■AUTOMOBILES
Government targets investors
The British government is taking legal action to bar four investors involved in the collapse of automaker MG Rover from any company management positions, British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said yesterday. The businessmen, known as the Phoenix Four, reportedly collected millions in pay and pensions from the company before its collapse, a report released by Mandelson’s department said. Former Rover executives John Towers, Peter Beale, John Edwards and Nick Stephenson responded angrily, calling the report a “witch hunt” and a “whitewash for the government.” MG Rover went into administration in 2005 and its assets were later sold to China’s Nanjing Automobile Group (南京汽車).
■CHINA
Dollar advises diversity
It makes sense for China to diversify its huge stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, the US Treasury’s economic and financial emissary to China said yesterday. China’s forex reserves, the world’s biggest stockpile, stood at US$2.13 trillion at the end of June. China has expressed concerns in the past about the value of its holdings of US Treasuries, as massive US debt offerings pose the risk of eroding the value of dollar assets. “The general issue is that China has a huge amount of reserves and it makes some sense to diversify what you put these reserves [into],” David Dollar told a meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Chinese city of Dalian. “It’s healthy to have a wide and different type of reserve currencies,” he said.
■BANKING
Banks deny Myanmar links
Two Singapore banks have rejected a report by a US-based rights group that said Myanmar’s ruling junta deposited billions of dollars with them. DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said in separate statements late on Thursday that there was no truth in the report by EarthRights International (ERI). ER had said in a report released on Thursday that energy giants Total and Chevron were propping up the Myanmar military regime with a gas project that allowed the junta to stash almost US$5 billion in the two Singaporean banks.
■AVIATION
Pilots, management to meet
Pilots of India’s Jet Airways were scheduled to hold a meeting yesterday with the airline management and the government’s chief labor commissioner to resolve a four-day strike that has led to the cancelation of more than 800 flights. Operations at India’s second-largest private airline remained disrupted as more than 150 flights across the country were canceled yesterday, the airline’s Web site said. At least 400 pilots have been on mass sick leave since Tuesday to protest the sacking of two pilots by the airline.
■ELECTRONICS
Console price cuts work
Sony and Microsoft sold more game consoles last month after they cut prices, helping ease the overall decline in the US video-game market. Last month sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 console gained 13 percent from a year earlier, the first increase in 10 months, and those of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 rose 10 percent, researcher NPD Group said on Thursday. Nintendo’s Wii console, the industry leader, slumped 39 percent to 277,400 units, NPD said. Sony cut the price of the PS3 by 25 percent on Aug. 19 and Microsoft lowered the price of its most powerful console, the Xbox 360 Elite, by a similar proportion to US$300 on Aug. 27.
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old
SEA SEARCH: Nine crew members of a cargo ship had taken to the water after the vessel sunk off the southern coast, with a rescue effort under way, officials said The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years yesterday killed three people and flooded parts of the nation’s second-biggest city, while rescuers were searching for nine sailors after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in Kaohsiung into rivers, with some households flooded. Offices and schools were closed for the second consecutive day, with thousands of people evacuated. Three people died and 380 were injured due to strong winds and torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi, the Central Emergency Response Center said. The typhoon made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) at midnight yesterday and departed Taiwan
SEVEN-YEAR TERM: Three other defendants were found guilty and sentenced in the trial over legislative office salaries, while a fourth was found not guilty of all charges Anne Kao (高虹安) yesterday was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison and suspended as Hsinchu mayor after the Taipei District Court found her guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Criminal Code. The court also deprived Kao of her civil rights for four years and she was suspended from office by the Ministry of the Interior. Article 78 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) stipulates that a mayor of a special municipality will be suspended from office if they are found guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act. Kao was accused of taking for her own use more than