■ Communications
LG, Nortel in joint venture
South Korea's LG Electronics and Canada's Nortel Networks yesterday agreed to launch a US$295 million joint venture on telecom equipment and networking solutions in Seoul, LG Electronics said. Both firms signed the final contract to launch the venture in October with a paid-in capital of 300 billion won (US$295 million), LG Electronics said in a Stock Exchange report. LG Electronics paid US$145 million for a 50 percent stake minus one share in the joint venture while Nortel takes up the remaining stake. LG Electronics, the second largest mobile phone maker in South Korea, has teamed up with the Canadian company to develop next-generation and high-speed wireless communications services.
■ Technology
Taxes drag down HP's profit
US technology giant Hewlett-Packard said its net profit for the latest quarter fell to US$73 million, due to a hefty tax charge on repatriated profits under an incentive under US law. Although the profit was down sharply from US$586 million in the same period a year ago, the results were reduced by US$960 million in taxes as the company repatriated some US$14.5 billion from overseas. Excluding one-time items, the computer and technology services group earned US$1.1 billion, or US$0.36 a share, as revenue grew to US$20.8 billion. By that measure, the company beat the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who forecast a profit of US$0.31 cents a share, on US$20.5 billion in revenue in the third fiscal quarter to July 31.
■ Securities
Watchdog takes on Kanebo
Japan's securities watchdog yesterday filed charges against troubled cosmetics maker Kanebo and three of its former executives for allegedly falsifying financial statements to hide massive losses. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed a criminal complaint meaning a trial for the former bosses of Kanebo, which is being forced to restructure and is reportedly being courted by major global firms. Kanebo is accused of providing false statements for the past five financial years. In the fiscal year to March 2002, the three allegedly reported Kanebo's assets exceeded losses by ?900 million (US$8.3 million) even though its losses far surpassed assets by ?82 billion, the commission said. The three former executives -- former president Takashi Hoashi, 69, former vice president Takashi Miyahara, 63, and former executive Kenzaburo Shimada, 59 -- were arrested last month.
■ Telecoms
Qwest, union avert strike
Qwest Communications' largest union said it reached a contract agreement with the company, removing the threat of a strike by 25,000 telephone workers in 13 states. The late Tuesday agreement includes a 7.5 percent wage increase over three years, changes to health care to reduce overall costs for many employees and an eight-hour cap on mandatory overtime, union spokeswoman Candice Johnson said. Workers must still ratify the pact. "I think it's a good agreement for both sides," she said. "I think it reflects that Qwest recognized that the union work force is value-added and a critical party in helping the company." A spokesman for Qwest Communications International Inc, Bob Toevs, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
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