Yahoo Japan and chat app Line agree to 50-50 merger

TOKYO — Internet portal Yahoo Japan Corp. and chat app Line said Monday they have reached a basic agreement to merge in a deal that includes buying out Line Corp.’s minority shareholders.

Under the merger terms, a SoftBank Group Corp. 9984, +1.53%  subsidiary and Line parent Naver Corp. 035420, +1.15%  of South Korea will each hold 50% of a joint-venture company that in turn will control a holding company housing the operations of Yahoo Japan 4689, +1.92%  and Line LN, -4.94%  . Media, including The Wall Street Journal, reported last week that the 50-50 arrangement was being studied.

The companies said they aimed to leverage each other’s large user bases to expand their online businesses, which include shopping and payment services as well as advertising-supported content. Line is the dominant chat app in Japan and says it has 82 million active monthly users.

The parties to the deal said they hoped to reach a final agreement next month. They said it would require various clearances from authorities.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

Also popular on WSJ.com:

Mainland Chinese soldiers take to Hong Kong streets for first time during protests.

Colin Kaepernick, NFL exchange fire after league-organized workout goes awry.

China says carrier's passage through Taiwan Strait not directed at any target: Xi

BEIJING (REUTERS) – A Chinese Navy spokesman said its aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Straight on Sunday (Nov 17), adding it was involved in “scientific research” and the passage was not directed at any target, according to a report in China’s official Xinhua media.

Taiwan’s defence ministry had said a Chinese carrier ship passed through the sensitive territory with US and Japan ships tailing it.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island, is regarded by China as a rebel province. Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said it would not be intimidated.

Joe Biden on legalizing marijuana: Let’s figure out if it’s a gateway drug first

That’s former vice president and current presidential hopeful Joe Biden talking at a town hall in Las Vegas over the weekend about how he’s hesitant to legalize marijuana because he’s concerned it could be a drug that leads to the use of other, perhaps more dangerous, drugs.

Biden, who said he believes the decision to legalize should be left to the states to decide, has a history of supporting the war on drugs.

In fact, in 1989, he went on national television to slam then-President George H.W. Bush’s plan as “not tough enough… to meet the crisis” and to say, among other things, that every drug user should be held accountable.

Biden’s view seems to have softened since then regarding the punishment of drug users, as you can see from this footage on Saturday. He drew applause when he said anybody who’s been put in jail for using marijuana should immediately be released and have their record expunged:

Several studies have shown that fears of marijuana being a gateway drug are overblown. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, for instance, says that “the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances.” And the Drug Policy Alliance claims that, “for most people, marijuana is an endpoint in drug use rather than a so-called ‘gateway drug.’”

Air New Zealand cancels some flights due to engine issues

Air New Zealand Ltd. is canceling some international flights to carry out unscheduled maintenance on Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC engines, affecting about 14,000 travelers during the holidays.

Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce RR, +0.49% is requiring airlines to increase the frequency of maintenance on planes with its Trent 1000 TEN engines due to a problem with high-pressure turbine blades in that model, the airline said in a statement Monday.

Air New Zealand AIR, -1.07%  has 10 of the Trent 1000 TEN engines in its fleet of Boeing Co. (BA) 787-9s.

“Rolls-Royce does not have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken and has advised Air New Zealand there’s a significant wait for repair services,” the airline said.

The affected flights are to Australian cities and to Tonga on dates in December and early January. The Christchurch-to-Perth route is the worst affected with 62 flights canceled.

The airline’s shares were last trading down 0.5% at NZD2.78.

Write to Stephen Wright at [email protected]

U.S. Import Prices Fall 0.5% In October Amid Steep Drop In Fuel Prices

Import prices in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said import prices slid by 0.5 percent in October after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in September.

Economists had expected import prices to dip by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected decrease in import prices was driven by lower petroleum prices, which plummeted by 3.7 percent. Prices for fuel imports plunged by 2.9 percent in October after jumping by 1.5 percent in September.

Excluding fuel imports, import prices dipped by 0.2 percent in October after edging down by 0.1 percent for two straight months.

Falling prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, foods, feeds, and beverages, consumer goods, and capital goods all contributed to the continued decline.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices edged down by 0.1 percent in October after dipping by 0.2 percent in September. The modest decrease matched economist estimates.

The drop in export prices came as a 0.3 percent decrease in prices for non-agricultural exports more than offset a 1.9 percent jump in prices for agricultural exports.

Compared to the same month a year ago, import prices in October were down by 3.0 percent, while export prices were down by 2.2 percent.