■ AUTOMOBILES
SAIC watching GM’s IPO
SAIC Motor Corp (上海汽車工業) said it’s “closely watching” the initial public offering (IPO) of General Motors Co after Reuters reported the Chinese firm was in talks to buy a stake in the US automaker. The US Treasury holds a 61 percent stake in GM following a US$50 billion taxpayer bailout for the Detroit-based carmaker, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June last year. SAIC, GM’s partner in China, was in talks to buy a stake in the carmaker, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. GM’s IPO will likely be open to overseas investors as the US Treasury seeks to pare its stake in the firm.
■ENERGY
BP spill fund paying out
BP said payouts to people affected by its Gulf of Mexico oil spill had dramatically increased since it surrendered authority for dispensing funds to an independent administrator. BP said the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the US$20 billion fund it set up to compensate fishermen, hoteliers and retailers whose business was hit by the spill, had paid out 19,000 claims totaling more than US$240 million. The total cost of the spill response has hit US$9.5 billion, BP said in a statement late on Sunday.
■ ECONOMY
UK loans, money supply dip
Lending to UK businesses fell for the fifth month running in July and home loan approvals dropped to their lowest in more than a year, data showed, fueling concerns about the country’s economic recovery. Separately, the Bank of England said M4 broad money supply fell 0.2 percent on the month last month, but up 1.8 percent on the year — the weakest annual growth rate since monthly records began in July 1983. The bank’s Trends in Lending report yesterday showed the net monthly flow of lending contracted by £2.5 billion (US$3.9 billion) in July, following a £3.2 billion decline in June. Net lending to businesses was down 5.7 percent on the year, compared with a fall of 7.9 percent in June and the smallest fall since August last year.
■ REAL ESTATE
England, Wales prices drop
Property asking prices in England and Wales fell for a third consecutive month this month and have lost half the gains they made in the first six months of the year, a survey showed yesterday. Property Web site Rightmove, which claims to capture 90 percent of all homes put up for sale across England and Wales, said asking prices fell 1.1 percent this month, following drops of 1.7 percent last month and 0.6 percent in July. The annual rate of growth slipped to 2.6 percent from 4.3 percent. Rightmove’s findings chime with other polls showing house prices have fallen in recent months amid rising supply and nervousness ahead of big government spending cuts.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Broccoli join bid for MGM
The Broccoli family, producers of the James Bond movies and co-owners of the franchise with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM), are involved in Sahara India Pariwar’s US$2 billion bid to buy the debt-laden studio, a person with knowledge of the offer said. Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother, Michael Wilson, are part of the Sahara India offer and would receive an undisclosed equity stake in MGM if it succeeds, said the person, who sought anonymity because the discussions are private. It wasn’t clear whether Broccoli and Wilson would have a management role in the Los Angeles-based studio, the person said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS