■STEEL
ArcelorMittal strikes deal
The world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal SA said yesterday it would jointly develop a manganese mine in South Africa in a deal worth US$432.5 million. ArcelorMittal will work with Kalahari Resources and South African state-owned financier Industrial Development Corporation to form Kalagadi Manganese. ArcelorMittal will have a 50 percent stake in the company which will develop a manganese mine and an ore treatment complex at Hotazel in Northern Cape Province and a smelter complex in Coega in Eastern Cape Province.
■AUTOMOBILES
Nissan mulls plug-in cars
Nissan is considering developing plug-in hybrid vehicles that can be charged at home, as it seeks to catch up with its rivals in fuel-sipping cars, an official said yesterday. Japan’s third-largest automaker is considering the move as consumers are increasingly switching to fuel-efficient cars because of high gasoline prices, spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said, declining to give further details. Nissan has already conducted tests with an experimental model and is deciding whether to bring the car to market, local media said.
■FINANCE
KDB seeks Lehman stake
State-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) has offered to buy a 25 percent stake in troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers for more than US$4 billion, a news report said yesterday. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing financial industry sources, said KDB proposed to buy the stake for 5 trillion to 6 trillion won (US$4.3 to US$5.2 billion). KDB also wanted the right to raise its stake to up to 49 percent, Chosun said, and proposed separating Lehman’s risky assets by creating a “bad bank” structure for them. A KDB spokesman declined to comment on the Chosun report.
■SINGAPORE
Growth estimate lowered
The Monetary Authority said yesterday a survey showed economists expected the city-state to grow 4.2 percent next year, down from the 5.5 percent predicted in an earlier poll. The lower growth prediction comes amid signs of an economic slowdown after a tumble in key exports over the last few months, particularly to US and other industrialized economies. Economists had trimmed the growth outlook to 5.5 percent from 5.6 percent in the previous survey released in June.
■AUSTRALIA
GDP growth slowing
The economy grew at its slowest pace in almost four years in the three months to June, official data showed yesterday, but Treasurer Wayne Swan said it was still performing solidly. Growth was 0.3 percent over the previous quarter, with the annual rate falling to 2.7 percent, the figures showed after the central bank cut interest rates on Tuesday for the first time since 2001. But Swan said high Asian commodity demand, led by China, had left the country’s economy better placed to battle the global slowdown compared with other countries.
■MEDIA
Company to invest in film
Abu Dhabi Media Co says it plans to invest US$1 billion in feature film and digital media production over the next five years. Communication director Alia Kezbary says the company will “finance, develop and create full-length feature films and digital content.” The company is owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates capital. Earlier this year, it launched an English-language newspaper. It also runs a number of satellite TV channels.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source