■Telecoms
3G service delayed in HK
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, Asia's biggest investor in high-speed mobile-phone networks in Europe, will delay the start of third-generation (3G) wireless service in Hong Kong by two months to next month, blaming a shortage of cell-phones. Hutchison Wham-poa said demand for phones in Europe and Australia resulted in "handsets being shipped to those markets first." The March start-up in the service in the UK, the biggest of Hutchison's nine markets worldwide, was delayed by three months because of network glitches. The new service by Hutchison 3G H.K. Ltd will allow users to video conferences on handsets next month, the company said in a statement. Group managing director Canning Fok, who estimated in March that Hong Kong service would start last month, said Hutchison's priority was to develop European markets, where Hutchison doesn't already provide mobile-phone services. In Hong Kong, Hutchison Whampoa owns the city's top mobile-phone company, Hutchison Tele-communications (HK) Ltd.
■ Entertainment
Shenzhen to get theme park
The French high-tech theme park Futuroscope is hoping to begin operations in Shenzhen in 2005, park officials said in France on Monday. A memorandum of understanding on the deal is expected to be signed with Chinese partners in the next few weeks, said Futuro-scope coordinator Philippe Mouroux. Futuroscope, which specializes in new imagery technology, opened in 1984 and is now one of France's three leading theme parks, along with Disneyland Paris and Asterix. But the facility had a tough year last year, when it nearly went bankrupt as the number of visitors fell to 1.553 million from 1.9 million in 2001.
■ Entertainment
MGM to sell cable stake
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in three cable chan-nels to Cablevision Systems Corp. for US$500 million, raising cash that may help finance a bid for Vivendi Universal SA's US media assets. MGM will sell its interest in the channels -- American Movie Classics, the Independent Film Channel and WE: Women's Entertainment -- to Cable-vision's Rainbow Media for US$250 million in cash and a US$250 million note payable in five months in cash or Cablevision stock. Santa Monica, California-based MGM said in a statement that it would record a US$93 million loss on the sale. MGM is one of six bidders competing to buy Vivendi's film studio, cable networks and theme parks.
■ Singapore
Singapore Press cuts jobs
Singapore Press Holdings, the country's main media publishing group, has cut 111 jobs, citing an uncertain business climate created by the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak. The layoffs will save the publisher of the Straits Times news-paper S$5.7 million (US$3.2 million) a year, its news-papers reported yesterday. "The truth is our staffing levels are not in line with our current business volume," chief executive officer Alan Chan said in a statement. The majority of the layoffs were in the group's editorial, marketing and newspaper services divisions. About 3 percent of the group's 3,700 staff were cut, the statement said. The publisher said it could not rule out future layoffs if Singapore's economy continues to deteriorate.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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