■ TAKEOVERS
Dow Jones seeks alternative
Dow Jones & Co board members set a meeting with tycoon Ron Burkle, a source close to the situation said on Monday, amid reports the firm was making a final push for an alternative to a hostile bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The source said that Burkle, a Los Angeles billionaire, was to meet a committee from the board of Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and owner of other media outlets yesterday. There was no comment on the situation from Dow Jones.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Growth forecast up
South Korea's central bank yesterday raised its growth forecast for this year, citing strong exports and a recent recovery in domestic spending and said the economy would also expand faster next year. The Bank of Korea raised its GDP growth prediction for this year to 4.5 percent from a 4.4 percent estimate made in late December. It said GDP would likely expand 4.7 percent in the second half, in line with initial estimates, after growing 4.4 percent in the six months to last month -- above its initial forecast of 4 percent.
■ AVIATION
Ryanair takes EU to court
Ryanair Holdings PLC, the discount airline prevented from buying rival Aer Lingus, said yesterday it will take to court EU competition authorities over their alleged failure to enforce competition rules fairly. Ryanair said it would take the EU to court because it has refused to act on at least four complaints filed by the Dublin-based carrier since 2005 involving Lufthansa, Air France, Alitalia and Olympic Airlines of Greece. The EU, which on June 27 vetoed Ryanair's ambition to acquire recently privatized Irish airline Aer Lingus, offered no immediate comment.
■ ELECTRONICS
LG.Philips announces profit
LG.Philips LCD Co, the world's second-largest manufacturer of liquid- crystal displays, announced yesterday its first quarterly profit in more than a year amid strong sales, stabilizing prices and cost cuts. The company said it earned 228 billion won (US$248 million) in the three months ended June 30. LG.Philips posted a net loss of 322 billion won in the second quarter last year. The company had suffered four straight quarterly losses amid falling prices for panels used in flat screen TVs and computer monitors. Sales during the quarter surged 45 percent to 3.36 trillion won from 2.32 trillion won a year earlier. The analysts had expected sales of 3.2 trillion won.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
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