■ ECONOMY
China's growth picks up
China's economy picked up speed in the first quarter, growing 11.1 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, the government said yesterday. Growth in the world's fourth-largest economy reached 10.7 percent last year and ran at 10.4 percent in the three months to December. The government has set a growth target of 8 percent for this year as a whole. The National Bureau of Statistics said the main measure of inflation, the consumer price index (CPI), rose 2.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier. CPI in March alone was up 3.3 percent, suggesting a pick up in price pressures.
■ TELECOMS
US iPhone launch in June
The iPhone, Apple Inc's first mobile handset, is on schedule to hit the US market at the end of June, a senior executive with AT&T Inc said on Wednesday. The firm's wireless unit has an exclusive US deal to sell the highly anticipated new handset. "Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T chief operating officer Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June." There had been speculation on some blogs and reports that the iPhone could be delayed due to technical issues. Stephenson said more than 1 million customers have said that they would like to buy one of the phones when they're available for purchase.
■ METALs
Essar buys Minnesota Steel
India's Essar Global announced it would acquire US-based Minnesota Steel for an undisclosed amount in its second takeover of a North American firm this week. Minnesota Steel plans to set up a steel plant with an annual capactiy of 2.5 million tonnes when completed at an estimated cost of US$1.65 billion, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter. Essar said on Monday that it would buy Canadian steelmaker Algoma for US$1.58 billion to tap business opportunities in North America. Essar Global has interests in steel, oil, communications, shipping and construction.
■ ELECTRONICS
LG goes into the red
South Korea's LG Electronics Inc announced yesterday it swung to a loss during the first quarter to March amid sluggish display sales. The country's second largest electronics company posted a net loss of 122.6 billion won (US$132 million) during the period compared with a profit of 150.8 billion won in the first quarter of last year. Sales rose four percent year-on-year to 6.03 trillion won but operating profit dropped 9.3 percent year-on-year to 172.9 billion won, the firm said. The company attributed the quarterly loss to seasonally weak demand for flat display panels for TVs or computer monitors.
■ TELECOMS
Motorola posts loss
Motorola Inc posted its first quarterly loss since 2004 on Wednesday as dismal sales continued to vex the struggling mobile phone maker. Worse still, the company said its misfortunes would continue through the second quarter. Blaming disappointing sales of mobile phones, as well as expenses to cover a legal settlement, restructuring efforts and an acquisition, the telecommunications equipment maker said it lost US$181 million, or US$0.08 per share, in the first three months of this year. That compares with a profit of US$686 million, or US$0.27 per share, during the same period a year earlier.
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)