■ FASTFOOD
Chinese sues Big Mac
A lawyer has sued McDonald's in China because receipts it gave out were mostly in English, the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper reported yesterday. It said that the lawyer, identified as Shan, argued that the use of English instead of Chinese was a violation of his rights. "McDonald's offers food service in China, but it does not use Chinese, which ... violates the consumers' right to know," the newspaper quoted Shan as saying. Spokespeople for McDonald's were not available after repeated calls to their offices in Beijing yesterday.
■ STEEL
ArcelorMittal bids for unit
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said on Thursday it would pay US$157 million to buy the Polish government's 25.2 percent stake in its Polish steel unit and take full control of the company. Mittal Steel Co NV, which is taking over Arcelor SA to form ArcelorMittal, bought 69 percent of Polskie Huty Stali when it was privatized in March 2004. Mittal had an option to buy an extra 25 percent held by the Polish Treasury. It also agreed to invest some US$865 million in four Polish projects. The last part of that was put in place this summer as work starts on building a new hot strip mill near Krakow.
■ WTO
Tonga is 151st member
Tonga became the 151st member of the WTO yesterday. The South Pacific kingdom agreed on accession terms with the WTO in December 2005, but deferred formal ratification until last month to give itself time to improve its tariff system. As part of its entry package, Tonga agreed to make several commitments to liberalize its trade regime, including lowering all import tariff lines to 15 percent or 20 percent within one year. Tonga is also required to eliminate all industrial subsidy schemes prohibited by the WTO by the final date of its accession.
■ SPORTS
Irish club taps rogue trader
Nick Leeson, the former derivatives trader who caused the collapse of Britain's Barings Bank, has been handed the top job at Galway United Football Club in the west of Ireland where he now lives. Leeson, who was made general manager of the club in 2005, will serve as chief executive until at least December 2009, Galway United said on its Web site on Thursday. "Nick has been a wonderful addition ... and has driven the club forward over the past few years," chairman John Fallon said. Leeson, who brought down Barings in 1995 after racking up losses of US$1.4 billion through illegal trades in Singapore, said he was looking forward to the challenges ahead.
■ SPORTS
Deal with union reached
Port clerks and their employers at the US' largest port complex covering Long Beach and Los Angeles in California tentatively agreed on a new contract, preventing a strike that could have crippled shipping and cost billions of dollars, a negotiator said. "The employers are pleased that the union recognized the substantial investment that [employers] have made and agreed to their last wage proposal," said Steve Berry, a negotiator for the shippers. John Fageaux Jr, president of the local union, said he was satisfied with the tentative agreement. The clerks union previously threatened to go on strike if no deal was reached by July 16, but talks continued after the deadline.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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