■TELECOMS
Privatization bid blocked
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal yesterday blocked telecom giant PCCW’s (電訊盈科) US$2.1 billion privatization bid after the region’s securities watchdog accused it of vote-rigging. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel said they had overturned a lower court’s decision to green light the privatization move by PCCW chairman Richard Li (李澤楷) and his business partners including China Netcom Ltd (中國網通).
■FOOD
Nestle sales down 2.1%
Swiss food giant Nestle yesterday said first quarter sales fell 2.1 percent to SF$25.2 billion (US$21.6 billion), hit by negative currency exchange rates. The group said the strength of the Swiss franc in relation to other currency led to a negative impact of 5.2 percent in sales. Nevertheless, Nestle confirmed its full year target of around 5 percent in organic growth.
■SEMICONDUCTORS
AMD reports losses
US chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) on Tuesday reported a quarterly loss as it grapples with a dip in computer sales and warned it may be too early to say the technology market has hit bottom. “I don’t know how anybody can say that we hit bottom given the continued uncertainty that we have in the macroeconomic climate,” AMD chief executive Dirk Meyer said during a conference call. “As a result of that, I would say that we are being cautious on our outlook.” AMD, the No. 2 microprocessor company, reported a first-quarter loss of US$416 million, or US$0.66 per share, compared with a loss of US$364 million, or US$0.60 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
■APPLIANCES
Electrolux posts losses
Swedish appliance maker Electrolux AB yesterday posted a 346 million kronor (US$40 million) net loss in the first quarter, mainly because of one-time costs in marketing as well as plant shutdowns in Russia and China. The Stockholm-based group, which last year was forced to lay off 3,000 staff because of falling demand amid the financial crisis, also said demand for appliances will continue to drop this year in its main markets in North America, Europe and Latin America. The quarterly net loss compared with a 106 million kronor shortfall in the January-to-March period last year.
■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota slashes bonuses
Japan’s Toyota Motor will slash summer bonuses for its 8,900 managers by an average 60 percent from a year earlier due to a slump in the global auto industry, a company spokeswoman said yesterday. Toyota has separately agreed with its labor union to cut annual summer bonuses for its 63,000 members by between 10 percent and 20 percent to an average ¥1.86 million (US$18,900) for this fiscal year, which started on April 1. Toyota’s executive board members will receive no bonuses for the current fiscal year, the spokeswoman said.
■RETAIL
Carrefour goes low-cost
French retailer Carrefour SA said yesterday it is launching a new low-cost range of products to attract cost-conscious consumers amid the recession and win market share on its home turf. Gilles Petit, head of the French division, said the Carrefour Discount range is designed to compete with deep-discount stores and that “Carrefour wants to improve its image on price.” Petit said Carrefour will launch the discount range in 1,200 Carrefour supermarkets and hypermarkets in France at the end of next month with an initial 200 products.
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