■ Germany
August trade surplus down
The German trade balance showed a surplus of 11.2 billion euros (US$14.1 billion) in August, down from 13.2 billion euros in July, official data showed yesterday. On a 12-month basis, the German trade surplus was lower than the 11.6 billion euros recorded in August last year, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated in preliminary figures. The statisticians calculated that Germany, the biggest eurozone economy, exported 69.4 billion euros worth of goods in August, up 9.6 percent on the year, while imports rose even more strongly, expanding 12.5 percent to 58.2 billion euros. Taking into account trade in services and income, Germany's current account showed a surplus of 2.4 billion euros in August, down from 7.2 billion euros in July and 3.0 billion euros in August last year.
■ Airlines
BA executive resigns
British Airways' commercial director Martin George resigned yesterday, admitting that some staff in his department may have been involved in inappropriate discussions with competitors about fuel surcharges. George, had been on leave of absence since June when the Office of Fair Trading and the US Justice Department began an investigation into alleged price-fixing agreements on fuel surcharges. Iain Burns, British Airways' head of communications, also resigned. He also had been on a leave of absence. Robert Boyle, British Airways' director of planning, was appointed to replace George as commercial director. Thomas Coops, former communications director at Abbey National, was appointed to Burns' post on an interim basis, the company said.
■ Aviation
Emirates orders 10 jets
Dubai's government-owned carrier Emirates Airline said on Sunday it has finalized an order for 10 freighter versions of Boeing Co's 747 jumbo jet. The deal is worth US$2.8 billion at list prices, though airlines typically negotiate discounts on bulk orders. Emirates SkyCargo, the company's air freight division, will receive its first delivery of the planes in 2010, said Sheik Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai-based Emirates. "Dubai has seen tremendous growth in the opportunities to provide our customers across the globe custom-tailored freight solutions," Sheik Ahmed said. "Moreover, developing this side of our business is elemental to Emirates maintaining a leading position amongst the world's airlines and we will take full advantage of the extended capacity these new Boeing freighters offer."
■ Oil
Firm investing in Riau
ChevronTexaco's Indonesian unit is to spend US$1 billion to help boost output at its declining oil fields in Riau Province, company president Suwito Anggoro said. Enhanced oil recovery technology would be used to limit the decline in output there to 8 percent to 9 percent per year, he told reporters late on Sunday. Chevron Pacific Indonesia's output is 500,000 barrels of oil per day, nearly half of the country's entire output. Its Riau operations account for about 430,000 barrels per day. Anggoro said the company was also planning to invest US$6 billion in developing a gas field off the province of East Kalimantan. He gave no further details. The gas field is expected to start production in 2012, although Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has asked the company to make it sooner.
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
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘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)