■ TELCO
AT&T eyeing Telecom Italia
US telecommunications giant AT&T said on Sunday it was in negotiations for a potential indirect investment in Telecom Italia. The company statement said the proposal is for AT&T to purchase a one-third stake in Olimpia, a holding company that owns approximately 18 percent of Telecom Italia. As part of these negotiations, America Movil also is considering an investment for one-third of the shares of Olimpia. AT&T's investment is contingent on America Movil's investment. AT&T is in negotiations on the potential investment to acquire the interest from Pirelli, which owns 80 percent of Olimpia. Olimpia holds only Telecom Italia assets.
■ MOBILE PHONES
Growth estimate revised
Nokia Siemens Networks, which began operations last Sunday, said yesterday it expects "very slight" growth this year, downgrading earlier estimates by the two companies that formed the joint venture. "Over the last couple of months, there has been a narrowing of visibility and indications of a slowdown in spending in some regions," Nokia said. "As a result, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks today are updating the outlook for the mobile and fixed services infrastructure market for 2007." "The companies now expect very slight market growth for the mobile and fixed infrastructure and related services market in euro terms in 2007," Nokia said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
GM to unveil new cars
General Motors Corp will unveil a new pair of concept cars in its Chevrolet and Buick lines at this month's Shanghai Auto Show, which runs from April 22 through April 28, GM China said yesterday. The cars will be among 40 vehicles the company and its Chinese joint venture partners plan to display as GM increasingly looks to China to offset sluggish sales and crippling legacy costs elsewhere. GM said the concept cars include the latest version of the Chevrolet Volt, the company's extended-range electric passenger vehicle which was introduced in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.
■ CHINA
Authorities launch probe
Labor authorities have launched an investigation into allegations that McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut are underpaying local part-time workers, state media said yesterday. Labor officials in the southern province of Guangdong, where the issue was first uncovered by local media, have broadened their investigation from the provincial capital Guangzhou to the whole province, the People's Daily said. The Guangzhou-based New Express reported last week that McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut had violated labor laws by underpaying part-time workers by up to 40 percent.
■ TRANSPORT
TGV to make record bid
France's TGV fast train is to make a bid to beat its own world speed record today, amid reports that in recent unofficial tests it reached nearly 570kph. Weather conditions permitting, a TGV train will be driven during the afternoon along a stretch of the new high-speed line built between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg. On Saturday Le Parisien newspaper reported that in a recent trial a TGV train travelled at 568kph -- well in excess of the 513.3kph record which was set by a TGV train in 1990.
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