INTERNET
Backpage.com faces seizure
US federal law enforcement authorities are in the process of seizing Backpage.com and its affiliated Web sites, a notice that appeared on Friday afternoon on Backpage.com said. The notice did not characterize or provide any details on the nature of the enforcement action. Backpage.com lets users create posts to sell items, seek a roommate, participate in forums, list upcoming events or post job openings. However, Backpage.com also has listings for adult escorts and other sexual services, and authorities have said advertising related to those services has been extremely lucrative.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan plans Kenya plant
Nissan Motor Co Ltd plans to start assembling vehicles in Kenya, said Jim Dando, director of Nissan’s Africa operations. The company would initially put together pickup trucks from semi-knocked-down kits, if the government agrees to waive a 25 percent import tax, Dando said. Nissan would submit a proposal to the government once market studies and due diligence assessments are complete, and might have an operational assembly line by the end of next year if it receives a green light, he said. The company would work at an established plant, which would cost it about US$20 million, rather than setting up its own facility, he added.
PHILIPPINES
SM Prime lands Ikea deal
SM Prime Holdings Inc, the largest Philippine shopping mall developer, is to build Ikea’s first store in the country in its retail complex, with plans for similar arrangement with the Swedish furniture company at its other properties. The store would be built in SM Prime’s Mall of Asia complex in Manila, located between its convention center and sports arena, SM Prime vice president Alex Pomento said. Ikea would lease the property for the long-term, he said. Ikea would be draw big crowds for Mall of Asia, which has foot traffic of at least 200,000 per day, AP Securities Mia Respicio said. SM Prime’s malls attract 3.5 million customers nationwide per day, she said.
RETAIL
Data breach hits Best Buy
Best Buy Co warned that some of its customers’ payment information might have been compromised in a data breach. The retailer is the latest company, along with Delta Air Lines Inc and Sears Holdings Corp, to report the cyberattack last fall against a third-party operator of its chat services. Best Buy said a “small fraction” of its online customer population might have been affected, whether or not chat services were used. The software company, (24)7.ai, said it discovered and fixed the breach in October last year. The attack might have exposed customers’ names, addresses, credit card numbers, card security codes and expiration dates.
LATVIA
EU court to rule on bank ban
The European Central Bank (ECB) has asked the European Court of Justice to decide whether Latvian authorities breached the law by preventing Bank of Latvia Governor Ilmars Rimsevics from doing his job while he is investigated for corruption. The ECB on Friday said the referral is not meant to interfere with the criminal investigation by Latvia’s anti-corruption authority. Rimsevics sits on the ECB’s policymaking council. He denies any wrongdoing.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last