■INTERNET
MySpace’s share slips
MySpace’s share of the US online social networking market slipped while rival Facebook’s piece grew in the year leading up to this month, industry tracker Hitwise reported on Thursday. On a month-on-month basis, MySpace got 67.5 percent of the visits to social networking Web sites last month, compared with 75 percent in the same month last year, Hitwise said. Meanwhile, Facebook got 20.5 percent of US social networking visits, a 50 percent increase from what it saw a year earlier.
■AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai, union make a deal
South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, reached a deal with its union to end a protracted dispute that has cost more than US$600 million in lost production, the company said yesterday. Some 95 percent of the 45,000 union members voted on the deal covering working conditions and wages and endorsed it by a 54-43 margin. Under the deal, the company will abolish its all-night shift system next September. It also agreed to raise the monthly base salary by 5.61 percent and pay a bonus equivalent to three months’ salary.
■IRELAND
Nation slips into recession
Ireland has become the first country in the eurozone to slip into recession, official figures showed on Thursday. The Central Statistics Office said the once-booming economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter and by 0.5 percent in the second — a recession is two or more consecutive quarters of contraction. The European Commission said Germany and Spain might be next, and Britain might also be on the brink.
■TRADE
S Korea, India push FTA
South Korea and India have reached agreement on a free trade deal after talks lasting two-and-a-half years, the South Korean trade ministry said yesterday. The two countries resolved “all outstanding issues” in negotiations here on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, the equivalent of a free trade agreement, the ministry said in a statement. “Both sides expect that after completion of all domestic formalities, the agreement will enter into force in the first half of next year on a mutually agreed date,” the statement said.
■AUTOMOBILES
Tata to sell six units
India’s top vehicle maker Tata Motors is in talks with private equity funds to sell stakes in six units, a report said yesterday, as the company seeks to finance its Jaguar-Land Rover purchase. The Indian firm, which bought the British luxury icons early this year for US$2.3 billion, decided to sell off assets last month after canceling a convertible preference share issue when its share price tumbled. Tata is in talks to sell stakes in Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co, HV Excels, HV Transmissions, Tata Motors Finance, Tata Technologies and Telco Construction Equipment, the Economic Times said, quoting unidentified bankers.
■INVESTMENT
Vietnam posts fourfold rise
Pledged foreign direct investment into Vietnam in the first nine months reached US$57.12 billion, jumping more than fourfold from the same period last year, government officials and state media said yesterday. Malaysia topped the list of investment by country origin, with US$14.8 billion being invested in Vietnam so far this year. Taiwan came in second with US$8.6 billion, followed by Japan with US$7.2 billion.
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
GRAFT PROBE: Critics questioned Ko claiming he did not know about the Core Pacific floor area ratio issue until this year, citing a 2021 video in which he was asked about it Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released without bail early yesterday, while his deputy during his tenure as Taipei mayor was detained and held incommunicado after being questioned since Friday over graft allegations related to a shopping center redevelopment project. Prosecutors on Saturday filed a request with the Taipei District Court to officially detain Ko and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) over allegations surrounding the redevelopment of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心). The court yesterday determined that the evidence provided by prosecutors was insufficient to justify the detention of Ko and ordered his