Taipei - Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Co and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) will jointly launch a second joint communications satellite in 2010, Chunghwa Telecom said on Thursday.

The two firms have agreed to form a joint venture to build the ST- 2 satellite and launch it in the fourth quarter of 2010. ST-2 will replace the ST-1, Chunghwa Telecom said in a statement.

Taipei - Taiwan, putting aside long-standing political considerations, said Wednesday that it is adopting China's phonetic spelling system to prevent confusion in communications with foreigners.

The cabinet said Taiwan's local and county governments must use China's Hanyu Pinyin when translating place names and road names from Chinese into Roman alphabets.

Those who refuse to follow the order would not receive subsidies for transliterating place names from the central government.

"Hanyu Pinyin is being used by the United Nations and world libraries," Education Ministry official Chen Hsueh-yu said. "Adopting it can make it easier for foreigners to do business or travel in Taiwan."

Taipei - Taiwan's government and economists were in agreement Wednesday that the US financial chaos would negatively hit local financial institutions, stock and property markets but only in the short term.

The island's Central Bank decided to cut its bank reserve ratios starting Thursday to free up 200 billion Taiwan dollars (6.25 billion US dollars) in a bid to ease fund flows and boost the local markets.

Taipei - Taipei stocks reboun

Taipei  - Taiwan on Tuesday suspended the operations of the local unit of the investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and said it might help Taiwan investors seek damages from its US-based parent company.

On the order of the Financial Supervisory Commission, investigators went to Lehman Brothers' Taipei office to check the company's financial records.

The commission ordered the Taiwan office to suspend operations until the parent company's financial crisis is over.

Taipei - Rescuers in Taiwan searched Tuesday for victims of Typhoon Sinlaku, which left at least seven people dead, 11 missing and 20 injured.

At the Fengchiuming Tunnel in central Taiwan's Nantou County, rescuers dug out a minivan, a car and two bodies from a mudslide that buried nine vehicles.

Several backhoes were used to remove earth and rocks that buried the mountainside tunnel and buried one volunteer who was directing traffic Monday afternoon.

Rescuers had managed to rescue seven people and retrieve three dead bodies by Tuesday afternoon.