■ MEDIA
Blockbuster could go bust
Troubled video-rental chain Blockbuster Inc could file for bankruptcy protection, a Wall Street Journal article reported. Citing unnamed sources, the Journal said Blockbuster is working with creditors to develop a bankruptcy restructuring plan that would free it of debt and allow the company to keep some stores open and focus more on digital distribution. If Blockbuster misses an interest payment on Sept. 30, more than US$900 million in debt will be due in full.
■ COMPUTERS
Dell to release second tablet
Dell chief executive Michael Dell said on Wednesday the firm would release a second tablet computer to compete in a hot market dominated by Apple’s iPad. Dell made the announcement during an on-stage presentation at Oracle’s annual OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, but gave no details about the gadget, its price or when it would hit the market. Industry insiders believe the new tablet will have a seven-inch touchscreen and run on Google Inc’s Android software.
■ AUTOMAKERS
New Mexico plant planned
Volkswagen unveiled plans on Wednesday to invest US$550 million in a new plant in Mexico to help the giant German automaker strengthen its position in the North American market. The announcement came jointly with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who said the plant would be a “next generation” engine facility in the central state of Guanajuato, to supply the assembly plant in Puebla and a US facility in Tennessee. Volkswagen aims to triple is US sales by 2018 to 1 million annually and hopes to overtake Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker. The German firm produced 325,000 vehicles in Mexico last year and hopes to boost that by 35 percent this year.
■ BANKING
Unicredit looking for CEO
The chairman of Italy’s largest bank, Unicredit, said a new chief executive for the lending giant would be found “quickly,” following a shareholder rebellion that has weighed down investor confidence. “The succession to Alessandro Profumo will be handled quickly, but with great care,” Dieter Rampl said in a letter to company employees. The bank’s share price has fallen 6.11 percent in the past two days to 1.823 euros (US$2.44). Profumo was ousted on Tuesday at an emergency board meeting. Rampl has temporarily taken over Profumo’s duties.
■ AVIATION
Franz gets Lufthansa CEO job
Deutsche Lufthansa AG on Wednesday named Christoph Franz, the head of its passenger airline business and the man who presided over the restructuring of Swiss International Airlines, as its new chief executive. Franz, 50, will take over as chief executive on Jan. 1, Germany’s biggest airline said. His term will run through May 31, 2014. Franz will replace Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who has led the company since 2003.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Nissan, Renault to cut costs
Japan’s Nissan Motor and its partner Renault of France will jointly develop a platform for at least 10 models to consolidate suppliers and cut procurement costs, a report said on Wednesday. The two companies, which intend to design the common platform for medium-sized sport utility vehicles and sedans, also plan to standardize 70 key components, including windows and brakes, the Nikkei reported. The key components account for about 80 percent of the total cost of parts and materials, the report added.
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