Violence rages in Syria despite high-level diplomacy

(CNN) -- Clashes, shelling and raids erupted across Syria on Wednesday as high-level diplomats worked to foster peace in the restive country.

Syrian activist groups report government-instigated violence in the provinces of Homs, Idlib, the Damascus countryside and Deir Ezzor. At least 48 people have been killed on Wednesday across Syria, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

Military aircraft renewed their shelling on the opposition-held city of Taftanaz, dissidents in the nearby city of Binnish said Wednesday. Both are in Idlib province.

"The residents of Binnish are fleeing," an activist said, but people in Taftanaz "are not able to flee because they are surrounded by the Syrian army."

The LCC count has six dead in Idlib, but one activist in Binnish is reporting at least 20 deaths in Taftanaz.

The United Nations has estimated at least 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the unrest began more than a year ago, while opposition activists have come up with higher figures. The LCC has documented more than 11,000, and another group, the Strategic Communications and Research Center, said more than 12,000 have died.

President Bashar Al-Assad's government told U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on Monday that the government would pull its troops from cities in response to Annan's six-point peace plan to halt the bloodshed.

The plan calls for authorities to pull their forces from and stop troop movement toward population centers as well as ending the use of heavy weapons. It also urges a ceasefire by the government and the opposition and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis.

A U.N. advance peacekeeping team is headed to Damascus for talks on deploying observers to monitor a ceasefire and should arrive by Thursday, Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said.

But opposition activists scoffed at the government's promise to withdraw forces.

Since the regime made a commitment to withdraw troops, violence has raged, they say. Along with the deaths on Wednesday, at least 74 people were killed across the country on Tuesday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

One man in Hama, identified only as Manhal for safety reasons, described the government pronouncements as "lies."

"This is not my thought, this is the truth of my camera (this) morning," he said Wednesday. "Videos speak more than words."

Manhal sent a video showing tanks and heavy military vehicles pulling into town.

"Now tanks are moving like taxis in the streets," going from neighborhood to neighborhood arresting people, Manhal said.

The Syrian regime has consistently blamed "armed terrorist groups" for violence in Syria, but most reports from inside the country suggest the government is pummeling neighborhoods in an attempt to wipe out dissidents seeking al-Assad's ouster.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported funeral processions for 16 army and law enforcement members slain "by armed terrorist groups while on duty in Aleppo, Idlib, Damascus countryside, Daraa, Homs and Hama."

Countries in the West and the Arab world are supporting the Syrian opposition and want al-Assad to step aside.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that those entities goading the Syrian opposition are not helping the peace process, according to Russian media.

"In Syria they want to solve the conflict with the government by egging on the opposition. That's no way to reach a settlement," state-run RIA Novosti reported, quoting Lavrov.

He said opposition forces want foreign intervention.

"Even if the Syrian opposition is armed to teeth it will not be able to beat the government forces. That is why they are relying on the involvement of external forces," Lavrov said.

Russia, along with China, has repeatedly quashed attempts by fellow U.N. Security Council members to pass a resolution condemning the al-Assad regime. Both countries have major trade ties to Syria -- including Russian arms sales to the Syrian government -- but both have denied protecting a regime.

Speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, Lavrov said Russia will be hosting opposition delegations.

"It makes sense to convince them that we want to help solve this problem," he said.

CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video nor confirm accounts of violence in Syria, as the government has severely restricted access to the country by foreign journalists.

Al-Assad's family has ruled Syria for more than four decades. Largely peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011 led to a violent crackdown. Some opposition members and defectors from al-Assad's regime have since taken up arms against the government forces.

Bomb kills top Somali sports officials

(CNN) -- A bomb blast rocked Somalia's newly reopened national theater in the capital city Wednesday, killing two top sports officials.

Witnesses reported other casualties, but it was unclear how many.

Said Mohamed Mugambe, head of the Somali football federation, and Somali Olympic committee chief Adan Hagi Yabarow Wish were killed in the attack, a hospital official told CNN.

The bomb went off during a celebration for the first anniversary of Somali national television in Mogadishu, according to witnesses. Screaming people fled the theater and ambulance sirens filled the air.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said the device had been detonated by a female suicide bomber who blended in with the crowd gathered for the occasion.

Several civilians were killed and injured but no Somali government ministers were hurt, the group said in a statement.

Sepp Blatter, president of football's governing body FIFA, said he was shocked by the news of the sports officials' deaths.

"I knew both men personally and can only say good things about their endless efforts to promote sport and football in their country. They will be sorely missed," he said.

The Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which has been waging war against Somalia's weak transitional government, claimed responsibility for the bombing via Twitter.

A post to the group's Twitter page said the explosives had been planted before the gathering and denied that a woman had carried out the attack.

Brig. Gen. Audace Nduwumunsi, deputy force commander of AMISOM, condemned the bombing.

"We are united with the Somali government and stand firm together. This was a despicable crime against the Somali people, but it will not stop us achieving peace in Somalia," he said.

"Yet again the terrorists' methods show that they are enemies of peace and are foreign to Somali culture. By their attack they are trying to derail the hopes and dreams of the Somali people but they will fail."

He urged anyone in Mogadishu with information about planned attacks to come forward.

The Islamist group announced in February that it was tightening its ties to al Qaeda and has long been considered a terrorist movement by the United States.

It has waged an insurgency against the feeble Transitional Federal Government since 2007 but has suffered recent setbacks in its heartland in southern Somalia.

AMISOM and government forces drove Al-Shabaab fighters from the center of Mogadishu last year, while Kenyan troops crossed into southern Somalia in October to hit back for a rash of kidnappings it blamed on the group.

But despite their efforts, Al-Shabaab has continued to launch terror attacks in the capital.

Last month, it claimed responsibility for an attack in which a suicide bomber detonated himself at a tea shop near Somalia's presidential palace, killing two people.

A report released by the UK-based Royal United Services Institute think tank Wednesday highlights how al Qaeda is seeking to reinvigorate and expand its operations by strengthening ties with established Islamist groups such as Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab is also increasingly working to recruit members from outside its borders, the report says, presenting a new challenge for Western nations.

"The group has sought to expand its recruitment network by tapping into the pool of foreign jihadists and radicalised individuals in the Middle East, Europe and the US," author Valentina Soria writes.

However, this may be a sign of waning domestic support in the face of military operations and food shortages, she says, and there is no evidence so far that it will lead to attacks by Al-Shabaab on targets overseas.

Myanmar confirms sweeping election victory for Suu Kyi's party

Bangkok (CNN) -- The sweeping victory of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party in recent elections has been confirmed by state media.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, won 43 of the 44 seats it contested in the by-elections that took place Sunday, the government's official MRTV reported late Tuesday, confirming the NLD's own estimates of the results.

The other seat went to the Shan Party in Myanmar's Shan State, MRTV said.

While control of parliament will not change despite the opposition's strong performance, it nonetheless gives the NLD and Suu Kyi a notable presence in the country's parliament.

Myanmar's legislature has 664 seats, more than 80% of which are still held by lawmakers aligned with the military-backed ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The 45 seats under contention in Sunday's elections were vacancies created by the promotion of parliamentarians to the Cabinet and other posts last year.

The vote itself also marked an important step forward for many in the country who have lived under military rule for 50 years.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional organizations of which Myanmar is a member, on Tuesday called on other countries around the globe to lift sanctions on Myanmar following "the orderly, fair, transparent and peaceful manner" in which it said the elections had been conducted.

Myanmar had invited election observers from ASEAN members as well as the United States and the European Union.

The NLD fielded a candidate for every one of the 45 seats up for grabs. But the election commission rejected one candidate, apparently because his parents had foreign residency. The NLD has said it plans to challenge his exclusion. The USDP won that seat, according to state television.

The party also said it had noted numerous voting irregularities during the elections and planned to file a complaint in order to improve the system in the future.

Suu Kyi has said she has no regrets about taking part in the by-elections because the process has raised people's political awareness.

A White House statement Monday congratulated Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"This election is an important step in Burma's democratic transformation, and we hope it is an indication that the government of Burma intends to continue along the path of greater openness, transparency, and reform," the White House statement said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also commended the country "for the peaceful and largely orderly manner" in which the elections were held, according to his spokesperson.

Suu Kyi, 66, led her party to a landslide victory the last time Myanmar held multiparty elections, in 1990. But the junta ignored the results and placed her under house arrest.

Released in November 2010, Suu Kyi was allowed to crisscross the country to rally support for the NLD for Sunday's race.

The United States announced in January that it would exchange ambassadors with Myanmar after the regime released political prisoners.

Barnier hits out at lobbying 'rearguard'

(Financial Times) -- Europe's most senior financial regulator has hit back at "rearguard lobbying" by the hedge fund and private equity industries, saying he "will not be intimidated" by an attempt to undermine a deal to regulate the industry for the first time.

The fightback from Michel Barnier, the European Union commissioner for the single market, comes after the industry publicly raised the alarm over technical standards proposed to implement the alternative investment fund managers directive (AIFMD).

While the European Commission's 110-page draft of "supplementing rules" relates to highly specialist issues, the proposed legal text has revived the industry's worst fears that the rules will damage business and exclude US and Asian fund managers.

Mr Barnier's angry response flatly rejects the claim that the Commission are trying to roll-back the political compromises that underpinned the AIFMD deal in 2011. Instead he puts the complaints down to the industry "trying to reopen old issues".

"I am not surprised by this rearguard lobbying. Many would like to see the financial markets left unregulated," said Mr Barnier. "Some would like to pretend that there are no lessons to learn from the crisis and advocate a return to self-regulation."

"I will not be intimidated," he added. "Despite the pressure from those trying to reopen old issues, we won't abandon our efforts to ensure that all financial actors, be they banks or hedge funds or other financial institutions are appropriately regulated."

European officials are in particular furious over accusations that they are abandoning advice from the European Securities and Markets Authority in order to pursue an agenda of tighter regulation.

Most Esma advice was accepted but on a few key areas some suggestions were dropped or the language adjusted. EU officials say this is to remove legal uncertainty through ensuring the provisions workable and precise.

The industry argue the Commission text diverges from Esma in three issues that were particularly hard-fought during the political process: the rules for custodian banks; curbs on fund borrowing; and the standards for allowing third-country fund managers to access EU investors.

The detailed rules allegedly hold banks to a much stricter standard than the Esma guidance, which would probably force some institutions out of the custody business and prompt others to charge higher fees.

The commission also dropped Esma's methods for calculating leverage as unworkable, which brings more managers under the tighter rules for high-leverage funds. Mr Barnier said the rules were a "work in progress" and that consultations aimed to ensure "a balance between flexibility and harmonisation".

The industry responded guardedly. Andrew Baker, the chief executive of the Alternative Investment Management Association said: "If the Commission is confirming that it is going to follow Esma's advice then we would fully support that."

One senior London-based bank executive echoed the hope that the Esma advice would prevail. "For the Commission to come out with rules that trump Esma undermines the whole process. It subverts what we thought was a done deal," he said.

Spain announces 27 billion euros in budget cuts

Madrid (CNN) -- Spain's new conservative government announced 27 billion euros ($35 billion) in cuts from the budget this year to reduce the deficit in the midst of the nation's prolonged economic crisis.

"We are in a critical situation. This is the most austere budget in our democracy, and with tax measures to bring in new income to guarantee public services," Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro said after the weekly Cabinet meeting.

There will be an average spending reduction of 16.9% at government ministries. Salaries will be frozen for civil servants, who will be required to work an additional 10 hours per month. Business taxes will increase, but sales tax will not, to avoid further dampening consumption, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said.

The much-anticipated announcement came a day after a general strike called to protest labor market reform laws, which the government has approved, that unions say make it cheaper and easier to fire workers.

The strike slowed industry and transport but had less impact on commerce. Hundreds of thousands of union supporters demonstrated late Thursday in Madrid and across Spain. There were scattered incidents of violence, including in Barcelona.

Spain's unemployment rate is 23%, and twice that for young people. A total of 5.3 million Spaniards are out of work. The government predicts that the economy will contract this year by 1.7%.

Spain has come under increased scrutiny from the European Union after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced that Spain's deficit, as a percentage of gross domestic product, would not be 4.4% this year, as previously targeted, but 5.8%. Brussels responded by demanding that it be 5.3%.

The spending cuts and tax increases announced Friday aim to bring Spain in line with the 5.3% objective.

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos, attending a European Union ministers meeting in Copenhagen that was closely monitoring Spain's budget announcement, said, "We are convinced that Spain will stop being a problem for the Union."

Montoro said he would take the budget to parliament on Tuesday. The government has a commanding majority in parliament and does not need the support of any other party to approve its budget.

There will be cutbacks in infrastructure investment, defense spending, education scholarships, aid for immigrants and housing subsidies and in foreign development aid, Montoro said.

The government has raised income taxes and announced Friday that it would seek more business taxes on large corporations. Analysts said it apparently aims to cut tax loopholes.

Pensions will not be affected.

These are a variety of measures aimed at getting out of this situation and growing the economy and generating jobs," Saenz de Santamaria said.

Unions prepare for general strike in Spain

Madrid (CNN) -- Spanish unions were making final preparations for a general strike Thursday to protest the new conservative government's labor reforms and austerity cuts.

It will be the first general strike against the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, which was elected in November and took office in December, in the midst of Spain's deep economic crisis.

Leaders of the two main unions -- the Socialist-leaning General Workers Union (UGT) and the Communist-leaning Workers Commissions (CCOO) -- were due in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza late Wednesday to meet with union picketers who will then spread out across the capital, while other picketers fan out across the nation.

The unions are expected to try to disrupt public transportation and major industry in the early hours of the strike, either through workers staying off the job or through informational picketers who will noisily greet people trying to go to work and ask them to join the strike.

The last general strike, in September 2010, was against the then-Socialist government, which also had initiated austerity measures. That strike slowed industry and transport, but much of the country went to work and many analysts saw it as a kind of a draw between the government and unions.

Since then, the economic crisis has deepened. Spain's jobless rate is nearly 23% overall, and nearly 50% for youth. Nearly 5.3 million Spaniards are out of work.

Union protests across the nation this month and last drew large crowds, which analysts say emboldened the unions to move ahead with a general strike.

The government says the latest labor reforms are needed to bring flexibility to the workplace and to simplify the rules for employers. But unions say the effect will be to make it easier and cheaper to fire workers.

The unions' strike theme is: "They want to end labor and social rights and finish off everything."

At the MercaMadrid wholesale fish market, one of the largest in Europe, seafood wholesaler Alfonso Mozos, who employs 120 people, said he doesn't think striking is good.

"It would be better if unions, the government and employers would negotiate and find a solution," he said.

Union picketers are expected at the entrance to the sprawling market on Madrid's south side, but some employees say they plan to work despite the strike.

"If the boss buys fish and we need to come, we'll come," said Pedro Marin, a worker at the wholesale market. "But if the union pickets outside won't let us in, we'll just have to wait, or maybe go home."

Many other Spaniards, who have already seen their salaries cut or frozen in the economic crisis, were debating whether to strike. If they walk out, they will lose a day's wage, which for government workers could amount to several hundred dollars.

Unions and government officials in many, but not all, of Spain's 17 regions have agreed on minimum services, which generally call for about 30% of public transportation to run, while public hospitals and other essential services would have reduced staff, similar to holiday levels.

The unions also plan 80 demonstrations across the country on Thursday, mostly in the late afternoon or eary evening.

The strike comes one day before the government unveils its 2012 budget on Friday, with the aim of reducing Spain's deficit to 5.3% of gross domestic product this year, and to 3% next year, to meet European Union requirements.

The government already approved a $20 billion (15 billion euro) package of austerity cuts and tax hikes to reduce the deficit, and on Friday it is expected to announce a second package of the same size or larger. Government critics say it will be the first time the government really shows its hand on where to make deep cuts in specific programs and agencies.

Rajoy, at a recent European Union summit, was reported by Spanish media to be overheard on an open microphone telling another EU leader that the labor reforms would cost him a general strike.

The reforms were approved first as a decree law, with immediate effect, and the unions called on the government to make amendments as the bill moved through parliament. But the conservatives have a commanding majority in parliament and later approved the reforms unchanged.

The government says the labor reforms make up only a portion of the elements needed to spur an economic recovery. It predicts a 1.7% decline in the economy this year.

The government also has demanded reforms in the banking sector, with the aim of getting credit flowing again and to clean up the books of lenders stuck with huge uncollectible debts left over from Spain's real estate and construction boom that went bust, precipitating the economic crisis.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to field presidential candidate

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The political arm of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has announced plans to run one of its leaders in the country's presidential elections in May, reversing an earlier pledge to stay out of the race.

The once-banned Islamist movement will be represented by Khairat al-Shater, a longtime financial backer, the Brotherhood announced over the weekend. Al-Shater has resigned from his post as deputy chairman to join the already crowded field of presidential candidates, group said.

The jail terms he served under ex-Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak had been an obstacle that would have kept him off the ballot. But the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power after the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak, pardoned him Sunday, his lawyer, Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsood, told CNN.

The Muslim Brotherhood has pledged repeatedly that it would not field a presidential candidate. But candidates from its political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, won the largest share of seats in Egypt's parliamentary elections in December. And Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said Saturday the new Egypt "is under a serious threat" because its current, military-led government "has failed to represent the will of the people."

More than 450 people have already registered or announced plans to seek the presidency. Among them are former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa -- who served as Mubarak's foreign minister -- and Ayman Nour, an opposition leader jailed by Mubarak and recently pardoned as well.

The field also includes other Islamist presidential hopefuls, including the ultra-conservative Salafist candidate Hazem Abu Ismael and former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abou El Fettouh, who broke with the Muslim Brotherhood over what he called its authoritarian style.

Al-Shater is a furniture and textile magnate who has led the Brotherhood's business association. Though considered a conservative, he is also credited with being the driving force behind the Brotherhood's affirmation that Egypt should continue to honor its international agreements -- including its peace treaty with Israel.

Liberals and secularists who led the uprising against Mubarak fear that a victory in the presidential elections, the first round of which begins May 23, may lead the Brotherhood to impose a fundamentalist Islamic agenda on Egypt.

"Their stance continues to change as they strengthen their political position," socialist activist Sherif Maher said. "They were patient after Mubarak fell and announced that they would not seek more than 20% of the seats in parliament. The number went up to 30, and now they have won more than half of the constituent assembly."

But Rami Shaath, a founding member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Alliance, said al-Shater's entry into the race may be a bid to make an example of Aboul Fettouh, "who had defected against their will."

"Aboul Fettouh is championed by the revolutionaries and not favored by the military," Shaath said. "They also want to make a point to the youth of the Brotherhood that abandoning the group may cripple one's ambition."

In March, the Muslim Brotherhood blasted the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for holding onto power despite the parliamentary elections and questioning whether the generals would try to rig the presidential vote. In a rare and charged public response, the generals hit back against what they called a "baseless slander" and an "unacceptable" challenge to the legitimacy of elections.

Al-Shater is a 61-year-old civil engineer who became a millionaire businessman. He has been involved with Islamist groups since the late 1960s, according to his official biography, and was jailed for five years by a military court during a crackdown on Islamist movements in the mid-1990s.

In 2007, he was charged with providing funds and weapons to college students and imprisoned again. He was still behind bars when the regime fell in February 2011, and the military junta that took power from Mubarak released him for medical reasons a month later. Before Sunday's pardon, that record could have disqualified him from the race.

We cannot fail the women of Arab Spring

Editor's note: Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress. From 2007 to 2011, she was the first woman speaker of the House and is also the first woman in American history to lead a major political party in Congress, having served as House Democratic leader from 2003 to 2007. Pelosi has represented California's 8th Congressional District for 25 years.

(CNN) -- Last month, a delegation of members from the U.S. House of Representatives, which I was honored to lead, met with inspiring women of North Africa who are helping to change the world.

In Cairo, Egypt; Tunis, Tunisia; and Tripoli, Libya, we held discussions with women who are committed to ensuring that women have a seat at the table and are able to succeed in this rapidly changing and strategically important region. It is an uphill climb, but there is no better time than the present.

The women we met were outspoken in their belief that the new governments must be truly democratic, and that longstanding biases against full participation by women in their society must be abolished. These women came from many different backgrounds and viewpoints, yet they are aware that while their moment is now, the obstacles are great.

Some had participated in the massive Arab Spring demonstrations that challenged decades of autocratic rule. Others had studied in the United States and other countries and then returned to build a future where women's voices are equal to those of men. Some are already serving in government but spoke about a need for more women to serve and to lead in forming new democracies in the Middle East.

One message came through clearly in every discussion: They look to the United States as an essential partner in their efforts to build democratic societies.

Women journalists played a crucial role in the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Women are already deeply involved in rebuilding the political and economic systems of their country. Although just 10 of more than 500 members of the new parliament are women, the signal we received is that Egyptian women are committed to expanding their influence and their ranks, and to ensuring that the constitution under development will fully protect the rights of women in Egypt.

Similarly in Tunisia, Deputy Speaker Mehrezia Labidi pledged to lead the effort for women's rights and secular law in her nation. Women already hold 26% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly, which is responsible for drafting Tunisia's Constitution.

The determination of Tunisian women has been demonstrated outside the legislative chambers as well. In the midst of unrest at the University of Manouba, a young woman watched outraged as a zealot tore down her country's flag, and she then courageously climbed the flagpole to restore the flag to its rightful place, winning the plaudits of her countrymen.

Fundamental to opening opportunities to women in public and private life is expanding their access to education. The young women with whom we met in Tripoli were unanimous in their belief that improving the quality of education for all Libyans is essential to the success of their revolution and the modernization of their country, particularly in light of the utter failure of the nation's secondary schools and universities under Moammar Gadhafi.

What I heard from the women of North Africa was a refrain I have also heard in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East: Women and young people are weary of war. They are fed up with leaders who use ideology, religion and war to distract from the real challenges to peace, prosperity and democracy: a lack of education, a failure to provide jobs and economic opportunity, and the subjugation of women. They employed social media such as Facebook and Twitter to circumvent the repression imposed for decades by autocratic regimes and demonstrated astonishing bravery to liberate their countries from tyranny.

They have succeeded in that first phase: Gadhafi, Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine el Abidine Ben Ali are gone. These young women are under no illusions about the challenges they face. They are deeply committed to building democratic societies, and they are looking to us. We cannot fail them.

Leaders throughout North Africa and the Middle East must honor the role women played in freeing their countries: All their citizens -- including women -- have important contributions to make at this historic moment. That is a lesson it has taken the United States many generations to learn, but it is surely one of the most important pieces of wisdom we can share with developing democracies around the world.

Yahoo cuts 2,000 jobs as radical reshaping begins

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Yahoo said Wednesday that it will eliminate 2,000 employees, around 14% of its workforce, as new CEO Scott Thompson begins radically streamlining the company.

The long-rumored job cuts could be the first of several rounds, as Thompson pares Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) down to focus on what he views as the company's core business lines.

Thompson, who joined Yahoo in January, plans to provide more information about his strategy during the company's first-quarter earnings announcement, which is scheduled for April 17.

In a written statement, Thompson said the cuts "are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo -- smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate. Our goal is to get back to our core purpose -- putting our users and advertisers first."

Yahoo said its job cuts will save the company $375 million a year when they are completed. It expects to take a $125 million to $145 million charge this quarter for severance costs.

Thompson is aiming to do something his recent predecessors -- including Carol Bartz, who was forced out in September -- have repeatedly failed to do: articulate a vision of what Yahoo is.

The Internet's first giant portal has retained a massive user base, but has lost its edge in nearly every field to newer, nimbler rivals. The company gave up on search in 2009, and it's losing ground in display advertising to new entrants to the market such as Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook.

Thompson's busy 2012: Wednesday's layoffs come three months to the day that Thompson took over at Yahoo -- and his tenure has already been a busy one. In February, four longtime board members, including chairman Roy Bostock, announced they would not seek re-election.

Exactly one week after that, activist shareholder Daniel Loeb and his hedge fund Third Point launched a proxy fight. Third Point, which owns a 5.56% stake in Yahoo, is proposing four new Yahoo board members, including Loeb himself.

Mere weeks later, in March, Yahoo filed a lawsuit against Facebook. The high-profile suit alleges that Facebook infringed on 10 of Yahoo's patents related to advertising, privacy, customization, messaging and social networking.

Facebook called the lawsuit "puzzling," while outside critics decried the move as "pathetic" and "desperate."

Still, considering that his predecessors failed at fixing Yahoo, Thompson clearly knows he has to make bold moves. Whether they're enough for the long-promised but so far elusive Yahoo turnaround remains to be seen.