■INTERNET
DST eyes more Facebook
A Russian Internet company is offering to buy US$100 million worth of stock from Facebook employees in a deal that values the fast-growing social network at US$6.5 billion. The Russian company, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which invested US$200 million in Facebook in May, is offering US$14.77 per share of Facebook common stock. The tender offer will close “some time in August,” said Jennifer Gill, a DST spokeswoman.
■TELECOMS
Ericsson plans investment
South Korea’s presidential Blue House reiterated that Ericsson AB said it may invest US$1.5 billion in the country after a newspaper report cited the Swedish company as saying no agreement on the spending had been reached. Ericsson’s incoming chief executive officer Hans Vestberg told officials at the Korea Communications Commission on Saturday that the network-equipment maker might invest US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion in the country, the Blue House said in a statement yesterday.
■ENERGY
Acciona inks energy deal
Spanish construction and energy group Acciona said yesterday it had signed a deal with Japan’s Mitsubishi to invest 2 billion euros (US$2.8 billion) in renewable energy projects worldwide. “Both partners may take equity stakes in projects or companies that fall within the joint strategy framework or that strengthen their partnership,” the company said in a statement. In March Mitsubishi acquired a 34 percent stake in a photovoltaic plant in Portugal controlled by Acciona.
■AUSTRALIA
Business confidence soars
Business confidence has bounced back to its highest level since the global financial crisis, according to a survey released yesterday. Confidence rose six points from minus 2 to 4 last month, the first positive reading since December 2007, the monthly National Australia Bank survey found. A positive reading indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists among the 405 firms surveyed.
■FINANCIAL SERVICES
CIT seeks financial help
US business lender CIT Group acknowledged seeking help to shore up its financial position amid a plunge in its share price and analyst comments on a likely bankruptcy filing. CIT, which operates in more than 50 countries and provides financial services to small and middle market businesses, said in a statement late on Sunday it was “in active discussions with its principal regulators on a series of measures to improve the company’s near-term liquidity position.” The company said the talks focus on its application to participate in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, which offers low-cost funding to banking firms.
■MANUFACTURING
EU factory output rises
Factories and refineries in the 16 nations using the euro increased their output in May compared with April, according to an official EU estimate yesterday. The Eurostat data agency said seasonally adjusted industrial production grew by 0.5 percent over one month, after the sharpest annual contraction ever, recorded in April. Industrial output declined by 17.0 percent in May compared to May last year, after a drop of 21.6 percent in April. In the full 27-nation EU, industrial production grew by 0.1 percent in May month on month, and declined by 15.9 percent over the year.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
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
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique