delicate negotiations with Washington and simmering economic troubles at home. The rhetorical time-out comes as President Hu Jintao heads to Washington this week, after months of friction with the U.S., and was in full evidence this weekend at an international meeting designed to showcase China’s growing reach as an economic and diplomatic... [more]
Searchers found four bodies deep in a West Virginia coal mine shattered by an explosion, raising the death toll to 29 and ending an excruciating week for families holding onto faint hopes that their missing miners had somehow survived. Crews are to soon begin the bleak task of carrying out 22 bodies fromMassey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine, though officials said Saturday no timetable has been set. Seven bodies were removed after... [more]
The US military has suspended troop flights out of its base in Kyrgyzstan and will instead transport forces to and from Afghanistan via Kuwait. The move follows the political upheaval in the strategic Central Asian nation. US commanders at the Manas air base north of the capital Bishkek say only some cargo flights will go ahead. On Wednesday, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled to the south of the country following mass protests against his... [more]
