UNITED STATES
Federal deficit down 50%
The federal government ran up a much smaller budget deficit last month than a year ago, remaining on track to record the smallest annual deficit in eight years. The Treasury Department on Friday said that the deficit totaled US$64.4 billion last month, a drop of 50 percent from the same month a year ago. Much of that improvement reflected quirks in timing related to the calendar. Through the first 11 months of this budget year ending on Sept. 30, the deficit is running 10 percent below last year’s level. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the deficit for the full year will drop to US$426 billion, down 11.8 percent from the previous year as a stronger economy brings in more tax revenue.
INTERNET
Airbnb acquires Vamo
Airbnb Inc, the peer-to-peer accommodation platform, has acquired the trip-planning tool Vamo for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, Airbnb will take on the staff and technology of Vamo, but will shut down by Oct. 1 the tool that uses Big Data to help travelers find deals for multi-destination trips. California-based Airbnb, which allows property dwellers and owners to rent a room or entire home, has about 40 million users worldwide. Traditional hotel chains see Airbnb as a rival and accuse it of helping people avoid taxes and of hosting illegal hotels on its Web site.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Marvell shares plunge 16%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd shares plunged the sharpest in almost 13 years on Friday, after disclosing an internal investigation of its accounting and reporting weakening demand for personal computer parts. The chipmaker’s shares dropped 16 percent to close at US$8.84 in New York, the biggest single-day decline since October 2002. The stock has tumbled 39 percent this year. The investigation is focusing on whether revenue was recognized earlier than it should have been and whether senior management “set an appropriate tone for an effective control environment,” the company said in a statement.
INTERNET
GoDaddy wins Oscars suit
GoDaddy Inc prevailed in a cybersquatting lawsuit brought by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which accused the Internet domain registrar of illegally profiting off its trademarks, including for the Oscar telecasts. In a 129-page decision on Thursday, US District Judge Andre Birotte in Los Angeles said the Academy failed to show that GoDaddy acted in bad faith by letting customers purchase 293 domain names such as academyawards.net, oscarsredcarpet.com, billycrystal2012oscars.com and theoscargoestothehangover.com. Birotte ruled after a four-day, non-jury trial early last month.
ALGERIA
New taxes unveiled
The government has unveiled a host of new taxes to boost revenues hit by a plunge in the price of oil, a key export. On Thursday, Minister of Commerce Bekhti Belaib met with the head of the IMF’s mission in the country, Jean Francois Dauphin, to discuss the crisis. The new budget announced by the government on Wednesday raises taxes on diesel, 3G Internet and electricity consumption. It also raises customs duties on imported electronics.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained