■SOFTWARE
Adobe cutting 680 jobs
Adobe Systems, known for its Photoshop editing program and Acrobat document software, announced on Tuesday it was cutting some 680 jobs worldwide, or about 9 percent of its workforce. Adobe, in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said it would incur between US$65 million and US$71 million in restructuring charges because of the layoffs. Adobe said the jobs being cut only involve employees who were with the California-based company ahead of its acquisition of Web analytics firm Omniture Inc last month.
■AVIATION
JAL hopes for investment
Cash-strapped Japan Airlines (JAL) may receive an investment from US private equity firm TPG, along with American Airlines parent company AMR Corp, the US carrier’s chief financial officer said yesterday. “TPG is a well-respected investor in the airline space,” Tom Horton told reporters. “To the extent that there is an investment to be made, they would be a natural partner for American.” JAL is set to receive an emergency loan from the state-backed Development Bank of Japan to help it to keep flying, the government said on Tuesday.
■AUTOMOBILES
Ssangyong workers charged
Seven researchers at South Korea’s debt-stricken Ssangyong Motor were charged yesterday with leaking technology to its Chinese parent company, SAIC Motor Corp, South Korean prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the seven from Ssangyong’s research institute would stand trial on charges of breaking a law on industrial secrets. They are accused of leaking key technology on engines, transmission systems and a control system for a hybrid car that Ssangyong developed with state money.
■SOFTWARE
Amazon releases Kindle app
Amazon.com on Tuesday released free software that lets people read the online retail titan’s electronic Kindle books on personal computers. The Kindle for PC application syncs with Amazon’s popular e-readers so people can switch from one to the other without losing track of which page they were on in a given work. Amazon e-books can also be read on Apple iPhone or iPod Touch devices. The Kindle store online boasts a library of 360,000 digitized books for sale.
■INTERNET
Twitter links to LinkedIn
Twitter on Tuesday linked to LinkedIn, letting people share updates and tweets between the hot microblogging service and the career-oriented online social networking Web site. Twitter synchronization features will roll out over the next several days, LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue said. LinkedIn was launched in Mountain View, California, in 2003 as an online community for people to advance career and job prospects. LinkedIn reportedly has more than 50 million registered users worldwide.
■TELECOMS
SingTel profit rises 10.1%
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) said yesterday its second-quarter net profit rose an annual 10.1 percent, with the boost coming from strong contributions from regional mobile associates. Improved revenues from its domestic market in Singapore as well as from wholly owned Australian unit Optus were also factors behind the surge in net profit for the three months ended September, SingTel said. Net profit totaled S$956 million (US$689 million).
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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