■ BANKING
Citigroup plans streamlining
Citigroup, reeling from the subprime mortgage crisis, said on Friday it planned to sell roughly US$400 billion in assets in a streamlining reorganization aimed at restoring the US banking giant to profit. The announcement was made by the new chief executive, Vikram Pandit, in a presentation to the financial community on the ailing bank’s strategy. Citigroup has hemorrhaged nearly US$45 billion in the past nine months in losses and write-downs amid soured subprime-related bets. The bank said it wants to sell the non-core assets, representing about 20 percent of its US$2.2 trillion in assets, over the next two or three years. The vast majority of the assets to be shed are within its consumer banking and securities banking operations.
■ AVIATION
Qantas faces worker action
Qantas Airways Ltd, Australia’s biggest airline, faces overtime bans and stop-work meetings by maintenance engineers starting next week, after refusing to improve a pay offer. The actions, notified by the engineers’ labor association, will probably result in delays for passengers on Friday and May 23, Sydney-based Qantas said late on Friday in an e-mailed statement. The airline said it planned to ensure all travelers reach their destination on those days. Qantas is refusing to break its wage policy of 3 percent annual pay increases and a 1 percent additional pension contribution. The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association has rejected the offer, the Sun-Herald said last Sunday, citing president Paul Cousins.
■ ELECTRONICS
JVC, Kenwood set to merge
Japanese electronics manufacturer Victor Co of Japan Ltd (JVC) and Kenwood Corp have reached a final agreement to merge on Oct. 1 under a holding company, a newspaper reported yesterday. The two companies, which were working out details of their merger plan, are expected to announce the accord as early as Monday, the Nikkei business daily said. They will then seek shareholder approval at their respective general shareholders meetings late next month, the daily said.
■ INTERNET
Facebook to follow MySpace
Facebook Inc is loosening its grip on millions of personal profiles to allow inhabitants of its popular Internet hangout to transplant the information and applications to other Web sites. With the changes announced Friday, Facebook joins a growing movement to make it easier for people to share their favorite pictures, information and applications with family and friends anywhere on the Internet. Facebook, which has about 70 million users worldwide, unveiled its plans the day after its bigger rival, News Corp’s MySpace, made a similar commitment. Unlike MySpace, Facebook plans to allow users to take their personal profiles to any Web site that wants to host them.
■ ECONOMY
Lula scoffs at US risk rating
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva marveled at the US’ “zero risk” financial rating on Friday, raising some laughs as he wondered how ratings agencies could call the troubled US economy perfectly safe. “I’m amazed to see that the American risk is zero. It’s in a miserable crisis, and there’s no risk,” Silva said at the inauguration of a gas pipeline in Espirito Santo state. “Brazil’s risk [and] Russia’s risk increase, but the Americans, who are in debt up to here, have zero risk,” Silva said. “It’s an invention of the ratings agencies, that’s what I think.”
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
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