GAMBLING
Macau casino revenue falls
Macau casino revenue fell to the lowest in more than four years amid China’s slowing economy and a graft crackdown that deterred high-rollers. A surprise easing of Chinese travel restrictions to the territory might bring some relief. Gross gaming revenue last month fell 36.2 percent to 17.4 billion patacas (US$2.2 billion), according to data released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. The decline last month has eased for a fourth straight month since February, when gaming revenue plunged 48.6 percent for the worst monthly drop on record. The year-to-date drop is 37 percent.
ENTERTAINMENT
Cirque du Soleil to be sold
Canada on Tuesday approved the sale of the government-owned Cirque du Soleil to a US investment fund and its Chinese partners, according to officials. US private equity firm TPG and China’s Fosun International Ltd (復星國際) bought the Quebec circus juggernaut for an undisclosed sum in April as the carnival looks to expand in Asia. Canadian Minister of Industry James Moore said the sale would benefit the nation economically, adding that Canadians would remain in key positions within the company.
INTERNET
Google wins YouTube battle
Google Inc on Tuesday won a legal victory over German performing rights organization Gema, which had sought to make the company’s video-sharing service YouTube pay each time users watched music videos by artists it represents. A Munich court rejected Gema’s demand that YouTube pay 0.37 euros per view of certain videos. In its claim, Gema had picked out a sample of 1,000 videos, which it said would cost YouTube about 1.6 million euros. The Munich court ruling, which has not yet been published in full, might still be appealed by Gema.
TRANSPORTATION
Asciano given takeover offer
Australian ports and rail operator Asciano Ltd yesterday said it had received an A$8.8 billion (US$6.8 billion) takeover offer from Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Group and was considering the proposal. Asciano said the cash and stock offer valued its shares at A$9.05. The proposal, subject to Brookfield’s due diligence, would be by scheme of arrangement, meaning only 50 percent of shareholders must support the deal for it to go ahead. It would also need the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai’s sales decline
Hyundai Motor Co’s sales fell for a third straight month, dragged down by a slump in overseas deliveries as unfavorable currency-exchange rates undermine its ability to compete against Japanese automakers. Deliveries fell 1.2 percent to 408,026 vehicles last month from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. Overseas sales declined 2.2 percent to 345,224 units, while deliveries at home climbed 4.8 percent.
ECONOMY
Inflation rises in Indonesia
Inflation rose in Indonesia last month as tens of millions of Muslims observing the Islamic holy month spent extra cash on food, government data showed yesterday. The consumer price index rose 7.26 percent year-on-year, the government’s statistics agency said. Inflation in May was 7.15 percent. Despite inflation being higher than the previous month, last month’s figure was lower than that forecast by economists.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, she and her friends were spending hours on ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Goddard Strahan developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers. One night, her skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on her face, and her cheeks turn
Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) yesterday warned against the tendency to label stakeholders as either “pro-China” or “pro-US,” calling such rigid thinking a “trap” that could impede policy discussions. Liu, an adviser to the Cabinet’s Economic Development Committee, made the comments in his keynote speech at the committee’s first advisers’ meeting. Speaking in front of Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and other officials, Liu urged the public to be wary of falling into the “trap” of categorizing people involved in discussions into either the “pro-China” or “pro-US” camp. Liu,
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a
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