BLEEDING PURPLE AND GOLD: Agreeing to a Microsoft takeover might be the last thing on Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang's mind, but it may yet be his only choice
Yahoo Inc chief executive Jerry Yang (楊致遠) told employees on Wednesday that the struggling Internet pioneer is still examining ways to avoid a takeover by rival Microsoft Corp.

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Softbank Corp chief executive officer Masayoshi Son said that Microsoft Corp, which made a US$44.6 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo Inc, could boost the value of the Yahoo brand.

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General Motors Corp (GM) says half of its US vehicle volume will run on ethanol by 2012, just as partner Coskata Inc is expected to be ramping up ethanol production.

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Rio Tinto rejected a sweetened formal takeover bid from mining rival BHP Billiton, saying the all-share offer worth US$147.4 billion still does not reflect the value of the firm and its expansion prospects.

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The US retailer Macy's said on Wednesday that it was cutting 2,300 jobs as it vies to overhaul its operations and cut costs amid a slowing economy.

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Two Chinese business groups and one US firm and their top executives were charged on Wednesday with the manufacturing and importing of tainted ingredients that were used to make pet food that led to the deaths of thousands of cats and dogs in the US.

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RARE VICTORY: Vasily Aleksanian has been accused of embezzlement, but before trial the former executive and AIDS sufferer is in his prison's infectious disease unit
A critically ill former Yukos oil firm executive set to be tried for embezzlement will be transferred from prison to hospital, Russian officials said yesterday, in a rare victory for human rights activists in the last months of President Vladimir Putin's rule.

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BETTER SALES: Research house IDC said that the Chinese market would eventually require the respect of the global market, despite ongoing lagging status in technology
By Kevin Chen
While semiconductor manufacturing technology in China continues to lag behind its firms' main rivals, global semiconductor vendors must include China as part of their global strategy for better competitiveness, IDC said yesterday.

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Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, reported a fourth straight loss after prices tumbled at memory-chip unit Qimonda AG, and cut its sales forecast.

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The largest Japanese online shopping mall operator, Rakuten Inc, said yesterday that it would launch a European hub in Luxembourg next month as its first step to expand in the region.

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AT HOME IN THE OFFICE: The Lunar New Year holiday offers most agents a chance to unite with family, but some firms smell an opportunity in a time of unsteady sales
By Joyce Huang
The Lunar New Year vacation is not a traditionally busy season for house hunting, so some real estate developers are giving out hongbao (red envelopes) and prizes to buyers who seal a deal.

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AngloGold Ashanti yesterday became the second South African gold producer to warn of a sizeable fall in output this year if forced to slash its electricity consumption to help ease an energy crunch.

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British manufacturing output fell unexpectedly in December, the second month running, data showed yesterday, adding to evidence that the economy slowed sharply at the end of last year.

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