TECHNOLOGY
Jobs to host conference
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is taking a break from medical leave today to preside over the opening of the company’s annual conference for software developers. And in a break from Apple’s usual practice of shrouding its events in an air of mystery, the California gadget-maker this time revealed ahead of time some of what it plans to announce at the event in San Francisco. In a press release, Apple said Jobs and other executives will unveil the next generation of Lion, the software that powers Macintosh computers, and iOS 5, the next version of the mobile operating system for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple described the previously unknown iCloud as its “upcoming cloud services offering,” but provided no further details of what awaits at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
TECHNOLOGY
Hackers target Nintendo
Nintendo was targeted in a recent online data attack, but no personal or company information was lost, the Japanese maker of the Wii game console said yesterday. The server of an affiliate of Nintendo Co’s US unit was accessed unlawfully a few weeks ago, but there was no damage, company spokesman Ken Toyoda said. “There were no third-party victims,” Toyoda said, while declining to elaborate. “But it is a fact there was some kind of possible hacking attack.” The damage from what could be a recent spate of such data breaches targeting big-name brands was more serious at rival Sony Corp.
MARKETS
Regulator optimistic on MSCI
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) stock market regulator is “optimistic” about an upgrade at MSCI Inc, said Abdullah Al Turaifi, chief executive officer of the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority. He was speaking in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Index provider MSCI will announce on June 21 its decision on whether to upgrade the UAE and Qatar to emerging market status from frontier market status.
FOODSTUFFS
Asda to make Iceland bid
Asda, the UK supermarket chain owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, plans to bid for Iceland Foods Ltd, the UK-based frozen-food chain, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information. William Morrison Supermarkets PLC and Malcolm Walker, the chief executive officer of Iceland Foods, are also interested in buying the company, which is being sold by creditors of the failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki Islands HF, the newspaper reported. Iceland Foods is valued at between ￡1.2 billion (US$2 billion) and ￡1.6 billion, the Sunday Times said.
ITALY
Ease budget: Berlusconi ally
One of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s closest political allies called yesterday for tight clamps on public spending to be eased to boost growth, dismissing fears of a Greek-style budget crisis. In an interview with the daily La Repubblica, Culture Minister Giancarlo Galan, a Berlusconi loyalist since the billionaire media entrepreneur began his political career in 1994, attacked Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti. “I am absolutely convinced that if we don’t change course as far as economic policy is concerned, we will lose the elections,” he said. “We may get to 2013 [when elections are due,] but we would be a government without any consensus in a country with its accounts in order.” The comments are the latest to point to division in Berlusconi’s center-right government over economic policy and the position of Tremonti.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
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