■ Automobiles
Toyota mulling GM alliance
Toyota Motor is considering proposing an alliance with General Motors (GM) to prevent its US rival from forming a three-way tie-up with Renault and Nissan, BusinessWeek magazine reported on Saturday. Citing "people with knowledge of the Japanese auto maker's plans," the magazine said Toyota had "war-gamed" a proposal to assist struggling GM, the world's largest auto maker, and head off a deal that would create a monolithic automotive group. The magazine said "whether Toyota actually makes a bid remains to be seen." It contacted several GM executives who said the company has heard nothing from Toyota. And Toyota spokesman Steven Curtis told BusinessWeek that any talk of an offer is "pure speculation."
■ Aviation
Battery-powered plane flies
The world's first manned plane powered by conventional dry-cell batteries soared above the ground in a demonstration flight in Okegawa, Japan yesterday. The glider-like plane with a single-seat gondola and a 31m wingspan was powered by 160 AA "Oxyride" batteries which have been produced by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co since April 2004. It soared as high as 5.2m, stayed in the air for 59 seconds and covered a distance of 391m at a private airport owned by Honda Motor Co. The Oxyride battery is a long-lasting battery said to be 1.5 times as powerful as a regular alkaline battery.
■ Electronics
Matsushita to expand
Japanese electronics giant Matsushita will produce flat-panel TV sets in Russia and Brazil this year to meet growing demand there, a report said yesterday. The major business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun also said that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, famous for its Panasonic brand, will substantially strengthen its sales network for such TVs in India. In September Matsushita will start producing liquid crystal display TVs in Russia, making it the first Japanese firm to make flat-panel TVs there, the daily said. The production will be entrusted to an electrical equipment maker in the city of Kaliningrad, to which Matsushita will supply key components from Japan for local assembly, the report said. In Brazil, Matsushita will start producing plasma TVs by the end of this month, the daily said.
■ Oil
Shell considers assets sale
Royal Dutch Shell PLC will consider selling its Dominican assets, including a 50 percent stake in the Caribbean nation's sole oil refinery, the company said on Saturday. The Anglo-Dutch company administers 137 service stations and maintains fuel distribution equipment and facilities in the Caribbean nation, in which it has operated for nearly 80 years. "Shell will initiate a process of evaluation and revision of its complete business portfolio in order to determine if the interest shown will add value for the company's shareholders," said Rafael Maradiaga, Dominican representative for the company, in a statement. He said "no final decision has been made." Shell did not name any potential buyers, but said it had received interest. It announced the sale of some assets in the US and several countries in the south Pacific in recent days, saying the company is, "focusing its portfolio toward fewer, larger-scale businesses."
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
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
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
‘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)