The Board of Directors of Taleo, a leading provider of cloud-based talent management, unanimously approved the transaction which is expected to close later in the year. It is still subject to Taleo stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Taleo will be acquired for $46.00 per share as its Talent Management Cloud, which helps organizations attract, develop, motivate and retain human capital to improve performance and drive growth, is expected join Oracle to create a comprehensive cloud.

"Human capital management has become a strategic initiative for organizations," said Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President at Oracle Development. "Taleo's industry leading talent management cloud is an important addition to the Oracle Public Cloud."

The company said the Oracle-Taleo combination is expected to empower employees and managers to effectively manage careers throughout their entire employment, enable organizations to retain talent and optimize costs, and improve the employee experience through faster on boarding and better collaboration with team members via social media.

The announcement comes about two months after SAP announced the acquisition of SuccessFactors, the market-leading provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions for approximately $3.4 billion, or $40 per share.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Uma Maheswari, 42, was sitting in another class on the first floor of a three-story school building when the boy stormed in with a knife at around 10.30 a.m., according to the Times of India. The 15-year-old then repeatedly stabbed the science teacher in the neck and face.

"He stabbed her first in the neck and inflicted cut injuries again on her cheek and neck. She died on the spot," an eyewitness was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The 15-year-old reportedly threatened the other students in the classroom before running out.

After the boy attempted to flee, he was caught by teachers and students before being handed over to police.

"The boy came with a knife wrapped in a paper," a policeman told the Times of India. "He said he was angry because the teacher scolded him. We don't know yet if there is any other reason." His schoolmates said he was not an aggressive child, but was quite aloof.

Police are investigating the case.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Uma Maheswari, 42, was sitting in another class on the first floor of a three-story school building when the boy stormed in with a knife at around 10.30 a.m., according to the Times of India. The 15-year-old then repeatedly stabbed the science teacher in the neck and face.

"He stabbed her first in the neck and inflicted cut injuries again on her cheek and neck. She died on the spot," an eyewitness was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The 15-year-old reportedly threatened the other students in the classroom before running out.

After the boy attempted to flee, he was caught by teachers and students before being handed over to police.

"The boy came with a knife wrapped in a paper," a policeman told the Times of India. "He said he was angry because the teacher scolded him. We don't know yet if there is any other reason." His schoolmates said he was not an aggressive child, but was quite aloof.

Police are investigating the case.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

The multinational giant said that the reduction of about 8,700 employees across 30 countries, who represent roughly 3 percent of its global workforce, is part of a multi-year productivity program expected to generate $1.5 billion of incremental cost savings by 2014.

While advertising and marketing support behind the company's global brands will be increased by $500 million to $600 million this year, focusing particularly on North America, PepsiCo said that other measures in its productivity program include the optimization of operating practices and further organization structure.

PepsiCo said the decisions are based on a comprehensive review by the Company's management of its portfolio, brands, costs, organization and capital structure. It added that the goal is to deliver top-tier, sustainable long-term growth for its shareholders.

"In a volatile global environment over the past five years, PepsiCo has delivered double-digit compound annual growth in core net revenue, 8 percent compound annual growth in core EPS (earnings per share), and returned about $30 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.

Nooyi described the year 2012 as a transition year as the company looks to continue on the earnings trajectory over the next 5 to 10 years. Among PepsiCo's key initiatives this year is the implementation of a three-year productivity program that is expected to generate over $500 million in incremental cost savings during each of the next three years, including 2012.

In addition, the company said it expects a decline in core constant currency EPS this year of approximately 5 percent from its fiscal 2011 core EPS of $4.40 due to a combination of strategic and macroeconomic factors, although a high single-digit percentage rate increase is expected as of 2013.

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The latest attack happened on early Thursday morning when a U.S. drone fired two missiles at a suspected militant compound in Miranshah, the main town in Pakistan's North Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the U.S. operation killed at least four suspected militants, including Badar Mansoor who was a senior militant commander with links to both al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. He was suspected of operating a militant training camp in the region and being involved in numerous attacks throughout Pakistan.

The officials, who described the death of Mansoor as a 'major blow' to both al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, said the strike completely destroyed the compound and caused heavy damage to neighboring buildings. There were unconfirmed reports that several people were also injured in the attack.

Thursday's strike comes just one day after a U.S. drone killed at least 10 suspects after firing two missiles at a house in the village of Tappi, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) southeast of Miranshah. The house was allegedly used by fighters of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, which is one of the top terrorist organizations and threats to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

Late last month, U.S. President Barack Obama, for the first time during his presidency, publicly acknowledged that U.S. drones regularly strike suspected militants along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He confirmed that many of these strikes are carried out in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in tough terrain.

Obama's statements were part of a web interview which was broadcast live on the video-sharing website YouTube and social networking website Google+. The interview was carried out just three weeks after the first U.S. drone strikes of the year, almost two months after its previous attack.

Few details about casualties from the strikes are usually available, but allegations of civilian casualties regularly spark protests in Pakistan. According to the Washington-based think tank New America Foundation, as many as 2,680 individuals were killed as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and early 2012.

And according to a report released by the Conflict Monitoring Center in January, at least 609 people were killed as a result of 75 drone strikes in Pakistan in 2011 alone. The group has documented 303 drone strikes since 2004, with a total death toll of at least 2,661.

The U.S. considers the Pakistan-Afghan border to be the most dangerous place on Earth. The area is known to be a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, which is one of the top terrorist organizations and threats to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

But controversy has surrounded the drone strikes as local residents and officials have blamed them for killing innocent civilians and motivating young men to join the Taliban. Details about the alleged militants are usually not provided, and the U.S. government does not comment on the strikes.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)