■ Mobile telephony
Vodafone to buy Indian firm
The world's largest mobile phone company, London-based Vodafone Group, is set to enter a bidding war to buy Indian mobile firm Hutchison Essar, the Economic Times newspaper reported yesterday. The newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, said the firm was holding talks with bankers to raise cash to buy the majority stake in Hutchison Essar owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison. However Vodafone's Indian partner Bharti Airtel told the Business Standard it was not aware of any move. Hutchison Essar is India's third largest mobile phone company with around 27 million subscribers.
■ Economy
S Korea growth stays strong
South Korea's economy will have a good year next year but North Korea's nuclear ambitions remain a threat to stability, an international ratings agency said yesterday. As six-party talks on scrapping the North's nuclear program continued in Beijing, Standard & Poor's forecast "no substantial progress" on nuclear issues in the coming year. Echoing government estimates, S&P in a statement forecast a slight slowdown next year, with growth this year put at 4.9 percent and 4.5 percent next year. It also warned that in the long term, sluggish domestic consumption, an inflated property market and the strong won will create growing uncertainty.
■ Steel
Arcelor buys Mexico plant
Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steelmaker, bought a plant owned by Grupo Villacero SA for US$1.4 billion to create Mexico's biggest producer of the alloy. The purchase of the Sicartsa mill will bring "industrial and administrative synergies" of US$130 million, the Luxembourg-based company said in a press release yesterday. The purchase, the first since Mittal Steel Co's US$38.3 billion merger with Arcelor SA this year, "demonstrates the synergies the merger created as well as the company's desire to further consolidate the steel industry," Arcelor Mittal said in today's statement.
■ Internet
YouTube posts warning
Popular video-sharing Web site YouTube Inc has agreed to post Japanese language warnings about respecting copyrights in an attempt to prevent users from uploading copyrighted materials, a Japanese entertainment body said. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers said on its Web site Tuesday that YouTube notified it of the move in a response dated Dec. 15 to Jasrac's request earlier this month for a series of measures aimed at preventing uploads that infringe copyrights. The organization made its request on behalf of 23 Japanese TV stations. YouTube already has a notice in English on their site about handling copyright infringement.
■ Entertainment
Sony settles lawsuits
Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay US$1.5 million and kick in thousands more in customer refunds to settle lawsuits brought by California and Texas over music CDs that installed a hidden anti-piracy program on consumers' computers. The settlements, announced on Tuesday, cover lawsuits over CDs loaded with one of two types of copy-protection software -- known as MediaMax or XCP. Under the terms of the separate settlements, each state will receive US$750,000 in civil penalties and costs. In addition, Sony BMG agreed to reimburse consumers whose computers were damaged.
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