■ Aviation
Honeywell fined
Aerospace giant Honeywell International Inc will pay a US$500,000 fine for hazardous waste violations at its plant in Kingman, Arizona, officials said. The plant, which repairs and overhauls aircraft wheels and brakes, was cited in 2005 for failing to have permits to treat hazardous waste, improperly labeling waste containers and improperly training workers. Employees could have been exposed to hazardous chemicals, Steve Owens, director of the state's Department of Environmental Quality, said on Friday. Honeywell has made sure the violations won't be repeated, spokesman Bill Reavis said.
■ Aviation
Cracks found in nine aircraft
Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) has found cracks in pipes in nine of its MD-90 airplanes, including one which made an emergency landing last week, it said yesterday in a statement. JAL will investigate the cause of the cracks jointly with Boeing Co, the manufacturer of the planes, "as the cases can be caused by defects at the manufacturing process," it said. JAL conducted an emergency check of all its MD-90 planes after one made an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport on Feb. 17 on a domestic flight. Out of 42 MD-90 planes, nine were found with cracks in the pipes, it said.
■ Vineculture
France reforms industry
A series of reforms in the way wine is produced in France, which include labeling wines by grape variety as well as by region, appear to have boosted the beleaguered industry. The latest figures show wine and spirit exports grew by 13 percent last year, to reach a record 8.74 billion euros (US$11.5 billion), with a notable increase in foreign sales of still wines. France's share of the still wines market in the US -- set to become the world's biggest consumer next year -- has gone up two points to 14 percent, at the expense of Australia.
■ Tourism
New scam unveiled
Hong Kong tourism chiefs have been alerted to yet another scam played on the lucrative flood of mainland Chinese visitors -- being threatened with fines if they refuse to visit certain shops. The racket emerged when a caller to a radio phone-in show said relatives on a tour had been told they would have to pay a surcharge if they wanted to break with the itinerary. The scam followed a move by the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council to curb "zero-fee" tours, in which travelers receive free holidays in return for an agreement to spend a fixed minimum amount at shops that pay the tour operators a cut of sales.
■ Services
New meals for the elderly
Worried about an elderly relative living alone in another part of the country? Order a prepared meal for home delivery to an elderly person and one Japanese convenience store chain will check on the recipient's health and report back via the Internet, the Mainichi Shimbun said on yesterday. The FamilyMart chain, the third biggest in the country, is launching the service because the number of old people in Japan is rising and many of them live alone. Japan's population is the oldest in the world, with one fifth aged 65 or older. Census figures for 2005 showed that 3.86 million elderly people were living alone.
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
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
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
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