■TELECOMS
Fujitsu, Toshiba may merge
Japanese electronics giants Fujitsu and Toshiba are in talks toward integrating their mobile businesses to create the country’s second-largest cellphone maker, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. The firms are likely to set up a joint venture later this year to combine their handset operations, which would be the largest cellphone maker only after industry leader Sharp, it said. Fujitsu is expected to hold a majority stake, the paper said without citing sources. Fujitsu manufactures handsets for the nation’s top mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo, while Toshiba mainly supplies phones to the second-leading carrier, KDDI.
■INTERNET
Twitter buys Smallthought
Twitter said on Thursday it had bought Smallthought Systems, a small Web analytics firm. “As we grow, analytics becomes an increasingly crucial part of improving our service,” Kevin Weil, the head of analytics at the micro-blogging service, said in a blog post. Weil said the San Francisco-based Twitter was particularly interested in a tool from Smallthought called Trendly, which allows users to sort through analytics data from Google. The four-member team at Smallthought “will focus on integrating ideas from Trendly into our current tools and building innovative realtime products for our future commercial partners,” Weil said. Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.
■INDIA
April output rose 17.6%
Industrial output grew by a better-than-expected 17.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the eighth straight month of double-digit expansion, official data showed yesterday. Production by factories jumped 19.4 percent, while mines grew by 11.4 percent and utilities 6 percent. Analysts had forecast monthly growth at near 13 percent, close to the March output growth figure. Growth in recent months has been led by manufacturing and services as consumer demand continues to improve. In April, the central bank hiked key interest rates for the second time in a month as inflation, being driven by spiralling food prices, spilled over into the wider economy.
■ITALY
Austerity plan may cut GDP
The’s central bank warned on Thursday that an austerity plan approved by the government for the next two years may reduce growth. “Over the years 2011-2012, GDP growth may be reduced overall by a bit more than half a percentage point under the effects of less consumption and investment,” said Salvatore Rossi, the Bank of Italy’s director for economic research. The measures, worth nearly 25 billion euros (US$30 billion), appear “adequate” to achieve the goal of reducing the public deficit to 2.7 percent of GDP in 2012, Rossi told a Senate hearing on the plan approved last month.
■UNITED STATES
May budget deficit falls
The budget deficit fell last month from a year earlier but remains on track to easily exceed US$1 trillion, a Treasury Department report showed on Thursday. As Washington debates ways to cut government spending, the Treasury said the deficit so far this fiscal year, starting in October 2009, was US$935.61 billion, down from about US$992 billion in the same period last year. The total deficit for the last fiscal year was US$1.42 trillion. Last month, the budget gap was US$135.93 billion, slightly smaller than forecast, following a US$82.69 billion shortfall in April. The May deficit stood at US$189.65 billion last year.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
REGIONAL PEACE: The US is supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities by providing the nation with defensive arms and services, as it aims to maintain cross-strait stability The US on Friday reiterated its support for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities in a statement affirming its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region. The White House said that Washington has supported Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through a range of security assistance authorities and resources, including the first-ever use of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Taiwan, as well as International Military Education and Training (IMET). US President Joe Biden had identified the Indo-Pacific as the critical region for the future of the US and the world, it said. “In pursuit of regional peace, security and stability, we have reinvested in our defense
CONFLICT RISK: China’s hostile actions toward Taiwan could ‘precipitate a severe cross-strait crisis involving the United States,’ the report said There is a “moderate” likelihood of a cross-strait war this year that could have a “high” impact on US interests, a survey by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said on Tuesday. “Intensified military and economic pressure by China toward Taiwan” is listed among other “top conflicts to watch in 2025” as a “Tier I (High Priority)” potential war, the think tank’s Center for Preventative Action (CPA) said in a report. China’s hostile actions toward Taiwan could “precipitate a severe cross-strait crisis involving the United States and other countries in the region,” the report said, adding that such a scenario could
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