■ AGRICULTURE
Importers recall PRC gluten
South Korean importers have recalled Chinese wheat gluten and some US pet food after the deaths of animals in the US because of contaminated pet food, the agriculture ministry said yesterday. CJ Corp, South Korea's major food and feed maker, recalled 42 tonnes of wheat gluten imported from China, although the wheat gluten was not tainted with the chemical melamine, it said. A South Korean importer also recalled 899kg of pet food imported from Natural Balance Pet Foods of the US, which has used Chinese wheat gluten in making its products.
■ AVIATION
Airbus orders lagging
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Wednesday it had received 158 orders in the first four months of the year, a pace that lagged its US rival Boeing. Boeing by Tuesday last week had received 315 orders, the company's Web site said. Airbus lost its five-year-old number one ranking to Boeing last year, when the US group recorded 1,044 orders to 790 for Airbus. Airbus has so far this year delivered 153 planes and foresees deliveries of between 440 and 450 by December 31, after 434 last week and 378 in 2005. It remains the world leader in terms of aircraft deliveries.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Kia employees arrested
Five South Koreans have been arrested for selling automotive technology to China, causing potential losses of billions of dollars, prosecutors said yesterday. The prosecutors' office in Suwon city south of Seoul, said the five former and current employees of Kia Motors are accused of stealing crucial secrets regarding car assembly. On nine occasions since last November, the accused allegedly diverted a total of 57 secrets to an unidentified Chinese automobile company through a technology consulting company in South Korea. The consultants allegedly sold Kia's intellectual property for 230 million won (US$247,310).
■ RESTAURANTS
KFC sues English pub
Every Christmas, a remote pub in Northern England serves a traditional holiday meal consisting of pate, turkey, roast beef, trimmings and pudding, under its "Family Feast" menu. Reports yesterday said, however, that US fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken is suing the Tan Hill Inn for trademark infringement over the company's own "Family Feast" -- a cardboard box of fried chicken and side dishes. "The solicitor told me I shouldn't take it personally, but I don't feel anything -- it's just hilarious," the pub's manager, Tracy Daly, told the Times newspaper. "They are a multi-million-pound international organization and I am just a little lady up a mountain."
■ BANKING
Bank of England ups rates
The Bank of England raised interest rates to a six-year high of 5.5 percent yesterday, its fourth quarter-percentage point increase since last August. "Relative to the two percent target, the risks to the outlook for inflation in the medium term consequently remain tilted to the upside," the central bank said in a statement. "Against that background, the Committee judged that a further increase in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.5 percent was necessary." Inflation hit 3.1 percent in March, more than a percentage point above the bank's 2.0 percent target.
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 Xinyi A13 Department Store 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 at
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)