■ COMPUTERS
Siemens sells joint venture
German engineering group Siemens said yesterday it will sell its half of its computer joint venture with Fujitsu to the Japanese group for around 450 million euros (US$566 million). Fujitsu had held an option to buy all of the nine-year-old venture known as FSC. It had 6.6 billion euros in sales in its latest fiscal year, but faces stiff competition from US rivals Dell and Hewlett-Packard. FSC, which also makes mainframe computers and servers, posted a pre-tax profit of 105 million euros last year, and has forecast that figure could double this year.
■AUTOMOBILES
US sales plummet
US auto sales plunged 32 percent last month to lows unseen in a quarter-century, led by a 45 percent drop at General Motors Corp in a sales collapse that hit every major automaker and offered little sign that the industry has hit bottom in its largest market. US auto sales fell to their weakest month since February 1983, sales data released on Monday showed. Auto sales for four European countries reporting on Monday showed the spreading effect of the slowdown. Sales fell 40 percent in Spain and 19 percent in Italy.
■BANKING
Latin American giant created
Brazilian banks Itau and Unibanco announced on Monday they were merging to create the biggest bank in Latin America, with combined assets of more than US$260 billion. The new bank — to be called Itau Unibanco — will be among the 20 biggest in the world, they said. Itau is currently the second largest private-sector bank in Brazil, and Unibanco is ranked fourth. If the all-share transaction is approved by regulators, Itau Unibanco will overshadow state-owned Banco do Brasil, currently the biggest bank in Latin America, and Bradesco, the biggest private-sector bank in Brazil. Itau will hold the majority stake in the new enterprise.
■TELECOMS
Nokia targets new markets
Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, unveiled seven new handsets aimed at consumers in emerging markets as it starts wireless Internet services in those areas. Nokia’s offering of Internet-related services for emerging markets will be available at the start of next year, the Espoo, Finland-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The associated devices are priced between 25 euros and 90 euros, with several models starting to ship this year.
■INTERNET
Criminals target Chinese
Chinese computer users have become chief targets for online criminals, a security report released on Monday by Microsoft said. Its latest assessment of threats and vulnerabilities says attackers favor hiding malicious programs in seemingly innocent Web browser applications and that China is their preferred target. “The majority of [exploits] we are finding is where the local language is set to Chinese,” said Microsoft malware protection center general manager Vinny Gullotto. “It reflects a lot of what is happening in the Chinese market. There is so much going on out there with the Internet today that it seems to be somewhat natural that we might see this happen there.” Approximately 47 percent of software “exploits” found stalking the Internet in the first half of this year were in Chinese while 23 percent were in English, the second most common language for attack programs.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
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