■ Property trusts
Retiree loses listing lawsuit
Hong Kong's highest court yesterday approved the listing of what could be the world's biggest property trust, rejecting a legal challenge filed by an elderly woman living in public housing. The judgment from the Court of Final Appeal ended an eight-month legal wrangle that delayed the government's sale of the LINK real-estate investment trust. The US$3 billion property trust includes 151 government-owned shopping centers and 79,000 parking spaces. The government was forced to shelve the deal on the eve of the listing in December because it was challenged by Lo Siu-lan (盧少蘭), a 67-year-old retiree living in public housing. Lo argued that the listing -- set up by the Housing Authority -- violated the housing code. The tenacious Lo has became a celebrity and a rallying figure for activists who believe business is too powerful in this global financial capital.
■ Piracy
Schools ink download deal
The University of California and California State University systems have struck deals to offer their students legal music and movie downloading services to curb rampant piracy. The agreement with Cdigix Inc covers roughly 600,000 students at 13 University of California and 23 Cal State campuses, making it among the largest such deals to date, the company announced on Monday. The company, based in Englewood, Colorado, charges US$3 a month for the music service and US$5.99 a month for the video service. More than 50 colleges and universities in the US offer licensed music services to their students, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
■ Internet
Google boosts Yahoo figures
Yahoo, the rapidly growing Internet site, may be struggling to keep up with the even faster growth of its rival Google, but it owns a substantial consolation prize: a large number of Google shares. On Tuesday, Yahoo said it earned US$755 million in the second quarter and US$563 million of that came from gains in selling about US$1 billion in Google shares that it received in an earlier business deal and the settlement of a patent suit last year. Excluding the stock gain, Yahoo earned US$192 million, an increase of 66 percent. That was US$0.13 a share, matching analysts' expectations. Overall, Yahoo had revenue of US$1.25 billion, up 51 percent from the period a year ago.
■ Data theft
Firms reject CardSystems
Visa USA Inc and American Express Co are cutting ties with the payment-processing company that left 40 million credit and debit card accounts vulnerable to hackers in one of the biggest breaches of consumer data security. CardSystems Solutions Inc "has not corrected, and cannot at this point correct, the failure to provide proper data security for Visa accounts," Rosetta Jones, a vice president at Visa, said in a statement. Atlanta-based CardSystems released a statement saying it was "disappointed and very surprised," and hoped Visa would reconsider. The company did not address American Express' decision. MasterCard International Inc is taking a different tack with CardSystems. The credit-card company expects CardSystems to develop a plan for improving its security by Aug. 31, "and as of today, we are not aware of any deficiencies in its systems that are incapable of being remediated," spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin said.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
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