■ Internet
IBM buys security firm
IBM Corp said yesterday it will spend US$1.3 billion in cash to acquire Internet Security Systems Inc, which performs network monitoring and analysis services for companies. The deal values ISS at US$28 a share, an 8 percent premium to ISS's close at US$26 on Tuesday on the NASDAQ Stock Market. If the acquisition is approved by shareholders, the companies expect it to close in the fourth quarter. New York-based IBM has now agreed to buy three public companies this month alone. Two weeks ago it reached a pact to buy document-management software provider FileNet Corp for US$1.6 billion. On Aug. 3 Big Blue agreed to spend US$740 million for MRO Software Inc, which helps industrial companies track physical assets.
■ Software
Microsoft clinches ad deal
Microsoft Corp has struck a deal to provide advertising for social networking site Facebook, in one of the first high-profile agreements for the software maker's online advertising platform. Under the deal announced late on Tuesday, Microsoft will sell and provide banner ads and sponsored links for Facebook using the adCenter online advertising platform and other in-house technology and services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to run through mid-2009. Microsoft and privately held Facebook said they only began discussing a deal in earnest late last week, and the companies hope the advertising would start appearing by early fall. Facebook is currently selling advertising on its own and has in the past used a couple other companies for that service, said Owen Van Natta, Facebook's chief operating officer.
■ Mining
Workers lower demands
Striking workers at the world's largest copper mine have lowered their wage-increase demand from 10 percent to 8 percent in an effort to resume contract talks after a two-week stoppage at la Escondida, a labor union spokesman said. "We have decided to show maximum flexibility, because we really want an end to this conflict," union spokesman Pedro Marin said by telephone from Antofagasta, 1,400km north of the Chilean capital of Santiago. Marin said a one-time, end-of-conflict bonus that is under negotiation will depend on the length of the contract finally agreed upon. He said the contract could be from three to four years.
■ Mining
BHP Billiton profits soar
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd yesterday said its annual net profit surged 63 percent, setting a new Australian corporate earnings record thanks to soaring metal prices and insatiable demand from China. It earned US$10.45 billion for the year through June, smashing the previous national record of US$6.4 billion set by BHP Billiton last year. The Melbourne-based company reports its earnings in the US currency. Record annual production volumes of aluminum, copper, iron ore, nickel and natural gas lifted earnings, BHP Billiton said. "China's economic growth is expected to remain strong, even if attempts to cool strong growth are successful," it said. BHP Billiton also said it was buying back a further US$3 billion worth of its own stock over the next 18 months, bringing total share buybacks announced this year to US$5 billion.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA