■ Semiconductors
STMicro to invest S$2bn
STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, will invest S$2 billion (US$1.2 billion) over the next two years in Singapore, where it runs four factories, according to a statement from the government. STMicroelectronics, which accounted for about 19 percent of Singapore's semiconductor production last year, will spend the money to "increase its capacity," according to an e-mailed speech by Singapore Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang. STMicroelectronics, based in Geneva, said earlier that it makes chips in Singapore for products such as cellphones equipped with digital cameras.
■ Finance
Deutsche to cut jobs
Deutsche Bank confirmed Wednesday it would eliminate 2,300 jobs from its German workforce over the next two years. The biggest German bank said the shrinkage would leave it with a German staff of 25,410. It would attempt to avoid layoffs and follow principles of social responsibility while downsizing. Subsidiary companies would create 350 new jobs at the same time. Juergen Fitschen, newly appointed chief of German domestic operations, said the bank would at the same time aim to put a higher priority on offering advice to its retail customers.
■ Courier Services
UPS to take over venture
Logistics giant United Parcel Service (UPS) said yesterday it plans to take control of its international operations in China under an agreement that requires it to pay partner Sinotrans Air Transportation US$100 million. The US-based parcel-delivery company will take over joint-venture operations covering Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Qingdao in January and will assume control of 18 additional locations from its partner by December next year.
■ Textiles
US firms oppose quotas
An association of US textile importers and retailers said it has filed a lawsuit to prevent the US commerce department from considering import quotas on Chinese products sought by textile manufacturers. The US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel said in a statement that it went to court on Wednesday seeking an injunction to stop the US government from "wrongly considering imposing safeguards against products of China." The group is objecting to a series of petitions from US textile companies and an inter-governmental lobby group that has demanded the Commerce Department limit certain textile imports from China they say harm domestic manufacturers.
■ US Economy
Expansion gains ground
The US economic expansion is gaining power and delivering new jobs, but consumer spending seems patchy, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey showed Wednesday. "Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts generally paint a picture of continued economic growth from mid-October to mid-November, with a number of areas improving," it said. Economic activity grew in most of the country, with four districts including New York saying the pace had quickened, said the report, which is released eight times a year. The labor market improved, it said. There was little upward pressure on wages, however. But "overall consumer spending was uneven since the last Beige Book," the central bank said.
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
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
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
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