■ JAPAN
Industrial output hits record
Industrial production rose sequentially by 1.6 percent last month to a record high, boosted by output of semiconductors and autos, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday. Production dropped 1.4 percent in September after jumping 3.5 percent in August. The index of industrial output climbed to 112.1 against a base of 100 for the year 2000. That's the highest the production index has recorded since the government began tracking relevant production data in 1953, the ministry said. Still, analysts remained skeptical whether Japan's output could continue growing amid recent sluggishness in the housing construction sector.
■ BANKING
Temasek sells China stocks
Singapore's state investment agency said it sold shares in two Chinese banks this week, netting more than US$500 million in proceeds. Temasek sold 280 million shares in China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行) on Wednesday, representing less than 2 percent of its holding in the bank, a company spokeswoman said yesterday. Two days earlier, Temasek confirmed it sold 1.08 billion shares in Bank of China (中國銀行) for HK$4.45 billion (US$570 million), reducing its stake in the mainland lender from 15.5 percent to 14.2 percent. Both sales were part of Temasek's ongoing rebalancing of its portfolio, the spokeswoman said in a statement.
■ ELECTRONICS
Canon to build new plant
Japanese high-tech giant Canon Inc announced yesterday plans to spend ?80 billion (US$727 million) on a new domestic plant to step up production of toner cartridges amid growing demand. Canon will start construction of the new plant in December next year in Hita City in the southern prefecture of Oita, with operations expected to begin in September 2009, the group said. "In recent years, steadily growing demand for toner cartridges and other consumables has created a pressing need to expand production capacity," a company statement said. Canon expects record profits this year on the back of brisk sales of digital cameras and printers.
■ ADVERTISING
Adobe, Yahoo team up
Adobe Systems Inc and Yahoo Inc were to launch a service yesterday allowing publishers to insert ads into many online newsletters or other electronic documents. The deal requires publishers to opt into the program, and it will distribute revenue from advertisers between publishers, Adobe and Yahoo. Financial details were not disclosed. The service marks the first time Adobe has allowed dynamic ads into portable document format, or PDF, documents. Dynamic ads -- like those placed online through Google Inc -- can be updated for particular audiences, or rotated so the same reader never sees the same ad twice.
■ SEMICONDUCTORS
Hynix welcomes ruling
South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor welcomed yesterday a WTO ruling that Japan's punitive tariffs on imports of its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips were illegal under international trade rules. Japan imposed 27.2 percent tariffs in January last year on DRAM chips produced by the world's second-largest memory chipmaker. Japan accused Hynix of selling subsidized products, while South Korea insisted the duties breached world trade rules. The WTO's appellate body made its ruling on Wednesday.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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