■ COURIERS
UPS inks Shanghai deal
International courier UPS signed an agreement yesterday finalizing construction of a transport hub in the eastern city of Shanghai, linking China to its global network. The hub, to open next year, will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing for later pickup times in Shanghai, the company said. Sorters will handle 17,000 packages an hour by 2012 with employment at the hub expected to exceed 1,000 people by 2010, it said.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
MGM joins iTunes
MGM has become the latest major film studio to offer downloadable movies on Apple's iTunes Store. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc deal, announced on Wednesday, builds the iTunes catalog to more than 500 movies. Apple's online store, the world's most popular online movie store, began offering movie downloads in September. The California-based company launched the feature with films from Walt Disney Co studios, where Apple Inc's CEO Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder, but it has since signed deals with other studios, including Paramount Pictures.
■ RESERVES
PRC reserves soaring
China's foreign exchange reserves, already the world's largest, surpassed US$1.2 trillion at the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday. At US$1.202 trillion, the reserves were up 12.7 percent from the beginning of the year, and 37.4 percent from 12 months earlier, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its Web site. The trade surplus, one main source of the bulging reserves, stood at US$46.6 billion in the first three months, while foreign direct investment, another main source, reached US$15.9 billion, data released earlier showed. The two figures added together, US$62.5 billion, were well below the increase of US$135.7 billion in reserves in the first three months of the year. The bank gave no explanation for the disparity.
■ TELECOMS
Strikes hit German telecom
Around 8,000 Deutsche Telekom employees were expected to strike yesterday in protest of the telecommunication giant's plans to transfer 50,000 staff into legally separate service companies with less favorable working conditions. The giant services sector union Ver.di said that about 8,000 workers around the country were expected to stage warning strikes as employee representatives and management met for a third round of talks on Deutsche Telekom's cost-cutting plans. Around 1,000 Deutsche Telekom employees had already staged walk-outs at six sites on Wednesday.
■ SOFTWARE
Microsoft lawsuit continues
A legal battle between Microsoft and Japanese anti-monopoly authorities is likely to conclude next year and might lead to lawsuits or other patent infringement complaints against the US software company, an executive said yesterday. Any such action will likely happen only in Japan, Microsoft Corp senior vice president Brad Smith said. Japan's Fair Trade Commission and Microsoft have been wrangling since 2004 over a controversial clause in licensing agreements. The clause prevents firms from suing Microsoft if they suspect their own software technology has ended up in the Windows operating system.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source