LABOR
Google settles suit
Alphabet Inc’s Google has reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount with Chelsey Glasson, who said she faced discrimination by the search giant after she became pregnant. Glasson sued Google in 2020 after repeated efforts to report pregnancy discrimination were ignored, she said in October last year. She estimated that her legal fight would cost more than US$100,000 and take a heavy toll on her mental health. Glasson said that her experience at Google left her with insomnia, panic attacks and heart palpitations. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Glasson confirmed the settlement, but did not provide details.
JAPAN
PM touts ‘new capitalism’
The benefits of growth should not belong to a limited group, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday, as he faced questions in parliament over policies that some say are negative for stock prices. “Capitalism isn’t sustainable unless it is something that belongs to all stakeholders,” Kishida said of his “new capitalism” policies. “From that point of view, it’s important to accept that the fruits of growth are flowing to shareholders and to think about that situation.” While the full details of Kishida’s economic policy program have yet to be unveiled, he has talked of a shift away from shareholder-focused capitalism and a bid to expand the middle classes.
REAL ESTATE
Colliers sees expansion
Colliers International Group Inc expects more real-estate investment trusts (REITs) to be formed in India’s nascent market following the robust performance of their listed peers in the country. “We expect a lot more REITs to happen over the next one year, given that all REITs have done well in spite of uncertainties,” Ramesh Nair, chief executive officer for the property consultancy firm’s Indian operations, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Going forward, there would also be industrial and retail REITs, while office REITs will continue.”
LOGISTICS
GXO nears Clipper buyout
GXO Logistics Inc reached a preliminary agreement to buy Clipper Logistics PLC for about ￡943 million (US$1.29 billion) in a deal that would combine two global supply chain management giants. Greenwich, Connecticut-based GXO’s offer is valued at ￡9.20 per share for Clipper, with ￡6.90 in cash and the rest in new GXO shares, the companies said in a statement on Sunday. London-based Clipper said its board would unanimously recommend the offer to shareholders. Clipper handles logistics for many major European retailers including Asda Stores Ltd and ASOS PLC. GXO operates hundreds of warehouses globally.
METALS
Amplats plans payout
Anglo American Platinum Ltd (Amplats) is to pay out 80 billion rands (US$5.26 billion) in dividends after the world’s biggest platinum miner by market value reported bumper profit driven by surging metal prices and higher output, it said yesterday. The Johannesburg-based company’s dividend equates to 100 percent of headline earnings, it said in a statement. Amplats declared a second-half payout, including a special dividend, of 33 billion rands, or 125 rands per share, raising the full-year return to 80 billion rands. The payout beefs up the coffers of Anglo American PLC, which owns about 79 percent of Amplats — one of its most profitable units.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
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