41.   The position has been vacant since the end of the Bush administration.

42.   The post had been vacant since last year due after Javed Jabbar signed citing personal reasons.

43.   The post has been vacant since October, when the two men who held it jointly took other positions in the company.

44.   The post has been vacant since the end of December.

45.   The top post at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington has been vacant since January, when ambassador Marwan Muasher was appointed foreign minister.

46.   The two-year post had been vacant since the death last month of predecessor Yasuhiro Yagi.

47.   The two top posts have been left vacant since his father, former leader Kim Il-Sung, died of heart failure in July.

48.   This is a largely figurehead position that has been vacant since November, after Sony founder Akio Morita suffered a brain haemorrhage a year earlier.

49.   Suranyi, who headed the Budapest-based Central European International Bank till now, fills in a post vacant since last December.

50.   The chairmanship has been a largely figurehead position left vacant since November, after Sony founder Akio Morita suffered a brain haemorrhage a year earlier.