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World News Quick Take

■ Japan
KDDI to start group chats
Japanese mobile-telephone operator KDDI will start a group-chat service later this year allowing five users to converse and share text messages and pictures, a report said yesterday. KDDI, Japan's second-biggest cellphone operator, will launch several phone models with the new function by the end of the year, with the service available on all models by early next year, the Asahi Shimbun said. The new mobile phones will use technology known as "push-to-talk" for group chatting, in which a user would press a button to open a conversation like when using a transceiver, it said. Others listen to it simultaneously, with a second member in the group pressing the talk button to carry the conversation on once the first person finishes, it said.

■ Canada
Car workers set to strike
The president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union said on Saturday that labor talks with General Motors have left him pessimistic and a strike could follow if things don't improve. CAW president Buzz Hargrove has set a strike deadline for tomorrow at midnight. "On the major issues that face us, we have made absolutely no progress at all," Hargrove said. Under the CAW's pattern bargaining with the Big Three US automakers, the union reaches financial terms with one company, then demands the other two to accept the same deal. A deal was reached first with Ford Canada and matched by DaimlerChrysler, but General Motors is resisting. The company has said it especially doesn't like the pension deal set in the pattern bargaining. Hargrove said General Motors argues it has more than twice as many retirees as the other two companies, plus have more eligible within the next three years.

■ Germany
Porsche eyes VW majority
German luxury sportscar maker Porsche hopes to become the biggest shareholder in Volkswagen (VW), the German weekly Der Spiegel reported, following speculation that US billionaire Kirk Kerkorian wants to get in VW driver's seat. The head of Porsche, Wendelin Wiedeking, is working with US investment bank Merrill Lynch in its bid for a 20 percent stake in the world's fourth-largest car maker, Der Spiegel said in its edition that appears today. A VW spokesman refused to comment about "these speculations" while Porsche executives could not be reached for comment. Rumors surfaced on Thursday that the one-time Chrysler raider Kerkorian was looking to buy into the share capital of Europe's top car maker. Porsche wants to buy a fifth of VW common shares, which currently would be valued at about three billion euros (US$3.6 billion), the German weekly said, citing an unnamed banker involved in the matter.

■ France
Budget deficit addressed
French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said the budget deficit will dip below 3 percent of GDP this year and next year, conforming to limits set by EU rules. "France will respect its commitments" to the EU, Breton said at a press conference yesterday in Washington, after attending a meeting of the Group of Seven nations. He said he was open to enlarging the membership of the G7, which now comprises France, Italy, Germany, the UK, the US, Canada and Japan. Russia has been seeking membership.

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