■ Fashion
Hugo Boss mulls jewelry
German fashion house Hugo Boss is considering launching its own jewelry collection for both men and women, chairman Bruno Saelzer said in a newspaper interview published yesterday. "We're in the process of examining a move into the jewelry business. We're already quite far advanced," Saelzer told the Financial Times Deutschland. "Jewelry makes sense for women, but also increasingly for men. Men are increasingly open for jewelry," he added.
■ Consumables
Palm oil giant takes shape
Three Malaysian plantation firms will merge to create the world's largest listed palm oil business, worth 31.4 billion ringgit (US$8.6 billion), under a plan announced yesterday. A new vehicle, Synergy Drive, will buy the assets and liabilities of Sime Darby Bhd, Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, Malaysia's top investment bank CIMB said. Analysts said the merger will boost the country's status as a top palm oil producer amid growing regional competition.
■ China
Yuan marks new high
China's currency rose to a fresh high against the US dollar yesterday, as the central bank set its rate at 7.8402 yuan per US dollar, the highest level since the current exchange system was set up in July last year. Traders said the US dollar's slide to a 19-month low against the euro in international markets on Friday might have helped trigger the US unit's slip against the yuan. The US dollar was at 7.8423 at around 7:30 GMT, down from Friday's close of 7.8525. On the automatic price-matching system, another way of measuring the exchange rate, it was at 7.8413 at 7:20 GMT. China allows the US dollar-yuan rate to move no more than 0.3 percent above or below the daily parity rate. Beijing has allowed the yuan's value to rise by about 3.3 percent since it revalued the currency in July last year, severing the yuan's virtual peg with the US dollar.
■ Digital cameras
Sony offers limited recall
Sony Corp expects only a small number of its digital cameras to be affected by the glitch announced last week, a spokesman said yesterday. Sony said on Friday that some Cyber-shot camera users may have problems viewing images when trying to take photographs due to a glitch with the image sensor. The affected cameras were sold between September 2003 and January last year, the electronics giant said. "Of the eight models affected, if the problems appear we will implement a free repair and exchange service," a Sony spokesman said.
■ Aviation
Paris wants EADS control
The French government is seeking to take control of European aerospace giant EADS by pushing for a capital increase to finance development of the new A350 long-haul jet, German newspapers reported yesterday. Paris surprised the industrial shareholders of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co -- namely DaimlerChrysler which holds a stake of 22.5 percent and French group Lagardere which holds 7.5 percent -- by proposing a capital hike to finance the A350, the business daily Handelsblatt reported. It said that DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere both rejected the idea. But if the capital increase went ahead and they refused to participate, then France, which holds 15 percent of EADS via Sogeade, would effectively gain a dominant position in the company's share capital.
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
‘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)
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