■ Banking
EU blesses new ECB head
EU leaders gave their formal blessing Thursday to Jean-Claude Trichet as the new European Central Bank chief, with officials declaring that Europe's single currency would be in safe hands. The former governor of the French central bank is due to replace Dutchman Wim Duisenberg for an eight-year term from Nov. 1 following the green light from leaders of the 12 euro-zone nations at an EU summit here. "I'm really confident the euro is in good hands at the top of the bank and also at the different levels of the bank," European Commission President Romano Prodi told reporters. Trichet himself pledged to continue Duisenberg's legacy to preserve and strengthen the European monetary system when he takes over at the top of Frankfurt's Eurotower.
■ Internet
EBay's profits skyrocket
US online auctioneer EBay on Thursday said its third-quarter earnings skyrocketed 69 percent, mainly because its online payment service attracted more customers and the value of goods sold increased. Net income rose to US$103.3 million, or US$0.16 a share, up 69 percent from the year-earlier period. Value of goods sold increased 58 percent to US$5.8 billion and the company had 85.5 million registered clients, 37.4 million of whom were "active," at the end of the third quarter, EBay announced. EBay's revenues were at US$1.5 billion for the first nine months of the year, up from US$800.1 million last year. EBay forecast revenues of up to US$590 million for the fourth quarter and US$2.1 billion for the year. It also forecast revenues of US$2.9 billion next year.
■ Currencies
Donohue supports yaun peg
US companies that manufacture in China and export to the US would be hurt if China bowed to pressure from US President George W. Bush for an immediate loosening of the yuan's peg to the dollar, the head of the US Chamber of Commerce said. "The currency ought to be driven by market forces," Chamber president Thomas Donohue said in an interview after a speech in Hong Kong "I believe that ought to be done on an evolutionary basis, not a revolutionary basis. The risks of going to immediate free trading or deregulation are severe to Americans. The suitable time is when we can be sure that the China banks are stable, when we're comfortable that the many American companies operating in China and selling goods to the US are not going to be injured," said Donohue, whose chamber represents 3 million businesses in the US.
■ Telecoms
Broadband usage soars
Japanese broadband use soared as companies met demand for music, movies and games, the Wall Street Journal said, citing official data. In August 2001 Japan had 1.6 million broadband subscribers out of a total population of 127 million; by August this year that figure soared to 11.8 million users, a penetration rate of 10 percent which equals that of the US, the newspaper said. Japanese users, who can download a music album in about 16 seconds compared with about five minutes in the US, pay as little as US$0.09 a month per 100 kilobits of data per second in speed offered, compared with US$3.53 in the US, the WSJ said, citing data from the International Telecoms Union. The Japanese government estimates broadband-linked goods and services could be worth ¥10 trillion (US$91 billion) by the year 2007, the Journal said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)