■ AUSTRALAISA
Companies to reduce staff
Almost half of Australian and New Zealand companies plan to decrease or freeze staff levels due to the global economic recession, a Hay Group survey found. Seventeen percent of the Australian and New Zealand firms polled said they would cut jobs, while 27 percent would keep headcount steady, three times the number of companies that considered a similar action eight months ago, the consulting firm said in an e-mailed release citing its Global Employee Pay and Staffing Survey. More than 130 Australian and New Zealand companies participated in the survey.
■ COMMUNICATIONS
SK Telecom fined US$1.2m
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s largest mobile-phone operator, was fined 1.7 billion won (US$1.2 million) by the nation’s antitrust regulator for unfair trading practices. SK Telecom blocked the sale of a certain type of an advanced handset to retail customers on concern it might reduce the carrier’s data revenue from wireless Internet services, the Korea Fair Trade Commission said in a statement yesterday. SK Telecom also prevented some of its users from accessing content offered by a third-party service provider, the commission said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Bosch to slash jobs
The world’s leading auto parts maker, Bosch, will have to slash jobs in Germany and abroad because of the financial crisis, an executive has warned. In an interview to appear in the next edition of the magazine Auto Motor, Bernd Bohr refused to give precise figures, while speaking of several hundred jobs affected in foreign plants and “structural adjustment” in Germany. Temporary contracts would not be renewed, Bohr said. In October the group predicted a “really tough year” next year after results this year fell below expectations, with rising costs and weaker sales growth.
■ TOURISM
Theme park to be built
Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd, the operator of tourist attractions owned by Blackstone Group LP, will build a 750 million ringgit (US$209 million) Legoland theme park in Malaysia. Merlin and Iskandar Investment Bhd have agreed to construct the park, expected to be open in 2013, in Johor Bahru, a statement e-mailed yesterday said. Merlin will take a 20 percent stake in the venture while a group led by Iskandar will own 80 percent, the joint statement said. The Legoland park is part of a 3.5 billion ringgit complex which includes offices, hotels, apartments and a shopping mall, Iskandar, a Malaysian state-controlled company, and Merlin said.
■ COMPUTERS
Biodegradable model made
The world’s first biodegradable computer, the iameco, has been manufactured in Dublin from bio-degradable wood panels made from waste products in the lumber and pulp industry. During a visit to the company by Irish Minister for Science and Innovation, Jimmy Devins, the inventors of iameco, MicroPro Computers Ltd, said they could implant the seeds of native-tree species into the wood panels. The minister’s visit coincided with the announcement of details of a new Enterprise Ireland Green Technology Support for businesses. In addition to the iameco computer, which uses one-third less energy than conventional computers, the biodegradable wood can also be used to manufacture the computer monitor casing, keyboard and mouse.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
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
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