■ COMPUTERS
Dell, HP cancel India travel
Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co (HP), the world’s two largest computer suppliers, limited staff movement in India after attacks in Mumbai killed at least 100 people. “Until this crisis subsides and we have given you further notice, we are canceling all travel by Dell employees into India for the next 48 hours at minimum,” John Schaeffer, vice president of global security at Dell, said in an e-mail to staff yesterday. HP also closed its Mumbai office yesterday and prohibited its staff from traveling to the city, according to an e-mail from Joanne Tan, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for the company. All staff from both companies are safe and have been accounted for, the statements said.
■ELECTRONICS
Panasonic cuts profit target
Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp yesterday slashed its net profit forecast for the current financial year by 90 percent as the economic crisis drives down sales. Japan’s electronics giants are facing tougher times after several years of big profits driven by strong sales of flat televisions, digital cameras and mobile phones. Panasonic now expects net earnings of ¥30 billion (US$316 million) in the year to March, down from a previous target of ¥310 billion. “The company’s business conditions are deteriorating sharply due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending and ever-intensified price competition,” a company statement said. “In addition, there are negative factors such as a write-down of investment securities as a result of the decline in stock prices and business restructuring expenses,” it said.
■ELECTRONICS
LG not interested in GE
South Korean handset and electronics maker LG Electronics Co said it had no plan to acquire General Electric Co’s (GE) home appliance unit, ending months of speculation it could be one of the main suitors for the business. “After reviewing possible impacts on our company, we have no plan to take over GE’s unit now,” LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
■BANKING
UBS uncovers tax fraud
Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS has uncovered a “limited number” of tax fraud cases, the bank’s chairman revealed yesterday, saying that banking secrecy was not devised to shield tax cheats. “Our investigations have uncovered a limited number of cases of tax fraud under both US and Swiss law,” Peter Kurer told shareholders during an extraordinary general meeting in Luzern, Switzerland. “Contrary to the idea conjured up in public discussions, bank secrecy is not absolutely valid. It is not there to protect cases of tax fraud,” he said, as he defended the bank against accusations that it had violated bank-client confidentiality.
■FOOD
Supermarkets sell US beef
South Korea’s supermarket chains resumed selling US beef yesterday, nearly five months after the government lifted an import ban imposed over fears of mad cow disease. Seoul had banned US beef since 2003 when a case of mad cow disease was discovered in the US. The government lifted that ban in June. US beef has been available in small butcher shops and some restaurants, but major supermarkets and larger restaurants have been shying away from offering them out of concerns of a possible public backlash. However, large discount department stores, including E-mart, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, began selling US beef at 250 local branches yesterday.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary