■ Trade
US beef arrives in Japan
The first shipment of US beef to Japan in nearly two years arrived yesterday at an airport outside Tokyo following the easing of the country's import ban, Japan's Health Ministry said. Japan slapped a ban on imports of US beef in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was reported in the US herd. After two years of negotiations and a lengthy Japanese approval process, Tokyo opened its doors Tuesday to meat from US cows aged 20 months or less. The first shipment from the US arrived yesterday morning at Narita International Airport, just east of Tokyo, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Japan agreed to allow imports of meat from cattle younger than 21 months because no cases of mad cow disease have ever been found in cows that age.
■ Telecoms
Nokia plans Chennai center
Nokia Corp said yesterday it will open a new global networks solution center next year in Chennai, southeastern India, to make its service providers more competitive on international markets. The center will serve selected operator customers in the Asia Pacific region as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the world's largest mobile phone maker said. "This center will play a key role for us in our drive to ease the cost pressures that our clients are feeling," Bosco Novak, a senior vice president in the networks division, said in New Delhi. "India is a very important market for Nokia and we're pleased to expand our presence here." The networks center will open during the first half of next year and will initially employ 100 people, but will be expanded later, the company said. It gave no value for the investment.
■ Software
Oracle posts profit drop
Business software giant Oracle Corp said on Thursday its past-quarter profit was US$798 million, down 2 percent from a year ago amid higher expenses after its acquisition spree. Still, the profit for the second fiscal quarter to Nov. 30 excluding special items of US$0.19 a share was in line with most analyst forecasts. Revenues grew 19 percent from a year ago to US$3.29 billion as Oracle benefited from its acquisition of rival PeopleSoft. Oracle in the past year has also announced the acquisition of rivals Siebel Systems and Retek in an effort to go head-to-head with Germany's SAP in the area of business management software. "The most difficult place to beat SAP is in their home country of Germany," Oracle president Charles Phillips said.
■ Finance
Argentina to pay off debts
Argentina will repay its entire debt to the IMF using its currency reserves, President Nestor Kirchner said after a similar move was announced by Brazil. Kirchner said the debt to be repaid before the end of the year amounts to US$9.81 billion. The move by Kirchner highlights the strong economic rebound in the South American nation after its unprecedented default four years ago. It also marks a rupture in years of often-tense relations between Buenos Aires and the IMF. Kirchner told a press conference the payment would come from Argentina's currency reserves estimated to be over US$26 billion. He noted that Argentina had already repaid about US$6 billion to the IMF since the economic crisis began in late 2001.
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
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