■ Energy
HK firm mulls wind farm
Hong Kong Construction (Holdings) Ltd said it has signed an agreement with a local government of Inner Mongolia to study a possible wind power project. The building contractor may invest in a wind farm in two regions totaling 1,000m2, the company said in a press release yesterday. The power project, to be developed with the Siziwang Qi government of Inner Mongolia, aims to produce between 100,000 kilowatts to 150,000 kilowatts of capacity by 2008.
■ Automobiles
Honda planning new plant
Honda Motor plans to build a new manufacturing plant to produce key components to be used in its hybrid cars, a Japanese business daily reported yesterday. The facility, which is scheduled to come online in 2008, will enable the automaker to quadruple its annual output capacity for electric motors the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Honda is expected to spend about &$165;8 billion (US$68.87 million) to build the plant in western Mie Prefecture, the newspaper said. Honda aims to sell 200,000 fuel-efficient vehicles worldwide, powered by both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, in 2009, the Nihon Keizai said.
■ Gold
Police foil crime syndicate
Australian police said yesterday they were hunting for a sophisticated crime syndicate that almost managed to steal A$14 million (US$10.5 million) worth of gold bullion. The gang forged the title deeds to a prominent Sydney property and used it as collateral for a multi-million dollar loan. The syndicate then ordered 605kg of gold from the Perth Mint through a respected bullion dealer. Detective senior sergeant Peter Feast from the West Australia gold robberies unit said yesterday the thieves were just hours away from receiving the massive haul. The scam took place in January, but was first revealed in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Saturday.
■ E-commerce
Internet shops disappoint
Internet shops often provide a poor service with a huge gap between customer requirements and the service offered online, according to a recent German study. The study conducted by Novomind in cooperation with the F.A.Z. Institute found that customers often wanted a market place for used items and much improved delivery conditions. Nine out of 10 interviewees said delivery could be improved. About 56 percent of respondents said a permanent shopping bag that stored information on orders made during previous visits was useful. However, only every fourth online shop actually offered such a service.
■ Automobiles
Police probe VW trio
Frankfurt prosecutors and Germany's federal criminal police are investigating two employees and a retired manager of automaker Volkswagen on suspicion of corruption, Hartwig von Sass, a spokesman for the company said on Saturday. Von Sass confirmed media reports that employees of VW subsidiary Audi had accepted bribes worth
up to 800,000 euros (US$1.01million) from global equipment manufacturers Faurecia. The latest investigation comes just a year after VW called in prosecutors to investigate personnel executive Klaus-Joachim Gebauer and former Skoda chief Helmuth Schuster. They are suspected of setting up fake companies in countries including India and the Czech Republic to defraud local authorities seeking business with VW.
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)