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Yahoo ended Scott Thompson’s four-month stint as its CEO without giving him a severance package, according to documents filed Monday.

Thompson, 54, left Sunday in a management shake-up triggered by inaccurate information in his official biography. He would have been entitled to a severance package if Yahoo had terminated him “without cause,” according to the contract he signed in January.

When Yahoo fired Carol Bartz as CEO eight months ago, the company paid her $3 million in severance. Bartz stands to make even more money from the nearly 386,000 shares of restricted stock and nearly 416,000 stock options that vested upon her ouster.

Thompson kept a $1.5 million bonus and restricted stock valued at $5.5 million that Yahoo paid him when he joined. Those sums were intended to compensate him for benefits he gave up by leaving his job running PayPal, the online payment service owned by eBay Inc.

But Yahoo Inc free credit score online. is requiring Thompson to surrender unvested stock awards valued at $16 million.

Thompson was getting an annual salary of $1 million at Yahoo and could have gotten a bonus of up to $2 million this year.

Yahoo parted ways with Thompson because of the recent revelation that his bio included a college degree in computer science that he never received. Thompson received an accounting degree from Stonehill College, a small school near Boston, in 1979.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported that Thompson had recently told Yahoo’s board that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The disease contributed to Thompson’s decision to leave Yahoo, according to the Journal.

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Socialist Francois Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France’s next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Exuberant, diverse crowds filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution, to fete Hollande’s victory, waving French, European and labor union flags and climbing the column that rises at its center. Leftists are overjoyed to have one of their own in power for the first time since Socialist Francois Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.

“Austerity can no longer be inevitable!” Hollande declared in his victory speech Sunday night after a surprising campaign that saw him transform from an unremarkable, mild figure to an increasingly statesmanlike one.

Sarkozy is the latest victim of a wave of voter anger at government spending cuts around Europe that have tossed out governments and leaders over the past couple of years.

In Greece, a parliamentary vote Sunday is seen as critical to the country’s prospects for pulling out of a deep financial crisis felt in world markets. A state election in Germany and local elections in Italy were seen as tests of support for the national government’s policies.

Hollande promised help for France’s downtrodden after years under the Sarkozy, a man many voters saw as too friendly with the rich and blamed for economic troubles.

Hollande said European partners should be relieved and not frightened by his presidency.

“I am proud to have been capable of giving people hope again,” Hollande told huge crowds of supporters in his electoral fiefdom of Tulle in central France. “We will succeed!”

Hollande inherits an economy that’s a driver of the European Union but is deep in debt. He wants more government stimulus, and more government spending in general, despite concerns in the markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debt.

Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Hollande to wish him “good luck” as the country’s new leader.

Sarkozy, widely disliked for budget cuts and his handling of the economy during recent crises, said he did his best to win a second term, despite widespread anger at his handling of the economy.

“I bear responsibility … for the defeat,” he said. “I committed myself totally, fully, but I didn’t succeed in convincing a majority of French. … I didn’t succeed in making the values we share win.”

With 75 percent of the vote counted, official results showed Hollande with 51.1 percent of the vote compared with Sarkozy’s 48.9 percent, the Interior Ministry said. The CSA, TNS-Sofres and Ipsos polling agencies all predicted a Hollande win as well paydayloans.

Hollande has virtually no foreign policy experience but he will face his first tests right after his inauguration, which must happen no later than May 16.

Among his first trips will be to the United States later this month for summits of NATO _ where he will announce he is pulling French troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year _ and the Group of Eight leading world economies.

Hollande’s first challenge will be dealing with Germany: He wants to re-negotiate a hard-won European treaty on budget cuts that Germany’s Angela Merkel and Sarkozy had championed. He promises to make his first foreign trip to Berlin to work on a relationship that has been at the heart of Europe’s postwar unity.

Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, congratulated Hollande on Sunday night and said both countries will keep on cooperating closely in driving the European Union’s policies and be “a stabilizing factor and a motor for the European Union.”

At home, Hollande intends to modify one of Sarkozy’s key reforms, over the retirement age, to allow some people to retire at 60 instead of 62. He also plans to increase spending in a range of sectors and wants to ease France off its dependence on nuclear energy. He favors legalizing euthanasia and gay marriage.

Sarkozy supporters call those proposals misguided.

“We’re going to call France the new Greece,” said Laetitia Barone, 19. “Hollande is now very dangerous.”

Sarkozy had said he would quit politics if he lost, but was vague about his plans Sunday night.

“You can count on me to defend these ideas, convictions,” he said, “but my place cannot be the same.”

His political allies turned their attention to parliamentary elections next month.

People of all ages and different ethnicities celebrated Hollande’s victory at the Bastille. Ghylaine Lambrecht, 60, who celebrated the 1981 victory of Mitterrand at the Bastille, was among them.

“I’m so happy. We had to put up with Sarko for 10 years,” she said referring to Sarkozy’s time as interior and finance minister and five years as president. “In the last few years the rich have been getting richer. Now long live France, an open democratic France.”

“It’s magic!” said Violaine Chenais, 19. “I think Francois Hollande is not perfect, but it’s clear France thinks its time to give the left a chance. This means real hope for France. We’re going to celebrate with drink and hopefully some dancing.”

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U.S. service companies, which employ roughly 90 percent of the work force, expanded more slowly in April. Companies saw less growth in new orders and hired at a weaker pace.

The Institute for Supply Management says its index of non-manufacturing activity dropped to 53.5 last month from 56 in March. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The ISM’s survey covers all sectors outside of manufacturing. That includes retail, construction, financial services, health care, and hotels.

The slowdown in services comes as consumers have reined in their spending a bit. Consumer spending rose in March, but by much less than in the two previous months.

Americans are spending more on goods, such as cars and appliances, but are holding back when it comes to services. A government report Monday showed that spending on services was flat in March.

The ISM’s services index reached the highest point in a year in February, when it was 57.3. Consumers stepped up their spending that month at the fastest pace in seven months.

And in the first quarter, Americans increased their spending at the fastest pace in a year. But most of those gains were in January and February. And Americans spent more while saving less, a trend that economists worry isn’t sustainable guaranteed online personal loans.

The job market is improving, but incomes are barely growing. That could weigh on consumer spending in the coming months, dragging on the services sector.

Manufacturing has been the driving force behind the economic recovery. Economists would like to see services firms contribute more. On Tuesday, the ISM said that the manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in 10 months. Measures of new orders, production and employment all rose. But manufacturing accounts for only about 12 percent of U.S. output.

Services firms need to step up hiring to accelerate job gains and rapidly push down the unemployment rate. The service sector includes low-paying positions in retail and restaurants. But it also has higher-paying jobs in professions such as information technology, accounting and financial services.

The government will release the April employment jobs report on Friday. Economists are predicting that employers added 163,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate will remain 8.2 percent.

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Chinese tourists traveling to Europe to take advantage of savings as much as 50 percent on designer clothes and accessories are finding fewer bargains.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC) and its peers are raising prices to make up for lost business in China and lower profitability outside the country, even if it puts items like 2,270-euro ($3,000) Lockit handbags further out of reach for Europeans whose disposable incomes are shrinking amid austerity.

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Zimbabwe has taken majority ownership of all foreign-owned mining companies, Zimbabwe’s black empowerment minister said Thursday, a move the prime minister told companies to ignore, saying it could create “anarchy in the industry” in the already ruptured economy.

Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in a statement that all companies that did not meet a late 2011 deadline to submit proposals to cede a controlling stake to blacks have forfeited 51 percent of their shareholdings and are now “deemed to be owned by the state.”

Zimbabwe has large Australian, Canadian and South African mining interests _ including giants Rio Tinto, Canadile and Anglo American _ and with scores of small white-owned gold mines.

The empowerment drive has split the shaky three-year-old coalition government. Critics says it has scared off much-needed investment and is being used as a political ploy ahead of elections President Robert Mugabe wants this year.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, immediately urged the nation to ignore Kasukuwere and said the empowerment laws did not allow him to “unilaterally nationalize private entities.”

“There is no reason to create panic among investors by projecting the image of a voracious government keen to grab compulsorily people’s companies without compensation,” he said. “It is not the policy of this government to nationalize the mining businesses or any other business.”

Tsvangirai said he took a serious view of attempts to incite the public to act unlawfully against mining businesses.

Kasukuwere’s statement “poses a real risk of creating anarchy in the industry” and his party in the power sharing coalition will take “corrective measures,” he said.

In his Thursday announcement, Kasukuwere said profits since Sept. 25 from the government’s new controlling shareholdings were also regarded as “property of the state.” But he said companies that made a loss since then would have to cover losses from their side, and not draw from the “indigenized portion” held by the state to pay debt.

There was no immediate reaction from mining companies on the eve of the Easter holiday. Many Zimbabwean businesses shut down early for the four-day break.

Mining firms depend on foreign investment to maintain and replace aging equipment not financed by revenues from mineral exports already subject to royalties and tax.

Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe needed policies that created jobs for the millions of unemployed in the country.

“They want massive investment in the country and not a political campaign platform that will only benefit the elite at the expense of the majority,” he said.

Economist John Robertson said Kasukuwere’s announcement is likely to be difficult to enforce no checking account payday advance.

“It may be bullying to scare companies into handing over shares,” he said.

He said many firms let the Sept. 25 deadline pass because the government _ reeling under debt after a decade of economic turmoil _ didn’t offer payment for shares as required under the empowerment laws.

“The money isn’t here to pay or to develop the mines if they are nationalized in the same way commercial farms were deemed state land. Only foreigners have the money and they won’t bring it to have half of it taken from them,” he said.

The agriculture-based economy went into meltdown after Mugabe ordered seizures of thousands of white-owned farms in 2000. Many seizures turned violent.

Robertson described the empowerment drive in its present form as “dishonest” and said it will likely lead to mines being left to stagnate, with worsening poverty for all but an elite minority gaining foreign assets.

“Tens of thousands of our young people will be disempowered by being denied skills training and jobs,” he said.

Last month, Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum producer said it had reached an “acceptable” agreement with the government to yield 51 percent ownership to blacks.

South Africa’s Implats, owner of 87 percent of the Zimbabwe producer Zimplats, said a joint technical team of experts from both sides was working out methods of transferring a majority stake worth at least $500 million.

But Implats chief executive David Brown has said the transfer won’t take place if Zimbabwe doesn’t pay up, adding international legal steps could be taken if Zimplats is forcibly nationalized without payment.

Zimbabwe and South Africa are the world’s largest suppliers of platinum, a corrosion-resistant metal with a wide range of industrial uses that is priced in the same range as gold.

Zimplats employs 8,000 workers in Zimbabwe.

Foreign cash inflows have dwindled in recent months amid uncertainty over the security of possible investments.

Tourism, now the second-biggest hard currency earner after mining since agricultural exports collapsed, has been affected by political and economic uncertainty and security concerns ahead of the elections proposed by Mugabe. Tensions and intimidation have heightened this year, rights groups say.

Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi said Wednesday that Westerners were being discouraged by their governments from visiting Zimbabwe.

“We all know what happens when a tourism destination is plagued by insecurity,” he said.

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Japanese manufacturers remain gloomy over high oil prices, the strong yen and weaker growth in Asia, according to a central bank survey that defied expectations that business confidence is improving in the world’s third-largest economy.

The Bank of Japan’s quarterly “tankan” released Monday showed the main index for big manufacturers at minus 4 for the January-March quarter, unchanged from the last quarter of 2011.

A negative reading indicates greater pessimists outnumber optimists among those surveyed.

Many analysts had forecast an improvement to minus 1, given easing concerns over the crisis in Europe and signs of a rebound in production following last year’s disasters.

Higher costs for energy will further undermine the competitiveness and profits of Japanese manufacturers at a time of uncertainty about growth in Asia.

“It’s not only high oil prices, but overall commodity prices are increasing, and those overall widely affect business conditions,” said Junko Nishioka, an economist at RBS Japan Securities.

“Even though export conditions will improve from now on, it’s difficult to anticipate that business conditions will improve very soon,” she said.

Data released last week showed weaker than expected factory production in February, with industrial output falling 1.2 percent, underscoring the fragility of the economic recovery as growth in Asia slows.

Conditions had been seen as improving thanks to a recovery from the production disruptions caused by widespread flooding in Thailand last year, on top of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.

Given Japan’s heavy reliance on exports, much depends on conditions elsewhere in Asia.

“It’s a little too early to judge so companies are likely to show some cautiousness in their judgment,” said Masayuki Kichikawa, an economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

The tankan showed an improvement in most nonmanufacturing industries, with readings for services and telecommunications showing a positive outlook, though energy and construction indices remained in negative territory.

Japan’s exporters are struggling with the strong yen, which surged to post World-War II highs against the dollar as the U.S. central bank pursued stimulus policies that contributed to a weaker greenback. When the yen climbs, it reduces the value of exporters’ overseas profits when repatriated to Japan.

Although the yen has fallen slightly after monetary easing by the Bank of Japan in February, large manufacturers are pessimistic over its likely future course.

Large manufacturing companies assume an average exchange rate of about 78 yen per dollar for this fiscal year that started April 1 compared with current rate of nearly 83 yen per dollar.

The survey forecasts business sentiment among large manufacturers to rise only marginally to minus 3 over the next quarter. Medium-sized and small manufacturers expect business conditions to deteriorate.

“As long as the large manufacturers are at a low level … it is unlikely that the small and medium-size business activity will recover in the near future,” Nishioka said.

The Bank of Japan surveyed 10,894 companies nationwide. About 99 percent responded.

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The economy grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the final three months of 2011, the best pace in a year and a half. But that growth has likely slowed in the current quarter.

Businesses have been restocking their shelves more slowly and shipping fewer long-lasting manufactured goods. In addition, Europe’s debt crisis and weaker growth in Asia have slowed demand for U.S. exports.

Stronger hiring in the first two months of the year probably hasn’t offset those weaknesses. That’s because Americans’ pay has barely kept pace with inflation even as gas prices have spiked. So consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity, probably hasn’t increased much from the end of last year.

Most economists expect growth to pick up later this year as further hiring lifts the economy.

The Commerce Department reported no change Thursday in its previous growth estimate for the October-December quarter. The 3 percent annual rate was the strongest since the spring of 2010. Slower growth in exports than previously estimated was offset by stronger business investment.

Still, economists expect growth has probably slowed to 2 percent or less in the current January-March quarter.

A key reason for that: Businesses haven’t been restocking their shelves as fast as they did at the end of last year. Many had slashed inventories over the summer out of fear that the economy was on the verge of another recession. When that didn’t happen, many stepped up restocking. Inventory building was a key driver of growth in the October-December quarter.

Even though businesses are still replenishing their shelves, the pace has likely slowed. That has likely slowed growth this quarter.

Businesses also are investing less in machinery and equipment this year after a tax credit expired at the end of last year. Orders for durable goods plunged in January. Though orders rebounded in February, that increase didn’t offset the entire January decline. And shipments of core capital goods, a gauge of business investment, grew sluggishly in the three months that ended in February, economists said. That’s also likely holding back growth this quarter.

One bright spot is that hiring has picked up. The economy has added an average of 245,000 jobs per month from December through February. The unemployment rate has fallen by nearly a full percentage point since the summer to 8.3 percent, the lowest level in three years.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to 359,000 last week, the lowest level in four years. That suggests March was another solid month for hiring.

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Stock futures are rising with little economic data or major corporate earnings on tap, but Wall Street is tuned in to an address from the Fed Chairman.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the National Association for Business Economics that the U.S. job market remains weak despite three months of strong gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 40 points to 13,072 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 3.6 points to 1,3097 cash advance payday loan.70. The Nasdaq composite index is up 12.5 points to 2,741.25.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is among the stock standouts. The studio’s “The Hunger Games” had a huge opening weekend, with a windfall of $155 million. Lions Gate shares are up 5 percent at $15.25.

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Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim was nominated by the U.S. to head the World Bank, making him the first physician and Asian-American to lead the lender that provided $57 billion to developing countries last fiscal year for everything from building roads to improving access to health care.

Kim, 52, who was born in Seoul and emigrated with his parents from South Korea at age five, would succeed Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative whose term ends in June. The U.S. is the biggest shareholder in the Washington- based bank, which has always been led by an American.