■ PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis buying Protez
Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis AG said yesterday it is buying US-based antibiotics developer Protez Pharmaceuticals Inc. Protez, based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is in the second phase of clinical trials for a broad-spectrum antibiotic to treat multi-drug resistant bacteria strains such as MRSA. Antibiotic resistant infections cause more than 100,000 deaths a year in the US and Europe, Novartis said. The deal will involve an initial payment of US$100 million, with the potential for additional payments of up to US$300 million depending on the success of the new antibiotic, Novartis said.
■ METALS
Sinosteel lifts Midwest stake
China’s Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼) said yesterday it has boosted its stake in Australian iron ore miner and developer Midwest Corp to 28.4 percent from 19.9 percent. The Chinese metals trader, which is battling Murchison Metals Ltd for Midwest, is bidding A$1.36 billion (US$1.3 billion) in an offer that ends next Friday. Sinosteel had 60.4 million Midwest shares as of Tuesday, up from 42.4 million at Feb. 20, the company said in notice to the Australian Securities Exchange. It has been buying Midwest shares at A$6.38 each, and last week dropped its condition for 50.1 percent shareholder approval for the bid.
■ OIL
India raises fuel prices
The soaring cost of oil forced India to raise fuel prices for the second time this year, a top official said yesterday. India imports nearly 75 percent of the crude oil it needs, while controlling the domestic prices of all fuel products. But the state-owned companies that sell products such as gasoline and cooking gas have been losing billions of dollars, and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters yesterday that gasoline prices were being raised 5 rupees (US$0.13) a liter and diesel prices 3 rupees (US$0.08) a liter. The price of cooking gas, meanwhile, was being raised 50 rupees (US$1.25) per cylinder. The increases went into effect at midnight.
■ INTERNET
Yahoo sets Icahn vote date
Yahoo will hold its decisive shareholder vote on the board takeover by billionaire investor Carl Icahn at its annual general meeting to be held on Aug. 1, the company announced on Tuesday. Icahn is trying to oust the board for rejecting Microsoft’s US$47.5 billion takeover offer early last month. He is proposing a rival slate of board members that would try to restart takeover negotiations with the software giant. Icahn on Tuesday said he would also press for company founder Jerry Yang (楊致遠) to step down if he is successful in gaining control of the company. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Icahn said newly unsealed court documents show that Yang and Yahoo’s board had not seriously considered the acquisition offer from Microsoft and had imposed a costly employee retention plan to effectively sabotage a deal.
■ SECURITY
Deutsche Telekom mops up
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s biggest phone company, will curb employee access to client data, its boss said yesterday as he tried to contain a scandal sparked by the group’s spying on journalists. “We are going to train staff and reduce data access rights,” chairman Rene Obermann told the weekly Die Zeit in an interview to be published today, but which was released in advance. Obermann reiterated a pledge to “do everything to guarantee the highest level of security with respect to data concerning our clients.”
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