■INTERNET
Google office hit by flu
Internet search leader Google Inc shut one of its offices in southern India for two days after an employee tested positive for swine flu, a company statement said yesterday. The office in Hyderabad with 250 workers was closed on Tuesday and yesterday while it was being sanitized, the statement said. However, the main office in the city, a key software hub in the country, was functioning normally. “One of our contractual workers in Hyderabad has been diagnosed with the virus. He has been hospitalized and is under full medical care,” the statement said.
■RETAIL
Burberry revenue down
British luxury goods company Burberry Group PLC said yesterday that total revenue fell 4 percent in the three months to June 30, dragged down by a slump in wholesale revenue. Though total revenue of £229 million (US$375 million) was down on a constant currency basis during the firm’s first fiscal quarter, Burberry said revenue was up 8 percent on a reported basis. “The United States and Spain remain more difficult markets, with comparable store sales in both markets again down double-digit in the quarter,” the company said. Russia and parts of the Middle East were also difficult, but China “continues to perform strongly,” the company said.
■RETAIL
Johnson & Johnson sales hit
Health care products maker Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said its second-quarter profit fell 3.5 percent, as the global recession, strong dollar and generic competition took their toll on sales, particularly for prescription drugs. The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based maker of baby shampoo, Tylenol, contraceptives and biotech drugs earned US$3.21 billion, or US$1.15 per share, down from US$3.33 billion, or US$1.17 a share, a year ago. Revenue fell 7.4 percent to US$15.24 billion from US$16.45 billion a year ago. “This was one of the most difficult years in our history,” chief financial officer Dominic Caruso told analysts during a conference call. But he said operational results were better than expected.
■ELECTRONICS
LG expands production line
South Korea’s LG Display Co, one of the world’s top liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel makers, said yesterday it would invest 3.27 trillion won (US$2.6 billion) to meet the growing demand for flat-screen TVs. The company plans to expand its LCD display production lines at its plant in Paju, 25km north of Seoul, it said. “The company has been experiencing a shortage of 20 [percent] to 30 percent” in its supply to meet swelling demand, the company said in a statement. It plans to start production at the new facility in the second half of next year, the statement said.
■TRANSPORT
Bombardier wins contract
Canada’s Bombardier Transportation has received a US$255 million contract to supply, operate and maintain an automated transit system at the Phoenix international airport in Arizona. Under the contract signed with the southwestern US city, the rail technology giant said on Tuesday it would design and supply 18 driverless vehicles and its accompanying electrical and communications system at its facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The contract’s value includes a design-build contract estimated at US$186 million and a separate contract of about US$69 million for Bombardier to maintain and operate the system for 10 years.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from