■ PRODUCT SAFETY
Fake toothpaste seized
Mozambican authorities have seized thousands of boxes of counterfeit toothpaste which they fear may contain a potentially deadly chemical. State radio said yesterday that the health ministry had banned all sales of Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection toothpaste and ordered storekeepers to remove it from their shelves. The fake toothpaste -- which has been sold by discount retailers in a number of countries including the US -- has nothing to do with Colgate-Palmolive Co. It contains diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze, which damages the kidneys and liver and can ultimately prove fatal to humans.
■ CAMBODIA
Economy too narrow
Cambodia's economy is too narrowly focused on its garment sector, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said yesterday, suggesting it needs to build on its successes to draw investors to other industries. "Cambodia has a particular opportunity and need to develop a global brand," Zoellick said at the end of a two-day visit to the country, which has carved out a lucrative niche by selling itself to buyers as a labor-friendly textile producer. Cambodia's garment sector continues to expand, employing some 330,000 people in more than 200 factories and accounting for 80 percent of the country's export earnings.
■ FINANCE
Doha Bank opens in PRC
Doha Bank Ltd, Qatar's fourth-biggest lender by market value, said its representative office in China will begin operations on Wednesday in Shanghai. The office, part of the bank's expansion strategy, adds to its branches in New York and Dubai and its representative offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Turkey, the Doha-based bank said in a statement posted on the Doha Securities Market.
■ HOTELS
IFA to build in Seychelles
IFA Hotels & Resorts Co KS, a Kuwaiti hotelier partly owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said it will build a US$450 million resort in the Seychelles to expand its overseas operations. IFA will form a joint venture with Indian Ocean Resorts Ltd to build a five-star hotel, villas and a marina on the island of Ste Anne in the Indian Ocean island chain, the Kuwait-based company said. IFA aims to increase its overseas operations by developing four properties in Namibia, after opening its Yotel at the UK's Gatwick Airport in June and buying 25 percent of Thai property developer Raimon Land Pcl last year.
■ OIL
Refiners resume pay talks
Oil refiners in South Africa including BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc were to resume pay talks in Johannesburg yesterday to end a strike that has caused fuel shortages in Africa's largest economy, a labor union said. Keith Jacobs, deputy secretary-general of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union didn't give further details in a telephone interview yesterday. South Africa's largest refinery, BP and Shell-owned Sapref, earlier said it is preparing for a shutdown as a result of the strike. Sapref can process 180,000 barrels of oil a day. Some South African filling stations have already run dry as truckers and fuel-depot workers joined the strike that began last Monday.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a