■ Online music
Virgin to offer new service
Virgin Group Ltd, the company founded by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, plans to start an online music service in the US and the UK later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The service, called Virgin Digital, will be provided by Internet music wholesaler MusicNet and consumers will be able to buy individual songs, music albums online or subscribe to a membership service, the paper said. London-based Virgin plans to offer the service through kiosks in its stores and also via its mobile phones; the company declined to provide information on the cost of the service, the newspaper said.
■ Risk
Investors taking chances
Investors have given international financial markets a boost by recovering their "robust appetite for risk," the Bank for International Settlements said in its quarterly review yesterday. The BIS found that the investment climate had improved so much since markets rallied one year ago that it was not even unsettled by fresh revelations of major accounting scandals such as the collapse of the Italian dairy giant Parmalat. "Financial markets around the world rallied into the new year, adding to the impressive gains recorded in 2003," the BIS said. "Improvements in global growth prospects and corporate finances, coupled with a robust appetite for risk, underpinned increases in equity and credit prices," it added.
■ Investment
Singapore to go shopping
The Singapore government's investment arm will spend S$100 million (US$58.6 million) to buy stakes in small and medium-sized companies throughout Asia over the next 12 months, a spokeswoman said yesterday. Acquisitions in commodities and agricultural companies may be included in addition to further investment in manufacturing and services in the region, said Rachel Lin, a spokeswoman for the government's Temasek Holdings. Through Temasek, the government has spent S$72 million (US$42.2 million) on small and medium-sized companies since July 2002, including stakes in electronics distributor Autron Corp, water company Hyflux Ltd, and car parts distributor YHI International. It also invested in Chinese shipping company, Cosco Corp.
■ Finance
Macquarie buys ING unit
Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd said yesterday it had agreed to buy the Asian share-dealing businesses of Dutch financial services company ING Groep NV, including operations in nine countries of Asia. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Macquarie chief executive Allan Moss called the deal "significant" because of its earning potential. He said it would also increase Macquarie's staff numbers by 8 percent. The transaction, which would be completed before July 31, will help Macquarie's position in the Asia Pacific region, Moss said. "Macquarie's management team is enormously excited about the potential for financial services in Asia and the opportunities this acquisition presents to strengthen our business and team in our region," he said in a statement.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
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