■Banking
SK Global to be rescued
Key creditors of SK Global, the trading arm of South Korea's third largest business group, have reached a tentative agreement to rescue the firm, major creditor Hana Bank said yesterday. The agreement came late Tuesday in response to a proposal from the group's parent company SK Group to shoulder a larger share of the bailout, a bank spokesman said. Under the new rescue plan the group's flagship company SK Corp will convert 850 billion won (US$707 million) in debt owed by SK Global into equity. The new offer includes the write-off of a further 600 billion won in overseas debt.
■ Financial crime
Investors allege swindle
More than 100 disgruntled investors stood in silent protest outside a government building in Beijing yesterday, accusing an adviser to the city council of defrauding them of their savings. The peaceful protest near Tiananmen Square was not related to the 14th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, but the sensitive timing attracted dozens of police on high alert for the tiniest flicker of dissent on or near the vast plaza. The protesters, mostly elderly, said a member of the Beijing People's Political Consultative Conference, sold them space on an altar at a pagoda for the storage of funeral urns, promising they could sell the space at a big profit in the future. The Chinese government has been encouraging cremation, after which ashes are stored in urns, instead of burying the dead in recent years because of a shortage of land. The company which sold them the altar space has gone bankrupt and the investors are unable to get their money back.
■ Computers
IBM under investigation
Shares of IBM Corp fell 4 percent Tuesday after the company disclosed that the SEC is investigating how the technology giant booked revenue in 2000 and 2001. IBM said after the close of trading Monday that it had received a notice of a formal SEC investigation primarily concerning "certain types of customer transactions." Spokesmen for IBM declined to elaborate. The company said it believes the probe arose from a separate SEC investigation into a customer of IBM's retail store solutions unit, which sells cash registers and other checkout-counter computing equipment. SEC spokesman John Heine declined comment. IBM shares lost US$3.51 to close at US$83.82 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
■ Insider trading
Stewart's indictment sought
Federal prosecutors are close to hitting home-decorating mogul Martha Stewart with criminal charges in the insider-trading scandal that has been hanging over her head for the past year. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Stewart's media company, disclosed hours before its annual meeting Tuesday that federal prosecutors in New York are seeking a grand jury indictment of Stewart "in the near future." Shares of her media company plunged on the news that the scandal could bring down Stewart, the embodiment of the brand. The company also said federal securities regulators -- who have already notified Stewart they intend to file civil charges against her -- likely will file their own complaint soon. A civil complaint from the SEC could eventually cost Stewart hefty fines and her position as CEO of the media company.
Agencies
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
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