Arun Sarin said that he would step down as chief executive of Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile-phone operator by sales. During his five years in the job, Sarin endured rocky relations with shareholders, some of whom wanted him to sell the company's 45 percent stake in America's Verizon Wireless. But he also made important investments in emerging markets.
Global business
June 2, 2008 at 9:53PM
Société Générale held its general meeting, at which shareholders vented their anger about a rogue-trading scandal that has rocked the French bank.
A proposal to split the jobs of chairman and chief executive at Exxon Mobil was defeated by shareholders. The resolution rose to prominence with the support of the Rockefeller family, descendants of the founder of Exxon's forerunner, Standard Oil.
American consumer confidence dropped to a 16-year low in May. Americans were not the only ones to register rising pessimism. High prices and worries about economic prospects also caused French consumer confidence to slide in May, to its lowest level since 1987.
Frederic Mishkin tendered his resignation from the Federal Reserve board of governors. A highly influential board member, Mishkin is returning to Columbia University.
Markets were rife with speculation that InBev, a brewer that includes Stella Artois and Becks among its brands, may launch a takeover for Anheuser-Busch, which produces the Budweiser range of beers.
Political economy Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, came under pressure to resign after more revelations of payments made to him when he was mayor of Jerusalem (and a cabinet member) by an American businessman, Morris Talansky.
Iran's parliament elected Ali Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator, as its speaker. He is a critic and rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But his first target was the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he lambasted for a new report that expressed concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier resigned after his former girlfriend, Julie Couillard, revealed that he had left secret government documents at her home. Gouillard had previous ties to criminal biker gangs.
Argentine farmers resumed a protest strike against an increase in export taxes. They will hold back grain exports and meat sales.
The Inter-American Development Bank said that higher food prices risked pushing 26 million Latin Americans into extreme poverty. It began a $500 million credit line to boost antipoverty programs and agricultural productivity.
Foreign aid-workers began to trickle into the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta after the ruler of Myanmar, Gen. Than Shwe, promised the United Nations secretary-general that the country would let in aid workers "regardless of nationality."
A special assembly in Nepal voted 560-4 to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy. The king got 15 days to leave the palace.
Troubles mounted for Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown, after the humiliating defeat of his Labor Party in a by-election in Crewe.
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