MEDIA
Fox News off air briefly
Fox News, the most-watched US cable news network, went off the air for Dish Network Corp subscribers after the parties failed to reach a new fee agreement. “We regret the service disruption to our customers and remain committed to reaching an agreement that promptly returns this content to DISH’s programming lineup,” Dish senior vice president of programming Warren Schlichting said in a statement. Fox Business also went dark as the result of the latest dispute between programmers and Dish, which has 14 million subscribers. CBS Corp pulled its flagship network briefly from Dish on Dec. 5 before reaching a long-term accord, restoring service a few hours later.
FINANCE
Egypt credit rating upgraded
Fitch Ratings on Friday upgraded Egypt’s credit rating one rank to “B” with a “stable” outlook, saying the authorities seemed committed to major reforms. “Fuel subsidy cuts and tax hikes have been implemented as part of a clear five-year fiscal consolidation strategy,” Fitch said in upgrading Egypt from a “B-” rating. “Power shortages are being tackled, overdue payments to oil companies reduced, investment laws revised and disputes with foreign investors settled,” it added, emphasizing that “the measures appear to have strong political backing.”
FINANCE
Ukraine rating downgraded
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Friday lowered its credit rating for Ukraine on Friday to “CCC-” with a negative outlook, warning that dangerously low foreign currency reserves could prompt a default within months. Ukraine is embroiled in a war with Russian-backed separatists in its main industrial region and earlier lost control to Russia of the strategic Crimea province. S&P said a delay this year in IMF aid, couple with “significantly reduced foreign currency official reserves, increases the risk that the Ukrainian government might not be able to meet its debt obligations.”
OIL
Kickbacks recipients named
The main accuser in a corruption scandal that has embroiled Brazil oil giant Petrobras gave a list of 28 politicians who had taken kickbacks, including the energy minister, local press said on Friday. Paulo Roberto Costa — a former Petrobras director of supplies accused of taking kickbacks worth millions of dollars and who has been collaborating with prosecutors as part of a plea deal — gave the list to authorities, according to the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. Among the politicians implicated as “alleged beneficiaries” of corruption are Brazilian Energy Minister Edison Lobao and a former minister-turned-Senator Gleisi Hoffmann. Also included on the list are two more former ministers, Antonio Palocci and Mario Negromonte, seven senators, and 11 federal lawmakers.
BANKING
Bank agrees to acquisition
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest lender by assets, agreed on Saturday to acquire Citigroup Inc’s retail and commercial-banking operations in Peru. Citigroup has eight branches and more than 130,000 retail and commercial customers in Peru, the companies said in a statement. Terms were not disclosed and both firms said the deal is not material to financial results. Citigroup would keep its institutional and private-bank businesses in Peru, spokesman Mark Costiglio said in an e-mail.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last