■ Deutsche bank
CEO Ackermann charged
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann has been charged with embezzlement tied to payouts for Mannesmann AG executives when the German wireless company was bought by Vodafone Group Plc, the prosecutors office in Dusseldorf, Germany said. Four other managers including former Mannesmann CEO Klaus Esser and IG Metall union head Klaus Zwickel have also been charged with embezzlement, Hans-Reinhard Henke, the head prosecutor in Dusseldorf, told reporters at a briefing. The regional court will now give the accused time to respond to the charges and will then decide whether to open criminal proceedings. The charges could lead to a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for the managers, including Ackermann, who was on Mannesmann's supervisory board at the time.
■ Mobile Phones
New models released
NTT DoCoMo Inc, KDDI Corp, and J. Phone Co have cut prices for their mobile phones fitted with cameras by as much as 80 percent after a surge in inventories following the release of new models, Nikkei English News reported. Some cellphone models released last year are on sale for 1 yen, Nikkei said, without citing anyone. Some large retailers are selling KDDI's au-brand video-camera model at 70 percent below the brand's introductory price last year, the report said. KDDI is Japan's second-largest mobile phone operator. NTT DoCoMo's D251i handsets are selling below ¥5,000 (US$42), down 80 percent since they were introduced last July, the newswire said. Models introduced last July by Vodafone Group Plc's J-Phone Co are selling between ¥1 and ¥100, it said.
■ US accord
Singapore firms benefit
Singapore's recent agreement with the US to eliminate tariffs on most of their two-way commerce will save companies up to S$300 million (US$178 million) a year, a Singaporean trade official said. Chemicals companies will be the biggest beneficiaries, saving S$178 million in tariffs, followed by an estimated S$54 million gain for minerals suppliers and a S$48 million advantage to electrical and electronics companies, Tommy Koh, Singapore's chief negotiator for the US free-trade agreement, said in a speech. "Those who'll benefit the most will be US multinationals based in Singapore," said Koh. US companies, such as Agilent Technologies Inc and Hewlett Packard Co, account for 60 percent of Singapore's shipments to the US, the city-state's biggest export market.
■ Cordless Phones
China may release service
China may allow Little Smart, a pilot cordless phone service operated by the country's two biggest fixed-line carriers, to go nationwide in May, Beijing's Morning Post reported, without citing sources. That would allow China Telecommunications Corp and China Netcom Communication Group Corp to set up networks in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, the newspaper said on its Web site. China so far has limited Little Smart, which is cheaper than regular cellular service, to smaller centers. Licensing it in wealthy cities such as Guangzhou will increase competition for the country's mobile duopoly, China Mobile Communi-cations Corp. and China United Telecommunications Corp.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
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