■ Telecoms
NTT DoCoMo buys KTF
Japan's NTT DoCoMo will buy a 10 percent stake in South Korea's KT Freetel Ltd worth 564.9 billion won (US$554.5 million) as the two wireless telecommunications providers enter a strategic alliance agreement, KTF said yesterday. The amount represents 20.2 million shares of KTF, including 17.7 million new shares and the rest in treasury stock. NTT DoCoMo will pay 28,000 won for each share, a nearly 16 percent premium over the company's closing price yesterday.
■ Investment
Firm sorry over tax evasion
Lone Star, a US-based investment fund, has apologized for tax delinquency and pledged to pay some US$140 million in back taxes to the South Korean government, news reports said yesterday. Ellis Short, vice chairman in charge of Lone Star's European and Asian operations, made the rare apology during his low-publicity visit to South Korea's National Tax Service on Wednesday, Yonhap news agency said. Lone Star is among the five unspecified foreign investment funds under probe for tax evasion charges, according to the Korean Times newspaper.
■ Finance
Australian bank bids for LSE
Macquarie Bank Ltd, Australia's largest investment bank, yesterday made a £1.48 billion (US$2.6 billion) offer for the London Stock Exchange, matching a previous offer which the exchange rejected as too small. The bid was announced by Macquarie London Exchange Investments Limited, a newly formed English company established for the purpose of acquiring the exchange. The LSE, which has been trying to shrug off constant speculation of a takeover after also drawing interest from Euronext NV and Deutsche Boerse AG, said it had no immediate comment on the approach.
■ Internet
Google spotlights artists
Online search engine leader Google Inc will begin giving some musical artists the star treatment by spotlighting links to their songs, lyrics and other related material at the top of the results page. The music section, which was scheduled to debut yesterday, is designed to provide a more direct route to the content that most music fans want to see when they inquire about a singer or band, said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of Internet products. Among other things, Google's music section will provide lists of all the songs recorded on a specific album and also will point to places where the music can be legally downloaded.
■ Entertainment
MTV to challenge Apple
Music media giant MTV Networks is teaming up with Microsoft for a music download service that it hopes will challenge market leader Apple's iTunes, the companies said on Wednesday. The partners said that the service, to be called Urge, will debut early next year. It will be tightly integrated into the next version of Windows Media Player and offer more than 2 million songs for sale individually or as part of a subscription package. The service will also offer music over online radio. Microsoft will build the technology behind Urge, which MTV, a unit of Viacom, will own, operate and promote across its music television networks and sister companies. The service will not be compatible with Apple's iPod, which accounts for 75 percent of the market, the companies said.
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
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