Hong Kong arrests nine over possible match-fixing
Nine people have been arrested over alleged match-fixing in multiple football fixtures in Hong Kong, the city’s anti-corruption watchdog said Tuesday. “Nine persons, including professional football players, were arrested for alleged bribery in rigging the results of football matches involving a local football club,” the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement released late Tuesday, without specifying names of the players or the club. “Enquiries revealed that the sponsor’s representative and the executive officer might have offered advantages to the players of the football club as rewards for their participation in rigging football match results,” it said. “It’s not a Hong Kong issue, it’s a worldwide issue.
China suspends ban on video game consoles after more than a decade
By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) – China has temporarily lifted a 14-year-old ban on selling video game consoles, paving the way for Sony Corp, Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd to enter the world’s third largest video game market in terms of revenue. China saw video game revenues grow by more than a third in 2012 to nearly $14 billion last year, but console makers are likely to face an uphill battle for market share in a country where a whole generation has grown up without a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii and where free PC and mobile games dominate. “If Sony and Microsoft want to expand in China they need to think of changing their business model, and study the success of Internet gaming market providers where games are free but they charge money from operating games,” said Roger Sheng, research director at tech research firm Gartner.
Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw dies
HONG KONG (AP) — Run Run Shaw built a Hong Kong movie and TV empire that nurtured rising talents like actor Chow Yun-fat and director John Woo, inspired Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and produced the 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner.”
Taiwan’s Acer looks to Internet trading
Taiwanese computer maker Acer said Tuesday it has made its first major investment since overhauling its top management late last year, acquiring a 15.6 percent stake in a PChome subsidiary. “Under the ICT industry’s paradigm shift Acer is going beyond hardware-based thinking; Acer termed the deal as part of the “corporate transformation” under way, led by the new management headed by Shih. Then Acer appointed Jason Chen, a former senior executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, as both CEO and president, effective from January 1.
Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw dies at 106
By Grace Li and Alice Woodhouse HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong media mogul Sir Run Run Shaw, who created an empire in Asia spanning movies to television, died on Tuesday at the age of 106, his company said. Shaw died peacefully at his home in Hong Kong, surrounded by his family, his company, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), said in a statement. One of Hong Kong cinema’s defining figures, Shaw popularized Chinese kung fu films in the West and helped turn the former British colony into a “Hollywood East” over an 80-year career. He set up Hong Kong’s biggest free-to-air television operator, TVB, in 1967 and served as its executive chairman until 2011, helping to shape the city’s media culture.
China to allow fully private banks this year
China will allow three to five fully private banks to be set up this year as part of efforts to further open up the sector, the banking regulator said. At a work conference on Monday, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said it will allow private capital either to take part in restructuring existing banks or set up new ones at their own risk, according to a statement. “The first batch of three to five private banks will be set up on a trial basis,” the CBRC said, adding they will be approved when conditions are “mature”. Senior bank officers must be approved by the CBRC.
LG curved G-Flex smartphone to hit US by April
LG said Monday that its curved and slightly bendable G-Flex smartphone will hit the US by April in partnership with telecom firms AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The South Korean consumer electronics giant introduced its new flagship smartphone in late October, but it is only available in the company’s home country as well as Hong Kong and Singapore. “G-Flex is the world’s first curved and flexible smartphone,” said LG Electronics USA mobile communications head Frank Lee during a presentation on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. “I’ve carried one for the last couple of weeks and I have never had more people stop and ask me about a device I was carrying,” said David Owens, vice president of product at Sprint.
Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw dies at age 107
HONG KONG (AP) — Run Run Shaw built a Hong Kong movie and TV empire that nurtured rising talents like actor Chow Yun-fat and director John Woo, inspired Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and produced the 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner.”
China-Japan “Voldemort” attacks up ante in propaganda war
Chinese state media warned Japan on Tuesday of an escalation in the war of public opinion after both countries compared each other to Lord Voldemort, the villain in the Harry Potter stories, in a tit-for-tat diplomatic spat. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s December 26 visit to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals are enshrined along with other war dead, infuriated China and South Korea and prompted concern from the United States, a key ally.
China’s travel booking leader Ctrip acquires overseas tourism site ToursForFun for over $100 million
Ctrip (NASDAQ:CTRP), the most popular site in China for booking flights and hotels, is shelling out over $100 million to make Chinese site for overseas travel ToursForFun part of its North American branch, according …
