■ PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis buying Protez
Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis AG said yesterday it is buying US-based antibiotics developer Protez Pharmaceuticals Inc. Protez, based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is in the second phase of clinical trials for a broad-spectrum antibiotic to treat multi-drug resistant bacteria strains such as MRSA. Antibiotic resistant infections cause more than 100,000 deaths a year in the US and Europe, Novartis said. The deal will involve an initial payment of US$100 million, with the potential for additional payments of up to US$300 million depending on the success of the new antibiotic, Novartis said.
■ METALS
Sinosteel lifts Midwest stake
China’s Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼) said yesterday it has boosted its stake in Australian iron ore miner and developer Midwest Corp to 28.4 percent from 19.9 percent. The Chinese metals trader, which is battling Murchison Metals Ltd for Midwest, is bidding A$1.36 billion (US$1.3 billion) in an offer that ends next Friday. Sinosteel had 60.4 million Midwest shares as of Tuesday, up from 42.4 million at Feb. 20, the company said in notice to the Australian Securities Exchange. It has been buying Midwest shares at A$6.38 each, and last week dropped its condition for 50.1 percent shareholder approval for the bid.
■ OIL
India raises fuel prices
The soaring cost of oil forced India to raise fuel prices for the second time this year, a top official said yesterday. India imports nearly 75 percent of the crude oil it needs, while controlling the domestic prices of all fuel products. But the state-owned companies that sell products such as gasoline and cooking gas have been losing billions of dollars, and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters yesterday that gasoline prices were being raised 5 rupees (US$0.13) a liter and diesel prices 3 rupees (US$0.08) a liter. The price of cooking gas, meanwhile, was being raised 50 rupees (US$1.25) per cylinder. The increases went into effect at midnight.
■ INTERNET
Yahoo sets Icahn vote date
Yahoo will hold its decisive shareholder vote on the board takeover by billionaire investor Carl Icahn at its annual general meeting to be held on Aug. 1, the company announced on Tuesday. Icahn is trying to oust the board for rejecting Microsoft’s US$47.5 billion takeover offer early last month. He is proposing a rival slate of board members that would try to restart takeover negotiations with the software giant. Icahn on Tuesday said he would also press for company founder Jerry Yang (楊致遠) to step down if he is successful in gaining control of the company. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Icahn said newly unsealed court documents show that Yang and Yahoo’s board had not seriously considered the acquisition offer from Microsoft and had imposed a costly employee retention plan to effectively sabotage a deal.
■ SECURITY
Deutsche Telekom mops up
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s biggest phone company, will curb employee access to client data, its boss said yesterday as he tried to contain a scandal sparked by the group’s spying on journalists. “We are going to train staff and reduce data access rights,” chairman Rene Obermann told the weekly Die Zeit in an interview to be published today, but which was released in advance. Obermann reiterated a pledge to “do everything to guarantee the highest level of security with respect to data concerning our clients.”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
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