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 ...
ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Britain believe they have found the world’s best-preserved Gladiator cemetery, unearthing skeletons with the kind of violent injuries usually sustained in a Roman amphitheatre. The York Archaeological Trust dug up 80 skeletons in York, northern England, that date from between the first and fourth centuries AD. Forensic tests found that the majority were male, very robust and mostly above average height. Most of the... [more]
Today is Tuesday, June 8, the 159th day of 2010. There are 206 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, 34 U.S. servicemen were killed when Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats attacked the USS Liberty, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship stationed in the Mediterranean. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.) On this date: In A.D. 632, the prophet... [more]
Miley Cyrus has caused yet more controversy – the star shocked fans by flashing her underwear at a gig in London over the weekend. The 17 year old performed at the capital’s famous G.A.Y. club night at Heaven on Saturday, just days after she caused a furore by simulating a same-sex kiss with a dancer during her appearance on family TV show Britain’s Got Talent. The teenage star took to the stage wearing a super-short, tight... [more]
Sandra Bullock was kissing and telling at the MTV Movie Awards. Bullock, wearing a glittery black dress, received a standing ovation as she accepted the MTV Generation Award in her first live TV appearance since she split with cheating husband Jesse James earlier this year. The 45-year-old actress used her acceptance speech to clear up tabloid rumours – “number one, I’m not dead” – and kiss Scarlett Johansson. “No... [more]
Today is Monday, June 7, the 158th day of 2010. There are 207 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for American independence from Britain. On this date: In 1753, Britain’s King George II gave his assent to an Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum. In 1769, frontiersman Daniel Boone first began... [more]
All eyes at the MTV Movie Awards will be on Sandra Bullock when she accepts the MTV Generation Award in her first televised appearance since she split with unfaithful husband Jesse James earlier this year. “Parks and Recreation” star Aziz Ansari is hosting Sunday night’s fan-favorite award ceremony, to be broadcast live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif. The 27-year-old actor and comedian says he... [more]
MILEY CYRUS has spoken out to defend a controversialperformance on U.K. TV, insisting she didn’t embrace in a lesbian kiss. The 17 year old was invited to perform her new single Can’t Be Tamed on Britain’s Got Talent in front of the show’s creator Simon Cowell and fellow judge Piers Morgan on Thursday night (03Jun10). She stunned viewers of the family-friendly programme with a raunchy routine in which she cavorted on stage in... [more]
Miley Cyrus is once again making the headlines. The singer cum actress caught the attention of the viewers while kissing a girl on the stage of “Britain’s Got Talent” shows Thursday (June 3, 2010). The sizzling singing star is currently busy promoting her upcoming album in Europe. The kissing scene controversy arose while Miley was performing her new single “Can’t Be Tamed” live at Britain’s Got Talent show. Though the kiss... [more]
Mariah Carey stayed mum on reports she’s pregnant with her first child when she made her first public appearance since quitting Tyler Perry’s movie over health concerns. The singer was preparing to start work on Perry’s adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s 1975 play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, when she walked away from the project after seeking her doctor’s advice for a... [more]
Whitney Houston’s troubled tour has derailed yet again – hundreds of fans walked out of a show in Denmark over her faltering voice. The R&B star’s highly-anticipated comeback trek has been blighted by poor reviews and criticism from some fans that her vocals are too weak to carry the show. She scrapped a string of European concerts in April after she was hospitalised with nose and throat problems, and was later booed... [more]
