■Computers
HP has solid profits in Q4
Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday it posted a US$390 million net profit in the fourth fiscal quarter compared with a US$505 million loss in the same period a year ago. The earnings in the quarter to October excluding special items amounted to US$0.24 per share, US$0.02 ahead of the First Call estimate. Sales in the quarter edged down to US$18 billion from US18.2 billion but were higher than figure expected by Wall Street analysts. The data from a year earlier reflect the separate results of HP and Compaq Computer before their merger. HP cited a 12 percent year-on-year rise in sales from the imaging and printing segment, while the enterprise segment saw sales decline 5 percent from last year.
■ Morgan Stanley
Workers get fired in Asia
Morgan Stanley fired about 100 employees in Asia, or 4 percent of the total, as part of a global effort by the biggest US securities firm by market value to cut costs as revenue declines, people at the firm said. The job cuts include investment bankers, equity traders, researchers and technology support staff, they said. The bank is firing 2,200 employees globally, about 4 percent of its workforce, in the fourth round of job cuts since the start of last year, people familiar with the situation said. Morgan Stanley's Hong Kong spokeswoman Po-Ling Cheung declined to comment on Taipei firings. Morgan Stanley's profit declined for the past eight quarters, fallout from a three-year bear market in stocks and investment banking. Securities firms in the US have cut about 65,400 staff, or 8.4 percent of their staff since February 2001, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
■ WTO
Workers stage protest
Free-trade negotiations at the WTO have been hit by a work-to-rule protest by staff at the Geneva-based body, WTO officials said on Wednesday. The WTO's 560 employees, who are pressing for an 8 percent wage rise, are refusing to work evenings or weekends.
The protest comes at a delicate time for the WTO where the 145 member states are battling to meet end-year deadlines for accords on sensitive trade issues such as easier access to medicines for developing countries. Meetings which normally begin at 10am have been brought forward an hour because employees are sticking rigidly to the official 8:30am-5:30pm working day, the officials said.
■ Worldcom
Giuliani's plans unfold
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has plans for WorldCom Inc Giuliani, who was hired by WorldCom bondholder David Matlin to draw up a restructuring proposal for the company, said he would strip Michael Capellas of his position as chairman once the telephone provider emerges from the largest US bankruptcy. Capellas agreed last week to be chairman and chief executive. WorldCom needs "a separation between the chairman and the CEO, so that you have checks and balances," Giuliani said as he outlined a blueprint for improving WorldCom's corporate governance at a press conference yesterday. Giuliani has no official role at the company. Giuliani's comments suggest he may play an active role in the future of WorldCom. They also indicate Capellas may have less freedom as he tries to steer WorldCom back from Chapter 11. Giuliani may seek to become chairman.
Agencies
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique