■ Airlines
Union vetos deal
Flight attendants at Amer-ican Airlines on Tuesday voted against a concession agreement, paving the way for an imminent bankruptcy filing by the world's largest carrier, a Dallas news radio station reported. The airline has said that if its three major union groups do not ratify deals that will help save the carrier US$1.8 billion a year in labor costs, American would be forced to file for bankruptcy. The radio station reported that the union had narrowly rejected the deal and was in talks with the airline to see if they could quickly poll their members again. The two other major unions at American had approved concession deals earlier in the day. The Association of Professional Flight Atten-dants voted against a deal that would cut annual pay and benefits collectively by US$340 million.
■ Videogames
Sony drops `shock and awe'
Responding to criticism that it was trying to take advan-tage of the Iraq war for commercial gain, Sony Corp said yesterday it will not use the phrase "shock and awe" for PlayStation videogames made by a subsidiary. A US unit of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has withdrawn an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to register the phrase for commercial use, a Sony spokeswoman said. The application had been made last month shortly after US-led attack on Iraq began with a strategy of heavy aerial bombardment termed "shock and awe." The company now felt the application was inappro-priate, she said.
■ Digital cameras
Sony recalls cameras
Sony Corp is recalling its Cyber-shot DSC-P1 digital camera sold world wide. Company spokeswoman Mami Imada declined to provide an estimate of the cost of the recall. Sony will repair the defect free of charge. The problem affects the battery, charger and body of the camera, Sony said on its Web site. Industry analysts estimated the recall affects 500,000 units, Kyodo News reported. The recall applies to cameras sold since October 2000, the report said.
■ Labor
Indian workers save money
US companies saved as much as US$8 billion over the past four years by moving work to India, the Business Standard paper reported, citing a study by market research firm, Inductis. General Electric Co saves about US$350 million every year through its 18,000-man operation in the country, the paper said. Companies such as Cisco Systems Inc and Johnson Controls Inc work with Indian software developers such as Infosys Techno-logies Ltd and Wipro Ltd, which use the country's cheap, skilled workforce to deliver computer services. Companies such as Amer-ican Express Co use the country for back-office operations such as proces-sing transactions.
■ Enron
Art collection auction set
Claes Oldenburg's sculpture of a pair of giant electric outlets in bright orange vinyl that was to have adorned Enron's office tower in Houston is just one of 35 works of art heading for the auction block in the coming months. Phillips de Pury & Luxem-bourg said on Monday that it was planning to sell 10 pieces of art next month. In the fall, it plans to sell a group of 25 photographs. A bankruptcy court judge approved Enron's arrangement with Phillips on Tuesday.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,