■ Internet
Messenger gets interrupted
Microsoft Corp said its MSN instant messaging service, with 187 million users, became unavailable to some customers beginning Saturday after routine network maintenance. Service was restored late Monday. Microsoft did not immediately identify the source of the problem, other than to note in an e-mailed statement that it followed work on the system over the weekend. MSN Messenger competes with similar services from Yahoo Inc and Time Warner Inc's America Online.
■ Airlines
Alitalia signs for new loan
Alitalia SpA has signed an agreement for a US$496 million bridge loan, the struggling Italian airline said Monday. The emergency loan, guaranteed by the Italian Economy Ministry, is being put up by Dresdner Bank AG's Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein unit, Alitalia said. The carrier can access the credit line for up to six months and must reimburse any funds taken within 12 months, Alitalia said. Shares in the carrier closed Monday unchanged at US$0.28.
■ Aerospace
Boeing hopes for deal
Boeing's top executive said Monday the aerospace giant still hopes to win a contract for new Air Force tanker refueling planes, despite action by Congress killing a controversial lease plan. "If there is a contract for tankers Boeing will get it," Boeing chief executive Harry Stonecipher told reporters in a conference call. "The US Air Force needs tankers, that's clear and the [Boeing] 7E7 is an excellent tanker ... and we will find ways to satisfy" the Pentagon's needs. The comments came just after lawmakers killed a proposal by Boeing to lease, then sell dozens of its 767 tanker jets. The US$23 billion program, which had been approved earlier this year, then suspended, faced criticism as a sweetheart deal for the aerospace company.
■ Auto industry
Opel to make huge job cuts
German car maker Opel, the loss-making subsidiary of General Motors, is to axe 6,000-7,000 jobs from a total German workforce of around 12,000, newspapers here reported yesterday. General Motors plans to axe 12,000 jobs in Europe, or nearly one in five of its 62,000-strong European workforce, with Germany to bear the brunt of the cuts, the Financial Times reported quoting GM sources. The job cuts are to be announced on tomorrow when GM unveils its plans to restructure its loss-making European activities, which alongside Opel include Saab in Sweden and Vauxhall in Britain, the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeiting reported separately. FAZ also put the number of jobs on the line at 6,000-7,000.
■ Health sector
Hospital to get Starbucks
Breaking the mold of China's typically grim and bare health facilities, one upscale Shanghai hospital will soon offer a Starbucks outlet as the country's health sector slowly turns an eye to improving service. "We aim to bring our coffee to where there is a need," Summer Ji, spokeswoman for Shanghai United Starbucks Coffee Co, [partly owned by UNI PRES?] said yesterday of the plan to open an outlet at Shanghai's East Hospital this month. "Doctors, nurses, visitors to the hospital, people from nearby office buildings, as well as patients can all become our customers," Ji said. Seattle-based Starbucks Corp operates about 90 outlets in China.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from