■ Telecoms
NTT DoCoMo buys KTF
Japan's NTT DoCoMo will buy a 10 percent stake in South Korea's KT Freetel Ltd worth 564.9 billion won (US$554.5 million) as the two wireless telecommunications providers enter a strategic alliance agreement, KTF said yesterday. The amount represents 20.2 million shares of KTF, including 17.7 million new shares and the rest in treasury stock. NTT DoCoMo will pay 28,000 won for each share, a nearly 16 percent premium over the company's closing price yesterday.
■ Investment
Firm sorry over tax evasion
Lone Star, a US-based investment fund, has apologized for tax delinquency and pledged to pay some US$140 million in back taxes to the South Korean government, news reports said yesterday. Ellis Short, vice chairman in charge of Lone Star's European and Asian operations, made the rare apology during his low-publicity visit to South Korea's National Tax Service on Wednesday, Yonhap news agency said. Lone Star is among the five unspecified foreign investment funds under probe for tax evasion charges, according to the Korean Times newspaper.
■ Finance
Australian bank bids for LSE
Macquarie Bank Ltd, Australia's largest investment bank, yesterday made a £1.48 billion (US$2.6 billion) offer for the London Stock Exchange, matching a previous offer which the exchange rejected as too small. The bid was announced by Macquarie London Exchange Investments Limited, a newly formed English company established for the purpose of acquiring the exchange. The LSE, which has been trying to shrug off constant speculation of a takeover after also drawing interest from Euronext NV and Deutsche Boerse AG, said it had no immediate comment on the approach.
■ Internet
Google spotlights artists
Online search engine leader Google Inc will begin giving some musical artists the star treatment by spotlighting links to their songs, lyrics and other related material at the top of the results page. The music section, which was scheduled to debut yesterday, is designed to provide a more direct route to the content that most music fans want to see when they inquire about a singer or band, said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of Internet products. Among other things, Google's music section will provide lists of all the songs recorded on a specific album and also will point to places where the music can be legally downloaded.
■ Entertainment
MTV to challenge Apple
Music media giant MTV Networks is teaming up with Microsoft for a music download service that it hopes will challenge market leader Apple's iTunes, the companies said on Wednesday. The partners said that the service, to be called Urge, will debut early next year. It will be tightly integrated into the next version of Windows Media Player and offer more than 2 million songs for sale individually or as part of a subscription package. The service will also offer music over online radio. Microsoft will build the technology behind Urge, which MTV, a unit of Viacom, will own, operate and promote across its music television networks and sister companies. The service will not be compatible with Apple's iPod, which accounts for 75 percent of the market, the companies said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from