■MINING
Rio Tinto to cut production
Rio Tinto Ltd said yesterday it would cut production and jobs at an Australian diamond mine because of the global economic downturn. Underground expansion work at the Argyle Diamonds mine in the state of Western Australia would be “slowed to only critical development activities,” the company said in a statement. “Given global market conditions, we will also reduce diamond production by taking an extended maintenance shutdown of the diamond processing facilities for up to three months, commencing in March,” Argyle Diamonds chief operating officer Kevin McLeish said in the statement.
■SOFTWARE
Oracle cut 500 jobs: report
Oracle Corp eliminated about 500 jobs in its North American sales and consulting businesses last Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Redwood Shores, California, software maker had 33,526 employees in the Americas at the end of November and 86,657 worldwide, the report said. An Oracle spokeswoman declined to comment, the paper said.
■BANKING
RBS sells PRC bank stake
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) sold its entire stake in Bank of China (中國銀行), the third-largest lender in China, for nearly US$2.37 billion, joining a recent string of investors who have cut their holdings in Chinese banks. RBS sold its 4.3 percent stake, about 10.8 billion shares, in the Bank of China for HK$1.71 per share, representing as 7.6 percent discount over Tuesday’s closing price, a person familiar with the matter said.
■COMPUTERS
Satyam names new auditors
India’s fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd named new auditors yesterday, the first step by the government-appointed board as the company battles for survival after unveiling the country’s biggest corporate scandal. KPMG and Deloitte were appointed as the auditors, said Deepak Parekh, a senior Indian banker and part of the outsourcer’s new three-member board. Satyam’s founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju quit last week and confessed the company’s profits had been falsely inflated for years. The new audit firms replace PricewaterhouseCoopers.
■THAILAND
Bank of Thailand cuts rate
Thailand’s central bank cut its interest rate more than economists expected for a second month after inflation cooled to the slowest pace in six years and political protests sent confidence to a record low. The Bank of Thailand lowered its one-day bond repurchase rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.00 percent. “We still have lots of ammunition,” Duangmanee Vongpradhip, a Bank of Thailand assistant governor, told a press briefing. “Domestic demand continued to soften, both in consumption and investment, partly as a result of fragile sentiment. We can be less aggressive now as we see fiscal measures in place.”
■ECONOMY
China overtakes Germany
China’s economy overtook Germany’s in 2007 to become the world’s third largest, underscoring the nation’s increasing economic and political clout. Its GDP expanded 13 percent from a year earlier, more than a previous estimate of 11.9 percent, to 25.731 trillion yuan (US$3.38 trillion), the statistics bureau said on its Web site yesterday. That topped Germany’s 2.424 trillion euros (US$3.32 trillion), using average exchange rates for 2007.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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