■ Entertainment
Disney splits corporate roles
The board of The Walt Disney Co has amended its corporate governance guidelines to officially separate the offices of chairman and chief executive, a move hailed by corporate governance advocates who pushed for the change. The decision was announced on Thursday. Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier, who had submitted a shareholder proposal to force the board to split the roles, said in a statement that: "This represents a significant victory for Disney shareholders and corporate governance advocates, and is certainly in the best interest of the company." Nappier had submitted the proposal on behalf of the state's pension fund. Disney's board first split the roles last year after shareholders delivered a stinging vote of no confidence in chief executive Michael Eisner. Disney is searching for a replacement for Eisner, who has said he will step down when his contract expires in 2006.
■ Electronics
Analog chipmaker cuts jobs
National Semiconductor Corp, which makes analog chips used in cell phones, computers and televisions, said on Thursday it is cutting about 550 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, as it copes with an inventory buildup and lower demand. About 450 jobs will be cut at factories and another 100 will be eliminated from other parts of the company, including its headquarters. It previously reported a headcount of about 9,000. In a statement, National said its factories ran at about 65 percent of capacity in its fiscal second quarter, down from the mid-90s during most of fiscal 2004.
■ Entertainment
Studios embrace HD format
Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros and two other US film studios will release movies in the next-generation HD DVD format proposed by Toshiba Corp by the end of the year. The titles will include Forrest Gump from Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and The Bourne Supremacy from General Electric Co's Universal Pictures, Toshiba said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Support from the studios is key for Toshiba and NEC Corp, which are promoting HD DVD as an alternative to the Blu-ray format supported by Sony Corp, in the race to replace the current standard for digital video discs used in the US$22 billion home entertainment market. Toshiba plans to sell HD DVD players and notebook PCs with HD DVD drives by the end of the year, while NEC will deliver drives that read the format by September, the companies said.
■ Electronics
Changhong denies takeover
China's Sichuan Changhong Electric Co (四川長虹), a leading domestic television maker, said yesterday it has no plans to acquire a US distributor that owes it hundreds of millions of dollars. Changhong issued the statement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Web site after local media reported it was considering a takeover and what the company called other incorrect information. Last month, Changhong said it expected a substantial loss for 2004 because Apex Digital Inc, a US distributor known for its low-cost business model, failed to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sets.
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
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘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)