■ SINGAPORE
GIC buys ProLogis property
The government said it has acquired the property interests of a US-based firm in China and Japan for US$1.3 billion. Government investment firm GIC said in a statement late on Tuesday that it would pay cash to acquire the property operations of US-based ProLogis in the two Asian countries. The transaction was due to be completed next month, it said. GIC is one of two investment vehicles of the Singapore government and manages the country’s foreign reserves of more than US$100 billion through various investments.
■ELECTRONICS
RIM sues Motorola
Motorola Inc was sued by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) over claims the mobile-phone maker is improperly blocking it from offering jobs to laid-off Motorola workers. RIM, in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Chicago, asked for an order invalidating an agreement the companies reached this year not to solicit each other’s employees. The agreement expired in August and is no longer enforceable, the complaint said. Motorola, the world’s third-largest mobile-phone maker, is improperly trying to expand the agreement “to prevent the RIM entities from hiring any Motorola employees, including the thousands of employees Motorola has already fired or will fire,” RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, said in the complaint.
■AUTOMOBILES
Parts maker’s profits drop
Japan’s leading car parts maker Denso Corp said yesterday its full-year net profit would be one-tenth of an earlier forecast because of the poor performance of the auto industry and a strong yen. Denso, a major supplier to Toyota Motor Corp, now estimates its group net profit at ¥10 billion (US$110 million) for the year to March, down from ¥101 billion it projected less than two months ago. The financial crisis triggered in the US had affected the whole world, said Sadahiro Usui, managing officer of Denso. Denso also downgraded its sales projection to ¥3.3 trillion from ¥3.65 trillion estimated on Oct. 30. Its operating-profit forecast was lowered to ¥38 billion from ¥178 billion.
■FINANCE
Chinese bank to relaunch
Agricultural Bank of China will relaunch as a stock-holding company before the Lunar New Year on Jan. 26, bringing it a step closer to an eventual stock market listing, state media said yesterday. The lender has finished hiving off its bad loans, the China Business News reported, citing an unnamed source. The bank reported 818 billion yuan (US$119 billion) in non-performing loans at the end of last year. The bank, the weakest of China’s four major state-owned commercial banks, received a US$19 billion government cash injection last month as part of its preparations for an eventual stock listing.
■TRADE
China protests duties
China has protested at the WTO over US anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed on some Chinese-made products, state media reported yesterday. The China Daily newspaper said the protest was the second by China since its 2001 entry into the WTO and was aimed at thwarting trade protectionism amid the global downturn. Import duties on four product categories including steel pipes and off-road tires were first levied by the US in September. Despite China’s protests, the US International Trade Commission claimed the duties were necessary to offset subsidies by the Chinese government to those exports, the report said.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
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