■ Rankings
Exxon tops `Fortune' 500 list
Exxon Mobil pushed aside Wal-Mart Stores for the top spot on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest US companies by revenue, the magazine said on Monday. The list, which ranks publicly traded US companies, pegs Exxon Mobil's revenue last year at about US$340 billion, with profits of US$36 billion. Wal-Mart made a profit of about US$11 billion on revenue of US$316 billion. Rounding out the top 10 on the list were General Motors; Chevron; Ford Motor; ConocoPhillips; General Electric; Citigroup; American International Group; and IBM.
■ Internet
Softbank begins tender offer
Japanese Internet empire Softbank began a tender offer for Vodafone's local unit yesterday in line with last month's takeover deal, after reportedly securing loans of more than US$10 billion to fund the acquisition. Softbank plans to complete the offer by April 24. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, BB Mobile, will acquire 97.7 percent of Vodafone KK from the British mobile phone giant for ?1.75 trillion (US$14.9 billion). Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company, last month agreed to sell its struggling Japanese unit to Softbank in one of Japan's biggest ever acquisitions.
■ Communications
NTT DoCoMo offers credit
NTT DoCoMo Inc, the world's second-biggest mobile phone operator, will issue credit cards through its "iD" handset-based payments service. Consumers will pay for spending on the cards, available starting April 28, as part of their mobile phone service bill, the company said in a statement. DoCoMo will collect commissions on transactions. DoCoMo's simplest cellphone based credit card lets users charge up to ?10,000 (US$85) per month with no membership fees. The service is available on "iD"-equipped phones by downloading the software on the handset and inputting a security code.
■ Software
Mphasis mulls bid by EDS
The board of Indian software firm Mphasis was to meet yesterday to consider a US$380 million bid for a majority stake from US technology giant EDS, a company spokesman said. Mphasis spokesman Vivek Dayal termed the offer "positive" but said the board was to discuss it further yesterday. "Let us see the offer document first," the spokesman said. EDS has offered 204.5 rupees (US$4.58) a share as part of an effort to buy a 52 percent stake in the firm listed in India. "This offer is complementary to our overall strategy to enhance EDS's presence and capabilities in India," EDS chairman and chief executive Mike Jordan said in a statement.
■ Media
NTL to buy Virgin Mobile
US Cable operator NTL said yesterday that it would acquire British telecommunications group Virgin Mobile for ?962.4 (US$1.68 billion). The deal will create the first media company in Britain to offer "quadruple-play" packages of television, broadband, fixed-line and mobile telecoms services, which NTL hopes will increase the competitive pressure on rivals including British telecommunications company BT Group and satellite broadcaster BSkyB. After entering into a 30-year licensing deal with Virgin founder Richard Branson, who owns 72 percent of the mobile phone group, NTL said it would be able to "harness" the brand recognition Virgin has built up with British consumers.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2