■ MINING
Sterlite to buy Asarco
India’s metals and mining company Sterlite Industries said it has signed a deal to buy US copper mining company Asarco for US$2.6 billion. Sterlite, a subsidiary of British mining group Vedanta Resources, will acquire three open-pit copper mines, a copper smelter and a refinery among other assets, the company said in a statement on Saturday. “We are delighted to have reached agreement on this important acquisition. which is a significant milestone for our group,” Sterlite chairman Anil Agarwal said in the statement. The acquisition will make Sterlite the world’s third largest copper producer. Asarco, formerly known as American Smelting and Refining Company, is the third largest copper producer in the US. The agreement with Asarco marks the biggest takeover of a US firm by an Indian company.
■ INTERNET
Students sue Facebook
Students at the University of Ottawa have filed an official complaint against Facebook, accusing the social networking Web site of violating Canada’s privacy laws, Radio-Canada reported on Saturday. In a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the students said the popular US-based site sends users’ personal information to third parties for advertising and marketing activities without the users’ knowledge or consent, the report on the public broadcaster said. The students, many of whom are dedicated Facebook users, filed the complaint after studying the company’s policies and business practices in their university course, Radio-Canada reported. Launched in 2004 and now claiming 70 million active users worldwide, including seven million in Canada, Facebook is the globe’s second-most popular networking site after MySpace.
■ INVESTMENT
Aldar sells dirham bonds
Aldar Properties PJSC, Abu Dhabi’s biggest developer, started marketing its first Islamic bonds in United Arab Emirates dirhams that will help pay for new projects. The five-year Ijarah sukuk will pay a profit distribution of between 1.5 percentage points and 1.75 percentage points more than the three-month Emirates interbank offered rate, Aldar said in a filing to Abu Dhabi’s stock exchange yesterday, without indicating the size of the sale. The rate was last at 1.8875 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg News showed. Aldar on May 25 said it hired eight banks including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Credit Suisse Group AG and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc to help it sell dirham sukuk.
■ ELECTRONICS
Panasonic workers strike
About 1,000 workers at a Panasonic factory in northern Vietnam have gone on strike to demand higher pay to keep pace with the rising cost of living, state media reported yesterday. The workers at Panasonic Communications Vietnam Co, Ltd walked off the job on Saturday in Hanoi, the Dan Tri newspaper’s Web site reported. Consumer prices in Vietnam have climbed 25.2 percent in the past year, government figures showed. About 300 strikes have hit companies across the country in the first quarter of the year. It was unclear how much of a wage increase the Panasonic workers were demanding. The company has been paying its workers an average monthly salary of 1,050,000 dong (US$66), 50,000 dong higher than the minimum wage required by the government, the Dan Tri report said.
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
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
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
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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