■ AUSTRALAISA
Companies to reduce staff
Almost half of Australian and New Zealand companies plan to decrease or freeze staff levels due to the global economic recession, a Hay Group survey found. Seventeen percent of the Australian and New Zealand firms polled said they would cut jobs, while 27 percent would keep headcount steady, three times the number of companies that considered a similar action eight months ago, the consulting firm said in an e-mailed release citing its Global Employee Pay and Staffing Survey. More than 130 Australian and New Zealand companies participated in the survey.
■ COMMUNICATIONS
SK Telecom fined US$1.2m
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s largest mobile-phone operator, was fined 1.7 billion won (US$1.2 million) by the nation’s antitrust regulator for unfair trading practices. SK Telecom blocked the sale of a certain type of an advanced handset to retail customers on concern it might reduce the carrier’s data revenue from wireless Internet services, the Korea Fair Trade Commission said in a statement yesterday. SK Telecom also prevented some of its users from accessing content offered by a third-party service provider, the commission said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Bosch to slash jobs
The world’s leading auto parts maker, Bosch, will have to slash jobs in Germany and abroad because of the financial crisis, an executive has warned. In an interview to appear in the next edition of the magazine Auto Motor, Bernd Bohr refused to give precise figures, while speaking of several hundred jobs affected in foreign plants and “structural adjustment” in Germany. Temporary contracts would not be renewed, Bohr said. In October the group predicted a “really tough year” next year after results this year fell below expectations, with rising costs and weaker sales growth.
■ TOURISM
Theme park to be built
Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd, the operator of tourist attractions owned by Blackstone Group LP, will build a 750 million ringgit (US$209 million) Legoland theme park in Malaysia. Merlin and Iskandar Investment Bhd have agreed to construct the park, expected to be open in 2013, in Johor Bahru, a statement e-mailed yesterday said. Merlin will take a 20 percent stake in the venture while a group led by Iskandar will own 80 percent, the joint statement said. The Legoland park is part of a 3.5 billion ringgit complex which includes offices, hotels, apartments and a shopping mall, Iskandar, a Malaysian state-controlled company, and Merlin said.
■ COMPUTERS
Biodegradable model made
The world’s first biodegradable computer, the iameco, has been manufactured in Dublin from bio-degradable wood panels made from waste products in the lumber and pulp industry. During a visit to the company by Irish Minister for Science and Innovation, Jimmy Devins, the inventors of iameco, MicroPro Computers Ltd, said they could implant the seeds of native-tree species into the wood panels. The minister’s visit coincided with the announcement of details of a new Enterprise Ireland Green Technology Support for businesses. In addition to the iameco computer, which uses one-third less energy than conventional computers, the biodegradable wood can also be used to manufacture the computer monitor casing, keyboard and mouse.
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