Shorts (left)
Yahoo and Google Reach Ad Agreement
Microsoft’s four-month-long courtship of Yahoo has finally thrown Yahoo into the arms of their biggest common rival, Google.
Google and Yahoo said Thursday that they had reached an agreement under which Google would deliver ads next to some of Yahoo’s search results and on some of its Web sites in the United States and Canada.
The nonexclusive deal is aimed at giving a lift to Yahoo’s finances, and the company said it would generate an additional $250 million to $450 million in operating cash flow in the first year.
The agreement will also strengthen Google’s dominance over the lucrative search advertising market. It was signed after Yahoo rejected a proposal by Microsoft to acquire both Yahoo’s search business and a minority stake in the company. The rejection appears to end months of on-again, off-again negotiations between the two companies.
GOP Says Ex-Treasurer Stole Funds
An internal investigation by the National Republican Congressional Committee has determined that $725,000 is missing from its fundraising accounts, money that the group says was stolen as part of a six-year scheme carried out by its former treasurer.
The committee, which raises money for Republican congressional candidates, announced Thursday the results of a forensic audit, focusing on the activities of its former treasurer, Christopher J. Ward. It said Ward had fabricated financial statements to hide the missing money, which went undetected until January.
Ward oversaw the collection and distribution of over $360 million from Republican donors while collecting $120,000 a year as treasurer. He made $10,000 a year as treasurer for the President’s Dinner Committee, the party’s biggest annual fundraising event. He also served as treasurer for the campaigns of 80 other Republican candidates, many of whom have also said money was missing.
Pakistan Angry as Strike by U.S. Kills 11 Soldiers
American air and artillery strikes killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with insurgents on the Afghan border on Tuesday night, a development that raised concerns about the already strained American relationship with Pakistan.
The strikes underscored the often faulty communications involving American, Pakistani and Afghan forces along the border, and the ability of Taliban fighters and other insurgents to use safe havens in Pakistan to carry out attacks into neighboring Afghanistan.
The attack comes at a time of rising tension between the United States and the new government in Pakistan, which has granted wide latitude to militants in its border areas under a new series of peace deals, drawing criticism from the United States. NATO and American commanders say cross-border attacks in Afghanistan by insurgents have risen sharply since talks for those peace deals began in March.
Although Pakistani government officials softened their response through the day on Wednesday, the Pakistani military released an early statement calling the air strikes “unprovoked and cowardly.” Shaken by the initial Pakistani reaction, administration officials braced for at least a short-term rough patch in relations with Islamabad. “It won’t be good,” said a Pentagon official who followed developments closely throughout the day. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.