■ Automobiles
Isuzu returning to US
Japanese truck maker Isuzu is readying a full-fledged return to production in the US, having recently purchased land in Alabama for US$7.8 million, a company spokesman said yesterday. Isuzu Motors Ltd bought land in Birmingham for future business activities in North America, including setting up a vehicle assembly plant there, although details cannot be disclosed, Isuzu spokesman Tadashi Ioka said. Isuzu had a joint venture in Indiana with Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the maker of Subaru cars, but withdrew in 2003, when Fuji bought out Isuzu's share in the venture and became sole operator of the plant.
■ Electronics
Toshiba sues 17 firms
Toshiba Corp on Friday filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission and sued 17 companies, mostly Hong Kong and Chinese makers and importers, alleging infringement of its DVD patents, the Japanese electronics maker said yesterday. It also filed a lawsuit demanding monetary damages from the same companies in a district court in California. Toshiba licenses DVD patents, but the companies, including Daewoo Electronics America Inc of the US, Dongguan GVG Digital Technology of China and Star Light Electronics Co of Hong Kong, don't have such licensing agreements, Toshiba said.
■ Pharmaceuticals
`Corrupt' official faces court
China is preparing to put a former drug regulator on trial on charges he took up to 6 million yuan (US$780,000) in bribes in a case that triggered a shakeup of the Chinese drug industry, a news report said yesterday. Investigators have handed over Zheng Xiaoyu's (鄭筱萸) case to prosecutors, the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald said. Zheng was dismissed in 2005 on charges he took bribes to approve untested medicines, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients last year. He was expelled last month from the Chinese Communist Party in a step that clears the way for a court case.
■ Entertainment
Disney still keen on China
US entertainment giant Walt Disney still hopes to open a theme park in China, but it will not necessarily be in Shanghai, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. "We are sure to build a second park in China in the long run, but we are now reviewing the market," Xinhua quoted Wing T. Chao (趙永濤), Disney's vice head of development in the Asian and Pacific region, as saying. Chao said the firm had yet to decide on a location for its second theme park in China after Hong Kong Disneyland opened in September 2005, nor had any construction plans been formulated.
■ Telecoms
KDDI expands to US
Japan's KDDI Corp plans to offer a mobile telephone service in the US targeting Japanese subscribers through the network of a US operator, a company spokesman said yesterday. The company aims to offer the service, with the brand name "KDDI Mobile," by using a network operated by Sprint Nextel Corp, the spokesman said. The move would make KDDI the first Japanese cellphone carrier to launch its own brand overseas. Japan's largest mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Inc has also been expanding overseas, mostly by licensing agreements for its popular "i-mode" Internet-capable mobile service.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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