■ Electronic
Fujitsu eyes N America
Japanese computer maker Fujitsu will create a holding company by March 2008 to oversee its seven units in North America in an effort to have a bigger slice of the market there, a report of the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday. The new unified structure will allow the subsidiaries to share customer bases and technologies in order to market their devices and systems in package deals, the report said. Fujitsu Ltd aims to triple its sales over the next five years in North America -- which accounts for 40 percent of the global information technology market -- to ¥1.2 trillion (US$10.5 billion), the report said. Closer cooperation among the seven units through the holding company is expected to boost sales by ¥240 billion, the daily added. The subsidiaries include Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp, which sells servers and other computer equipment, and Fujitsu Consulting, a provider of management and technology consulting.
■ Automobiles
GM said mulling UK job cuts
General Motors Corp may cut almost 1,000 jobs at a Vauxhall plant as the world's largest automaker tries to deal with falling demand for the Astra, the Sunday Times reported, citing unspecified people close to the car industry. The job cuts are just one of the options at Ellesmere Port in Merseyside, northern England, where some of the Astras are built, and executives will continue talks with union leaders and plant bosses this week. No decisions have yet been taken, and job losses in the UK, or on such a scale, could still be avoided, the Sunday Times said.
■ Automobiles
Proton talking to Peugeot
Malaysian national auto manufacturer Proton is in talks with France's Peugeot, Europe's second-largest carmaker, to jointly develop a car for the Southeast Asian market, a news report said yesterday. Both sides are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding in a few months, which might also see PSA Peugeot Citroen SA taking up an equity stake in Proton Holdings Bhd, the Edge business weekly reported, quoting unidentified sources. The car would be marketed as a Proton or a Peugeot/Citroen, the Edge said, adding analysts expect it to be a compact car. Once dominant in Malaysia's auto sector, Proton has lost ground to foreign car makers, with its domestic market share down from around 60 percent in 2002 to 41 percent last year.
■ Electronics
Dell plans Malaysia center
US computer giant Dell Inc will set up a technology and development center in Malaysia's high-tech city Cyberjaya, news reports said yesterday. Dell announced the decision during a visit to the company's headquarters in Round Rock, Texas by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday where he met with Dell's founder and chairman Michael Dell and chief executive Kevin Rollins. "Dell's global growth and need for additional development activity, coupled with the success of our Malaysian facilities since 1995, gives us confidence that this new facility will enhance our ability to deliver the industry's best value and customer experience," the national news agency, Bernama, quoted Rollins as saying. The center will be involved in value-added activities, including process design and software development, and employ as many as 1,000 people, Bernama 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
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
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
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