■ Banking
HSBC profit up 25 percent
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by market value, said its profit for last year rose 25 percent as it set aside less money for bad loans. London-based HSBC's net income rose to US$6.24 billion, or US$0.66 a share, from US$4.99 billion, or US$0.53, a year earlier. Analysts forecast profit of US$6.37 billion, according to the average estimate of eight surveyed by Bloomberg News. The bank plans to raise its 2002 dividend 10 percent to US$0.53. "In common with the last two years, prospects for 2003 are hard to predict," the company said in a statement on Regulatory News Service. "The beginning of the year has been characterized by a high degree of economic uncertainty." The bank Friday named 21-year company veteran Stephen Green to replace Sir Keith Whitson as chief executive officer. Green will take over at the end of May.
■ US ECONOMY
Paul O'Neill to write book
Former US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is working on a book that will be critical of the Bush administration's handling of the US economy, Time Magazine reported, citing unnamed publishers. O'Neill, who was fired by President George W. Bush in December and replaced by former CSX Corp executive John Snow, is trying to sell a manuscript he's working on with a journalist, Time said in a press release highlighting the report. The former Treasury secretary didn't immediately respond to a telephone message left at his home seeking comment. The book is just one challenge facing Bush in winning support for his US$690 billion tax-cut plan, the centerpiece of which is a proposal to eliminate taxes investors pay on corporate dividends, the magazine said on its Web site.
■ Servers
China becomes top market
China was the No.1 market for computer servers in the Asia-Pacific region last year, but its market share of 31.5 per cent represented a drop compared to the year earlier, Dataquest reported yesterday. The 3 percent decline was attributed to a weak second quarter, Dataquest said. India, which saw a 11.3 percent increase, and other mature markets such as South Korea, with a 12.7 percent hike and Australia, with 6.3 per cent, contributed to an overall rise in the region, the industry researchers said. A relatively strong fourth quarter after three quarters of flat or marginal increases helped the regional market hit a full-year growth rate of 3.4 percent. Analysts remain cautious about prospects this year. "There have been continuous efforts towards server and systems consolidation in most of the markets to drive revenue growth," said industry analyst Vinod Nair.
■ Telecoms
Nokia faces Linux use
Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, said the Linux operating system won't challenge the Symbian wireless system, newspaper Kauppalehti reported, citing a report by the news agency STT. The use of Linux -- a free, publicly shared system -- as a mobile-phone operating system poses legal and other problems, the report said, citing Jari Pasanen, a vice president at Nokia's research and development division. Nokia uses Linux in some of its wireless network products, the report said. Nokia and some of its biggest rivals are investors in software maker Symbian Ltd, which competes with Microsoft.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite