■INSURANCE
AIG to settle legal disputes
American International Group Inc (AIG) has agreed to settle all legal disputes with its former chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the company said late on Wednesday. AIG also settled all its legal disputes with former chief financial officer Howard Smith. AIG, which is owned by US taxpayers, said it would pay up to US$150 million in past legal costs for Greenberg and Smith. Greenberg was ousted from New York-based AIG amid an accounting scandal in 2005.
■MEDIA
Comcast nears deal
Comcast’s bid to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal from General Electric (GE) could be sealed next week if GE reaches an agreement with Vivendi, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. An agreement between GE and cable TV operator Comcast on the NBC Universal sale “should probably be announced next week,” said the source, adding that “a deal has to be finished with Vivendi” first.
■RETAIL
Wal-Mart uses abusive labor
Wal-Mart supplier factories in China feature abusive conditions in violation of the retailer’s own “basic” standards, a labor report showed on Wednesday. Workers making shoes, Christmas lights, tools, curtains and paper boxes sold at Wal-Mart stores endure “illegal and degrading conditions,” New York-based China Labor Watch said, based on its probe. The group’s investigation of five Wal-Mart supplier factories reveals that “not a single factory has implemented Wal-Mart’s basic standards, and a total of 10,000 workers included in the report suffer serious rights abuses,” the group said in a statement.
■AUTOMOBILES
Governments work with GM
The German and Spanish governments said on Wednesday they plan to work closely to avert major job losses and factory closures at General Motors’ (GM) European division Opel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met on Wednesday evening at Meseberg Palace, just outside Berlin, for long-planned talks. GM’s top executive in Europe had confirmed hours before plans to axe about 9,000 jobs. Nick Reilly said the brunt of the cuts would be borne at plants in Germany and Belgium. Opel also has a factory in Spain.
■EQUITY
Australia fines TPG over tax
Australian authorities have slapped US private equity firm TPG with a bill for A$678 million (US$629 million) in taxes and penalties. The tax bill is linked to TPG’s Oct. 29 sale of its stake in Australian retailer Myer Holdings Ltd, from which the Fort Worth, Texas-based company made A$1.58 billion. The Australian Taxation Office has accused TPG of skipping out on paying Australian taxes on those profits by funneling the money to companies in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.
■PHILIPPINES
GDP growth at 0.8 percent
Philippine economic growth slowed to 0.8 percent in the three months to September, the government said yesterday. The third quarter figure was well below the 4.6 percent growth posted in the same period a year ago and marked a fall from the 1.5 percent growth recorded in the three months to June. In the first half of this year the Philippines recorded a 1 percent pace of GDP growth on the back of the government’s 300 billion peso (US$6.4 billion) stimulus package.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source