■ AEROSPACE
EADS' Gut to step down
Jean-Paul Gut, the chief operating officer at European aeronautics and defense giant EADS, said yesterday he was stepping down from his post because of a disagreement over strategy. The 46-year-old Frenchman will be replaced by Marwan Lahoud, presently the head at missiles maker MBDA, the newspaper Le Figaro said. "I am leaving now because we have not managed to reach an agreement after several months of discussions with Louis Gallois and Thomas Enders, the two co-chief executives of EADS, on the integration of marketing functions, sales and strategy that I judged necessary to meet the challenges ahead," Gut told Le Figaro in an interview.
■ PACKAGING
Rexam to buy plastics firm
British company Rexam, the world's biggest maker of beverage cans, said yesterday it had agreed to buy US group O-I Plastics for US$1.825 billion in cash. Rexam, which produces more than 50 billion cans per year, said it would buy plastic healthcare packager O-I Plastics from parent company Owen-Illinois Incorporated. "The acquisition of O-I Plastics will transform our Plastic Packaging business and is consistent with our strategy to expand our positions in growth markets," said Rexam chief executive Leslie Van de Walle.
■ PETROLEUM
Iran plans Asian refineries
Oil-rich Iran yesterday announced it would help build five new refineries across Asia with a total capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day in a bid to strengthen ties in the region. "Iran has finalized feasibility studies for five refining projects in five Asian countries with a total capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day," Seyed Kazam Vaziri Hamaneh, Iran's petroleum minister said. Seyed Kazam later told reporters that refineries would be built in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Syria.
■ TRADE
China's May surplus soars
China's monthly trade surplus soared 73 percent last month from a year ago, a state news agency reported yesterday, amid US pressure on Beijing for action on its yawning trade gap or face possible sanctions. Exports exceeded imports by US$22.5 billion, Xinhua news agency said, citing data from China's customs agency. That figure, close to the all-time record high monthly surplus of US$23.8 billion reported in October, came despite repeated Chinese pledges to take steps to narrow the gap by boosting imports and rein in fevered export growth.
■ ECONOMY
Japan's growth rate rises
Japan's economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the three months to March, faster than previously thought, thanks to rising corporate capital spending, the government said yesterday. Japan's GDP grew by 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to March, the Cabinet Office said. A preliminary estimate last month had shown quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.6 percent or an annualized rate of 2.4 percent. It was a ninth straight quarter of positive growth, although slower than the three months to December when GDP grew by a revised 1.3 percent quarter-on-quarter. Corporate capital spending was upgraded to show a 0.3 percent gain quarter-on-quarter compared with a decline of 0.9 reported last month.
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
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
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
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