■TECHNOLOGY
Executives retire early
Lockheed Martin on Wednesday announced that more than 600 company executives have taken up early retirement offers as the defense contractor undergoes a massive cost-cutting restructuring. The layoffs, representing one quarter of Lockheed Martin’s senior management, are part of the company’s plan to cut back about 10,000 employees across the US since the start of the year, it said in a statement. The 600 managers will receive “financial incentives” to leave the company.
■AUTOMAKERS
Nissan to launch new brand
A Chinese unit of Japan’s No. 3 automaker, Nissan Motor, has announced it will launch a new brand for China to tap the huge demand in the world’s largest car market. The Venucia — Qi Chen in Chinese — will be developed by Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co, Nissan’s joint venture with China’s Dongfeng Motor Group, the company said in a statement. The first mass-production model marketed under the new brand will be introduced to the Chinese market in 2012, said the statement, posted on Nissan’s Web site on Wednesday.
■ENERGY
Doosan wins Saudi bid
South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction said yesterday it had won a US$3.42 billion bid to build a power plant in Saudi Arabia. The company said in a statement it had received a letter from state-run Saudi Electricity Co confirming it had secured the deal. Construction will begin this month after a contract is signed and will be completed by December 2014, a spokesman said. He said the thermal power plant at Rabigh on Saudi Arabia’s west coast would produce up to 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough for 2.8 million people.
■INTERNET
Amazon buys Amie Street
Amazon.com Inc, seeking to expand its position in the music download market against rivals such as Apple Inc’s iTunes Store, has purchased online music retailer Amie Street for an undisclosed amount. In an e-mail to users on Wednesday, Amie Street said it has found “a great home” for its site AmieStreet.com with Amazon. The Seattle-based online retailer first invested in the site nearly four years ago, Amie Street said. The e-mail said that starting on Sept. 22, site visitors would be forwarded to Amazon.com Web pages and the AmieStreet.com service would be shut down.
■AVIATION
ANA plans low-cost airline
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to launch a low-cost carrier that will operate both international and domestic short-haul routes from the second half of next year, the company said yesterday. ANA said it had signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based private equity firm First Eastern Investment Group to establish “the first Japanese low-cost airline,” adding that it would operate independently from ANA. The new company will be established by the end of this year, ANA said.
■ENERGY
Total buys gas project stake
French giant Total has paid a little more than 625 million euros (US$793 million) for a 20 percent stake in a major liquefied natural gas project in Australia, two of the other companies involved announced yesterday. Australia’s Santos announced it would cede 15 percent of its shares in the project to Total for A$650 million (US$597 million). Malaysia’s Petronas said it had sold 5 percent of its stake for A$217 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
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