■ Genetic engineering
GM peas make mice sick
Australian scientists said yesterday they had abandoned a trial with a genetically modified (GM) crop of peas because field mice that fed on them developed lung disease. "The reaction of the mice to the protein might reflect something that would happen to humans," said Thomas Higgins, deputy chief at the government's CSIRO research body. "There isn't any evidence that would happen, but there is a chance that it could happen," he told national broadcaster ABC. It's only the second time anywhere that a GM field trial has been abandoned because of gene transfer from one crop to another. Higgins' findings, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggest that the lung inflammation in mice was triggered by an altered protein.
■ Computers
HP beats expectations
Computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) posted a 62-percent drop in profits on Thursday, due to US$1.1 billion in restructuring costs, in an earnings report that sent the company's shares sharply higher. The world's second-largest computer maker said that it earned US$416 million, compared with US$1.1. billion in the same period last year, as revenue rose to US$22.9 billion from US$21.4 billion, a 7 percent hike. With the results beating Wall Street expectations, the report sent shares of the company some 6 percent higher on Thursday. For the year, HP has seen its value rise by 35 percent as rivals like IBM and Dell have both dropped. In July, the company announced some 14,500 job cuts. Chief executive Mark Hurd said on Thursday that the final figure for the worldwide layoffs would be 15,300. He also said that remaining employees would receive their first bonuses in the five years since the dot-com crash sent the company reeling.
■ Automakers
GM says no to bankruptcy
General Motors Corp chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told employees on Thursday that the world's largest automaker has no plans to file for bankruptcy despite heavy losses in its North American division and the threat of a strike at Delphi Corp, its major supplier. GM shares climbed more than 6 percent, bouncing back from their lowest level in 18 years. "I'd like to just set the record straight here and now: There is absolutely no plan, strategy or intention for GM to file for bankruptcy," Wagoner said in a letter to employees, which was posted on an internal Web site. Wagoner said GM has a clearly defined turnaround plan and "a robust balance sheet," with US$19 billion in cash and US$16 billion in assets in a trust fund for retiree health care.
■ Mergers
UFJ acquisition approved
Japanese authorities yesterday formally approved Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's acquisition of UFJ Bank, effective on Jan. 1. The banks combined holding companies to create Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc last month, but their commercial banking operations have not merged due to concerns over linking their computer systems. Financial Agency Commissioner Hirofumi Gomi gave a formal go-ahead yesterday, according to agency spokesman Yoshiki Kamoto. The approval paved the way for Mitsubishi UFJ to begin operations as the world's largest bank in January, which has total assets of around ¥190 trillion (US$1.6 trillion), topping US-based Citigroup Inc's US$1.55 trillion.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2