AUTOMAKERS
Bug rewards offered
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is turning to DIY mechanics and hackers to expose software vulnerabilities in its vehicles. The US-Italian automaker is offering a bounty of US$150 to US$1,500 to people who spot software bugs and report them so they can be fixed. The size of the reward depends on how critical the bug is and how many vehicles it affects. Fiat Chrysler said it is the first automaker with a full lineup of cars and trucks to offer such a bounty, although US electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc has made similar offers.
ENERGY
Nexen to cut 350 jobs
China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd’s (CNOOC, 中國海洋石油) Nexen Energy unit is to cut 350 jobs this year after deciding not to repair its Long Lake oil-sands upgrader in Alberta, Canada, following an explosion in January. The facility, which processes bitumen into light synthetic crude oil, cannot be feasibly repaired in the short term, executives said via telephone on Tuesday. Workers will lose their jobs at Long Lake and at the Calgary headquarters. Nexen will continue producing bitumen from Long Lake, resulting in lower costs, as well as improved reliability and safety, the company said.
IRELAND
Economy grows by 26.3%
The economy grew by a barely believable 26.3 percent last year, according to official data published on Tuesday, which was largely skewed by companies relocating to the country for tax purposes. The Central Statistics Office said that the nation’s GDP had increased “significantly” last year as it drastically upgraded a previous estimate of 7.8 percent growth. The office said the result was largely due to “an increase in the number of new aircraft imports for international leasing activities” and the “reclassifications of entire balance sheets.”
LUXURY GOODS
Burberry reports flat sales
Burberry PLC reported a 3 percent drop in like-for-like sales in a “challenging” first quarter, underlining the size of the task facing Marco Gobbetti when he takes over as chief executive officer from Christopher Bailey next year. The British luxury goods group said a positive 3 percent contribution from new stores resulted in flat retail sales of £423 million (US$562 million), slightly better than analysts’ expectations. Burberry benefited from a drop in the value of the pound after Britain last month voted to leave the EU. It said its adjusted profit for the year would be boosted by about £90 million if exchange rates remain at current levels, compared with a previous forecast of a £50 million boost.
UNITED STATES
CBO projects rise in debt
Debt is set to rise faster than previously expected over the next two decades due to slower economic growth and congressional approval for tax cuts last year, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. In its latest report, the office projected that federal debt would climb from 75 percent of GDP currently to 122 percent by 2040. That is up from the office’s previous estimate of 107 percent for 2040 and well above a post-World War II peak of 106 percent of GDP. For 2046, the office lowered its debt projection by 14 percentage points to 141 percent of GDP, saying it now expects interest rates to be lower than previously anticipated.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last