■ TRADE
EU takes dispute to WTO
The EU has requested WTO talks to resolve a dispute with Bangkok over Thai customs measures, the EU said on Sunday. The EU claims Thai authorities frequently reject the declared price of imported EU products and impose an arbitrary price. An EU statement said the practice violates WTO rules and was particularly damaging for European wine and spirits exports. It said the EU took the case to the WTO on Friday. "These measures are arbitrary and damaging for EU companies seeking to do business in Thailand," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said. "We believe they are not compatible with WTO rules." The EU said it was turning to the WTO after failing to resolve the issue in bilateral talks with Thailand.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Ericsson inks deals
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd, the world's fourth-largest maker of mobile phones, signed accords with 10 major record labels to widen its content offer. The music labels include Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, IODA, Bonnier Amigo and VidZone, the London-based company said on Sunday. Artists represented by the labels include Norah Jones and Bruce Springsteen. The move expands the company's PlayNow catalog and will add more than 5 million new tracks to its catalog, the company said. PlayNow will become available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland in May, and more European markets by the end of the second quarter. The company will roll out the catalog in the Americas and Asia in the third and fourth quarters.
■ ACQUISITIONS
Nokia acquires Trolltech
Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, agreed to buy Norway's Trolltech ASA to accelerate its software strategy and develop Internet services. Nokia offered 16 kroner (US$2.91) per share, the Finnish company said yesterday in a statement.
■ ACQUISITIONS
Mozilo gives up US$38m
Countrywide Financial Corp CEO Angelo Mozilo will voluntarily give up US$37.5 million in severance and consulting pay in connection with the proposed takeover by Bank of America Corp. Mozilo's stock and employee equity awards will be treated the same as that of other shareholders and employees if the US$4.2 billion sale goes through, Countrywide said in a statement released at midnight on Sunday. "My primary focus today, as it has been for the past 40 years, is to do what is in the best interests of Countrywide's employees, customers and shareholders," Mozilo said in the statement. Under the terms of the deal, Mozilo would be entitled to US$36.4 million in cash severance pay and US$400,000 per year in consulting fees, as well as the use of a private airplane, Countrywide said. Mozilo held 0.24 percent of Countrywide's shares valued around US$8 million as of Oct. 12 last year, Bloomberg data shows.
■ UAE
Business courts to be set up
The Abu Dhabi government plans to set up special courts to deal with economic disputes as part of its efforts to attract foreign investment, the official WAM news agency said on Sunday. The courts will handle financial, investment and industrial cases. "The powerful economic development witnessed in the emirate makes an effective judicial system a must," judiciary department undersecretary Sultan al Baadi said.
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
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
There is no need for one country to control the semiconductor industry, which is complex and needs a division of labor, Taiwan’s top technology official said yesterday after US President Donald Trump criticized the nation’s chip dominance. Trump repeated claims on Thursday that Taiwan had taken the industry and he wanted it back in the US, saying he aimed to restore US chip manufacturing. National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) did not name Trump in a Facebook post, but referred to President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments on Friday that Taiwan would be a reliable partner in the