■TELECOMS
Nortel seeks legal advice
Nortel Networks Corp has sought legal advice to study a bankruptcy protection scenario in the event that its restructuring plan fails, and has also been exploring potential assistance from the Canadian government, the Wall Street Journal reported. Nortel’s spokesperson said no bankruptcy filing was imminent though the Toronto-based company had engaged several advisers to plan ahead, the newspaper reported. Nortel has lost billions of dollars and cut tens of thousands of jobs since the technology bubble burst at the beginning of this decade.
■SEMICONDUCTORS
Intel sues S Korean agency
Intel Corp said yesterday it is taking South Korea’s fair trade watchdog to court over a decision to fine it for undercutting competitors. Intel filed a formal complaint at the Seoul High Court to try and overturn the Korea Fair Trade Commission decision, the company said in a statement. Intel said it was reacting to a final written decision by the commission last month ordering it to pay 26.6 billion won (US$18.6 million) for violating fair trade rules by paying rebates to South Korean computer companies to undercut main rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Intel denied any wrongdoing.
■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota cutting production
Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday it would suspend part of the production in Indiana and Kentucky for up to nine days and in Canada for up to 10 days early next year to cope with a slump in the global auto industry. It will also halt production of its Tacoma and Corolla brands at a plant jointly operated with General Motors in California for 10 days, a Toyota spokesman said.
■INVESTMENT
AIG owes on bad trades
American International Group Inc (AIG) owes some of the biggest companies on Wall Street about US$10 billion for trades that have gone bad, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The losses are not covered under terms of the current US$150 billion US government bailout plan, the report said.
■INVESTMENT
Nikko Cordial to cut jobs
Citigroup Inc will slash some 1,000 jobs at its Japanese brokerage unit, Nikko Cordial Securities Inc, as part of its efforts to survive the financial meltdown, the Kyodo News agency said yesterday. Nikko Cordial will cut its work force through early retirement, and some 1,000 employees, mostly those aged above 40, have accepted severance offers, the agency said, citing no sources. The brokerage employs about 7,000 workers, and the job cuts will amount to 14 percent of its total work force.
■AVIATION
Airlines told to cut orders
China is urging its troubled state-owned airlines to cancel or defer new aircraft purchases — a move that could hurt US and European aircraft makers. Airlines are also being urged not to renew leases for aircraft rented from foreign firms and to ground or sell some planes, according to an announcement seen yesterday on the Web site of industry regulator the Civil Aviation Administration of China. No new airlines will be approved for operation before at least 2010 and carriers should switch passenger service to freight where applicable and retire larger numbers of old aircraft, the administration 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
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