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.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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