■35,000 jobs in trouble
Some 35,000 additional jobs are threatened at German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom, on top of the tens of thousands already being lost, according to the weekly Der Spiegel. The report to be published this week cites "internal calculations" within the company, which employed some 249,000 people at the end of last year, 89,000 of them outside Germany. Deutsche Telekom boss Rene Obermann declined to comment on the figure, while stressing "the need to adapt and restructure" the group. Deutsche Telekom is Europe's biggest telecom group.
■ ENERGY
Green firm recruits Clooney
Hollywood star George Clooney will become an executive board member of a Swiss energy company being set up by Swatch Group chairman Nicolas Hayek, the Swiss billionaire said on Saturday. The company, which will develop environmentally friendly techniques for car motors, batteries and other devices, is aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in energy consumption, Hayek said in an interview with daily Berner Zeitung. Clooney will sit on the board alongside Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier and others, he said. The new enterprise will research and develop clean production of hydrogen, solar energy and fuel cells.
■ HOTELS
Emaar in longest hotel strip
Emaar Properties PJSC rose in Dubai trading after entering into a joint venture with the Dubai government to build part of the world's longest hotel strip. Emaar said yesterday it would build six hotels, a theme park and 1,200 apartments as part of the government's Bawadi project, a Las Vegas-styled development that aims to become the world's longest strip of hotels. "This may well be the trigger that brings Emaar back into a positive light," said Roy Cherry, a senior research analyst at Shuaa Capital PSC. "It will contribute to Emaar sustaining its business in Dubai by significantly expanding its land bank."
■ SECURITIES
Morgan Stanley sets up firm
Morgan Stanley, the world's second-biggest securities firm, will set up a company in Japan to oversee businesses including brokerage, asset-management and real-estate, a person familiar with the change said. The new umbrella company will be called Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co and start operations on Dec. 1, said the person at Morgan Stanley, who declined to be named. Jonathan Kindred, president of Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co, will head the new company. The New York-based securities firm will reorganize its Japanese property business and rename it Morgan Stanley Capital K.K., the source said.
■ MORTGAGES
Countrywide CEO targeted
A large pension plan that owns shares of struggling Countrywide Financial Corp has asked the board of the US' largest mortgage lender to oust company chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which counts 1.4 million members, made the request in a letter sent to the company's board late on Thursday. The union-affiliated pension plan also asked the company to name two independent directors to the board and replace its executive compensation committee with people who have not played a role in the committee's actions, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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