■ Aviation
Don Muang to reopen
Thailand agreed yesterday to reopen Bangkok's Don Muang airport for interna-tional and domestic flights amid growing problems at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. "We need to time to make repairs and improve-ments at Suvarnabhumi airport because of the many flaws," Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "Today the Cabinet has agreed to reopen Don Muang as an international airport." The move, which still needs final approval, means that international flights would be divided between the two airports. A government-appointed committee will submit a detailed plan for reopening Don Muang to the Cabinet in two weeks, after which Don Muang could be reopened in 45 days, Transport Minister Thira Hao-Charoen said.
■ Computers
IBM selling Lenovo shares
US computer giant IBM Corp yesterday planned to sell a substantial part of its stake in China's Lenovo (聯想), the world's third-largest personal computer group, to raise up to HK$990 million (US$127 million). According to a term-sheet sent to institutional investors, the sale price of the 300 million shares on offer will be HK$3.20 to HK$3.30 each, a 4.07-6.98 percent discount to the stock's closing price of HK$3.44 on Monday. The deal accounts for 3.5 percent of Lenovo Group's total issued share capital. After the share sale, IBM's shareholding in Lenovo will be reduced to 11.5 percent from 15 percent. Lenovo also requested a suspension of trade in it shares yesterday pending an announcement of "price-sensitive information" relating to the placing of its shares by a substantial shareholder, a statement posted on the Hong Kong stock exchange showed.
■ Automobiles
Toyota reports profit jump
Toyota yesterday reported a 7.3 percent jump in quarterly profit on booming sales in North America and Europe that offset sluggish demand in Japan. Toyota Motor Corp recorded group net profit of ¥426.8 billion (US$3.6 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, up from ¥397.6 billion in the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales climbed 15.2 percent to ¥6.15 trillion from ¥5.33 trillion a year ago, as the remodeled RAV 4 sport utility vehicle and Camry mid-sized sedan sold briskly in North America and demand was strong for the Yaris compact in Europe, Toyota said in a release.
■ Automobiles
Layoffs at DaimlerChrysler
DaimlerChrysler plans to slash 10,000 factory jobs in the US as part of a sweeping cost-cutting plan for its struggling Chrysler Group, the Detroit News reported on Monday. Citing a plan expected to be unveiled next Wednesday, the News said the German-US auto group also plans to implement "unprecedented" collabora-tion between the mass-market Chrysler and luxury Mercedes groups.
■ Securities
State Street to buy Investors
State Street Corp said on Monday that it would buy Investors Financial Services Corp in a US$4.5 billion stock deal that highlights the accelerating pace of consoli-dation in the securities processing business. The deal has been approved by the boards of the two rivals, both based in Boston. State Street is offering 0.906 shares of its stock for each share of Investors Financial Services common stock, based on last Friday's closing share price. That places the value of the deal at just less than US$4.5 billion.
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