■ Electronics
Carriers reject iPod phone
Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless are unwilling to support an iPod mobile phone Apple Computer Inc and Motorola Inc are developing, Business Week reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The carriers are reluctant to support a phone that would let customers download music from their personal computers rather than purchase songs through their wireless service providers, the magazine reported on its Web site. Motorola delayed a planned unveiling of the iPod phone at a cellular industry conference in New Orleans this month because of lack of industry support for the handset, Business Week said, citing the unidentified people.
■ Automakers
Nissan, Audi clash over `Q'
Nissan Motor Corp said Friday its US unit has sued Audi AG over the alleged breach by the German carmaker of the copyright for the registered letter "Q" which Audi uses for its new sport utility vehicles. Nissan North America has used "Q" as the registered trademark for its luxury Infinity vehicles since 1989, according to Mia Nielsen, spokeswoman for Nissan. "Nissan North America filed a lawsuit at the US district court in Michigan so as to protect the company's rights over the letter `Q,'" Nielsen said. "We are seeking to bar Audi from using any names that could infringe on Nissan's right over the letter `Q,'" she added. Nissan said Audi's use of the Q5 and Q7 trademarks for its new SUVs might cause confusion among consumers.
■ Railways
Seibu denies buyout offer
Seibu Railway, the scandal-hit Japanese firm, yesterday denied a report that US investment bank Goldman Sachs has offered to buy it for about ¥900 billion (US$8.5 billion). "We have not officially nor informally received such an offer from Goldman Sachs," a Seibu Railway spokesman said. Goldman Sachs spokesman Orlando Camargo also issued a statement dismissing the report. "Goldman Sachs has not proposed to acquire Seibu Railway Group as has been reported today in the media," he said. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Goldman Sachs had proposed purchasing Seibu Railway shares held by the group's core company Kokudo and taking over Kokudo's debt obligations. Seibu was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December in the wake of the scandal which saw its former head, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, once dubbed the world's richest man, charged with falsifying financial statements to conceal his family's control of the company.
■ Macroeconomics
Seoul says it won't lift rates
South Korea's top economics minister said yesterday that this week's latest US interest rate hike would not be followed here as the country's economy is still only on the path to recovery. "The United States raised interest rates because of inflation jitters. However, our economy is still at a stage where signs of recovery are beginning to appear," said Han Duck-Soo, minister of finance and economy. "Therefore, it is difficult to see any linkage between the US interest rate hike and our economy," he said at a meeting of economic policy makers. He noted that inflationary pressures were still modest in South Korea given the low demand. The strength of the South Korean won also makes the prices of imported goods cheaper given the won's appreciation against the dollars, he said.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
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