■ FINANCE
Mizuho linked with Merrill
Mizuho Corporate Bank is in final negotiations to invest ?140 billion (US$1.3 billion) in Merrill Lynch & Co, a news report said yesterday. The Japanese bank is likely to purchase shares representing a stake of several percent by the end of the month at the request of the US firm, according to a report in the Nikkei business daily. Mizuho spokesman Hiroaki Kanno said he was aware of the Nikkei report but that he "absolutely could not comment." He wouldn't say whether Mizuho and Merrill were in negotiations.
■ INTERNET
Facebook won't go public
The hot Internet social networking company Facebook probably won't try to go public this year, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview. "I think what I can announce is that it's highly unlikely that we will go public in 2008," Zuckerberg told CBS news program 60 Minutes in an interview aired on Sunday. Zuckerberg said the company could make an initial public offering later. "When going public makes sense to do, we'll do that. Maybe that's two years out. Maybe it's three years out," he said. Microsoft Corp paid US$240 million in October for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook, valuing the startup at US$15 billion.
■ AVIATION
Airline planning IPO
The Vietnamese government said yesterday that it has allowed Vietnam Airlines to hire an international consultant to advise on its initial public offering (IPO), which could see the national carrier sell up to 20 percent of its shares to foreign investors. The IPO will boost the airline's capital base while allowing the state to retain control with a stake of 70 percent to 80 percent, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said in a statement on the government's Web site. The airline will sell between a 10 percent and 20 percent stake to strategic investors, he said, giving no specific date for the share sale. Vietnam Airlines' shares will be listed on the country's stock market later this year, the official said.
■ TECHNOLOGY
Panasonic battery best
Japan's Panasonic has created the world's longest-lasting alkaline battery, according to Guinness World Records. Panasonic promises its new Evolta battery cell -- whose name is derived from "evolution" and "voltage" -- will keep gadgets running 20 percent longer than offerings from rivals Duracell and Energizer, as well as its own upscale Oxyride batteries. Guinness certified Evolta in a Tokyo ceremony yesterday as "the longest lasting AA alkaline battery cell," based on testing under guidelines set by the industry's International Electrotechnical Commission.
■ FINANCE
Jianyin may buy out partner
Morgan Stanley's Chinese partner is considering buying the US banking giant's entire stake in their local joint venture, state media reported yesterday. Jianyin Investment Ltd, indirectly owned by sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, may acquire the 34.3 percent stake in China International Capital Corp (CICC) from Morgan Stanley, the 21st Century Business Herald said. Jianyin Investment is already the largest shareholder of the joint venture, holding a 43.35-percent stake.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu