■ Automobiles
Morris Garages is no more
MG's new Chinese owner, the Nanjing Automobile Group, has opted to drop the heritage associated with the marque best known for rakish sports cars and change the meaning of the initials. The letters in the classic octagon logo now stand for "Modern Gentleman" instead of "Morris Garages." According to Nanjing, the name-change fits in with the buyers the company now wishes to attract. MG was first founded in 1923 by British car enthusiast Cecil Kimber, who started out by modifying Morris cars to make them go faster, hence the original name.
■ Banking
Macquarie acquires ACM
Australian financial heavyweight Macquarie Bank has bought US newspaper publisher American Consolidated Media (ACM) for US$80 million and could further boost its US interests, it said yesterday. Macquarie Media Group Ltd acquired ACM, which publishes 40 newspapers distributed in nine regional communities in the US states of Texas and Oklahoma. Macquarie Bank also said it was interested in other community newspapers. In the 11 months to November, ACM posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of A$8.9 million with an EBITDA margin of 25.1 percent.
■ Computing
LeBron signs for Microsoft
The ever-expanding LeBron James empire is entering a new realm. Microsoft Corp is using the NBA star to promote next week's consumer release of its new Windows Vista operating system. James is the first NBA player that the Redmond, Washington-based software giant has used to promote its products, Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said. And Vista may not be the last Microsoft project for the Cleveland Cavaliers guard. Microsoft declined to reveal how much it paid James, who turned 22 last month. When he was still a senior at Akron's St Vincent-St Mary High School, James signed a seven-year, US$90 million endorsement contract with Nike Inc.
■ Gambling
Macau surpasses Vegas
Macau surpassed the Las Vegas Strip to become the world's biggest gambling center last year, according to industry analysts and government figures released on Tuesday. Fueled by a casino investment boom and the millions of Chinese visitors flooding in, Macau said its gambling revenue soared 22 percent last year, to US$6.95 billion. Las Vegas has not yet released its own full-year statistics but analysts estimate that revenue on the Las Vegas Strip was about US$6.5 billion last year. And this year, Macau may take in US$8 billion in gambling revenue, according to industry analysts.
■ Finance
Thailand may ease reins
The Bank of Thailand said yesterday that it may consider relaxing capital control rules if authorities feel that the Thai baht can hold steady against the US dollar. "The bank does not want to impose this measure for a long time and it is ready to ease the measure if the baht's stability would not be affected," central bank head Tarisa Watanagase said. Her remarks came one day after Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula said the capital controls would remain in effect. Reserve requirements imposed last month effectively lock for a year 30 percent of any fund inflows coming into Thailand for financial investment.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
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