■ Plastics
EU to ban chemical from toys
EU governments were congratulated by campaigners on Friday for finally agreeing to ban a type of chemical from children's toys following five years of debate. The chemicals, known as "phthalates," which are used to soften toys made of otherwise rigid PVC plastic, are suspected to cause cancer, kidney damage and disruption of the body's hormonal and reproductive systems. EU ministers agreed to ban three phthalates -- DEHP, DBP and BBP -- from all toys and childcare articles. Three other phthalates -- DINP, DIDP and DNOP -- would be banned from use in toys intended for children under three years of age and which could be placed in their mouth. Environmental campaigners urged the European Parliament to endorse the agreement to enable it to take effect.
■ Media
Viacom reaches out in China
MTV and Nickelodeon, two cable channels owned by the media conglomerate Viacom Inc, announced several deals on Friday to expand their reach in China. MTV is tripling the reach of its 24-hour channel in China's Guangdong Province to 10 million by the end of the year, the company said in a statement. It also entered an agreement with Beijing Television, a regional broadcaster, to produce Chinese-language music and entertainment programs for BTV. China's state broadcaster, CCTV, also expanded its agreement with Nickelodeon to gain rights to all episodes of Nickelodeon's animated shows CatDog and The Wild Thornberrys, which have been top ratings performers on CCTV's new channel for children.
■ Telecoms
DoCoMo, Cingular join hands
Japan's NTT DoCoMo will join hands with Cingular Wireless of the US, aiming to unify technical specifications for third-generation (3G) cellphones and services, a press report said on Thursday. The alliance between the biggest Japanese and US cellphone service providers is expected to lead to cheaper handsets and improved services, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, without naming sources. Cingular is set to become the largest US mobile service firm through its planned acquisition of AT and T Wireless Services, in which DoCoMo has a 16-percent stake. DoCoMo and Cingular have already entered behind-the-scenes negotiations centering on technical aspects, the daily said, adding they aimed to reach an accord in the first half of next year. A DoCoMo-Cingular partnership would cover some 90 million customers, making it second only to the UK's Vodafone Group among cellphone service providers in Japan, the US and Europe, the Nihon Keizai said.
■ Auto Industry
Toyota expands US plant
Toyota on Friday announced plans to double the size of its engine plant in Huntsville with a US$250 million expansion that will add 300 jobs. Toyota officials said they plan to increase the number of V8 engines built at the plant for the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia SUVs. The move would be in addition to plans announced last year to expand the Huntsville operation to include production of V6 engines for the Tundra and for the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Toyota Motor North America senior Vice President Dennis Cuneo said there are currently 365 employees at the plant and the two expansions will increase the total number of workers to about 800. Cuneo said construction would begin early next year and that the plant hopes to be turning out the additional engines in 2006.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS