■ TRANSPORTATION
CRCC wins Libya deal
China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC, 中國鐵道) has won a US$2.6 billion contract to construct two rail lines in Libya, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The orders call for a 352km railway along Libya's Mediterranean coast from Khums to Sirt, and an 800km line in the south from Sebha to Misurata, the agency said. The coastal railway is expected to take four years to complete and the line in the south three years, it said.
■ INVESTMENT
Merrill Lynch stake bought
South Korea's Hana Bank has agreed to buy 1 million shares of Merrill Lynch & Co from Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state-owned investment company, for US$50 million, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The source also said both parties were aiming to close the deal next month. Temasek is the largest shareholder of Hana Financial with a 9.62 percent stake as of last September. In December, Merrill Lynch said it would sell a stake of up to US$5 billion to Temasek, which would hold less than 10 percent of the US firm and have no voting control.
■ TRANSPORT
ADB funds Cambodian rail
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday launched a multimillion-dollar project to restore Cambodia's devastated railways in a key step toward the creation of a regional rail system. Approximately 600km of track will be rebuilt at a cost of US$42 million, the bank said. "This is one of the last steps in the creation of a regional railway that will stretch from Singapore to Beijing," ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda said in a statement.
■ TELECOM
More job go in Germany
Deutsche Telekom, which has already announced that it would eliminate 32,000 jobs, plans to cut even more, chief executive Rene Obermann said yesterday in an interview. "We have to be honest. Our staff costs are not yet at the level of our competition," Obermann told the Financial Times Deutschland. "We are not yet at the same level of efficiency." He refused to say how many more jobs might be cut. The firm was also ready for a price war, he said. "If our competitors believe they can get rid of us just by lowering prices, they are wrong," he said.
■ MEDIA
Disney seeks UTV stake
Walt Disney Co has offered to buy a controlling stake in India's UTV Software Communications Ltd by buying new stock and some shares from minority holders totaling US$371 million. Disney agreed to pay 8.05 billion rupees (US$203 million) for 9.35 million new shares of UTV Software, which makes and distributes films and produces TV programs, a regulatory ad in the Business Standard newspaper said. Disney's purchase of the new shares will increase its holding in UTV Software to 32.1 percent from 14.9 percent, triggering a mandatory offer to buy at least a 20 percent stake from minority shareholders.
■ AVIATION
Korean Air to buy A380s
Korean Air Lines Co said yesterday it will buy three more Airbus A380 passenger jets, which will be delivered between 2012 and 2013, bringing its total order of A380s to eight. The first five planes are due to be delivered between 2010 and 2013. Korean Air said in a statement. The carrier did not say how much it would pay for the three A380s.
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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