■ 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.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
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