■ PROPERTY
Accor to sell 57 hotels
Accor SA, Europe's biggest lodging company, agreed to sell 57 hotels in France and Switzerland for 518 million euros (US$744 million) to focus on running properties rather than owning them. The hotels will be sold to a group of investors including Caisse des Depots et Consignations and two funds managed by Axa Real Estate Investment Managers, Paris-based Accor said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The sale of 47 hotels in France and 10 in Switzerland will add 5 million euros to next year's pretax profit and cut the company's debt by about 350 million euros, Accor said.
■ MEDIA
Viacom in Microsoft deal
The media company that owns MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures said on Wednesday that it would now advertise online through Microsoft Corp as part of a larger deal. The five-year deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, is a victory for Microsoft's online ad-serving platform called Atlas, which it acquired in May -- and a loss for DoubleClick, Viacom Inc's former online ad server, which is being acquired by Microsoft's rival Google Inc. The deal also includes agreements for Microsoft to license video programming for its MSN online network and Xbox 360 gaming console.
■ CLOTHING
Nike exceeds expectations
Nike Inc reported 10 percent growth in its second quarter profits, largely fueled by overseas sales growth for the athletic shoe and clothing company. Nike said second quarter net income grew to US$359.4 million, or US$0.71 per share, up from US$325.6 million, or US$0.64 per share, in the same period a year earlier. The results, reported on Wednesday, exceeded analysts expectations. Revenue grew 14 percent to US$4.3 billion for the quarter ending Nov. 30. Changes in currency accounted for 4 percentage points growth in revenue.
■ INTERNET
Firms settle gambling probe
Microsoft, Yahoo and Google agreed to pay a total of US$31.5 million to settle a government probe into their role in promoting online gambling dating back to 1997, officials said on Wednesday. The settlements marked the latest development in a US crackdown on Internet gambling, which has attracted a large number of Americans using offshore gaming Web sites. The Microsoft settlement totals US$21 million, including US$4.5 million to the US and a US$7.5 million contribution to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Justice Department said in a statement. Microsoft also agreed to provide a US$9 million campaign showing young Web users that online gambling is illegal in the US.
■ FINANCE
Barclays sues Bear Stearns
Barclays Bank PLC on Wednesday accused Bear Stearns Co Inc of using two hedge funds that collapsed last summer as places to unload troubled assets. The London-based bank's allegations appear in a lawsuit filed in the US Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. Barclays described the collapse of two Bear Stearns-run hedge funds as one of the most shocking in the last decade. The bank said it was the sole shareholder to a Bear Stearns enhanced leverage fund with exposure to risky subprime mortgages. That fund and another run by Bear Stearns had more than US$20 billion in assets before their collapse.
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
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
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