■ Steel
ThyssenKrupp drops out
German steel company ThyssenKrupp AG, the world's 10th-largest steelmaker, dropped out of bidding for Dofasco Inc, clearing the way for Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA to triumph with its proposal. "The executive board of ThyssenKrupp has decided not to submit a higher offer to purchase Dofasco Inc, as an offer of more than C$68 (US$59) per share would go beyond the point of creating economic value," ThyssenKrupp said in a statement on Monday.
■ Airlines
Airbus may open PRC plant
European aircraft maker Airbus is leaning toward building an assembly line for single-aisle aircraft in China, with a decision expected by mid-year, a report said yesterday, citing company chief executive officer Gustav Humbert. The Toulouse, France-based company is conducting a feasibility study, with help from the government and local companies, on an Airbus joint venture that would turn out four A320 series aircraft a month, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported.
■ Semiconductors
Japan to tax Hynix chips
Japan said it will impose import duties on computer memory chips made by South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc in retaliation for alleged illegal government subsidies, the finance minister said yesterday. The move was initially announced on Friday pending official Cabinet approval, which was granted yesterday, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki told reporters. The 27.2 percent tariff will apply on all DRAM chips manufactured by Hynix in South Korea starting Jan. 27 for five years, Tanigaki said. This is the first time Tokyo will impose tariffs to counter alleged subsidies by a foreign government.
■ Travel
Chinese guides planned
The miracle economy is not a one-way street: 100 million Chinese are expected to be taking foreign holidays by 2020. "China is the new tiger in the tourism playground," says Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey. "It has the potential to do what Japan did for us in the 1980s." With China set to become the world's fourth largest source of outbound travelers by 2020, the market for guidebooks is set to soar. On the ground floor is Lonely Planet, which in January signed a contract with Chinese publishing house SDX to print Chinese-language versions of the world famous Lonely Planet travel guides. First on the shelves will be guidebooks for top destinations like Australia, Germany and Britain.
■ Drugs
Holland hosts `grass' show
Marijuana growers gathered in Europe's pot-smoking capital on Sunday for a trade show that is taking on the trappings of a major industry fair, complete with scantily clad models, glossy brochures and, of course, samples. But instead of posing next to muscle cars, the models explained the intricacies of hydroponics culture such as the "iGrow-box Intensive Irrigation System" and exhibitors showed off their bongs, grinders, rolling paper, reflective film, hemp-fabric apparel and how-to marijuana growing videos. Andre Beckers, the organizer of the International Highlife Hemp Fair, said he was expecting 15,000 to 20,000 visitors at the fair, held for the first time in Amsterdam instead of Utrecht, a smaller Dutch city to the southeast of the capital.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique