■ AUTOMOBILES
Ford halts plant closures
Struggling Ford Motor Co has agreed to halt planned closures of six US plants in exchange for major concessions from its main union, the United Auto Workers said on Monday. In a document outlining a deal reached over the weekend, the union said the agreement also includes a "moratorium" on further plant closures over the four years of the contract and a commitment to move 1,500 contract jobs back into the company. In exchange, the union has agreed to a two-tiered wage system similar to those negotiated with General Motors Corp and Chrysler, LLC in recent weeks.
■ AVIATION
Dubai runway completed
The first runway has been completed at an airport being built in the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai that aims to become the world's largest, developers said on Monday. The 4.5km long runway at al-Maktoum International Airport cost US$1 billion to construct and will undergo trials before being permitted to handle aircraft such as the Airbus A380 superjumbo. The project, originally known as Dubai World Central International Airport, was named this week after the Maktoum family, the ruling dynasty of the emirate of Dubai. The airport is part of the DWC mega-project, which is expected to cover 140km2 and feature a regional logistics hub, in addition to commercial and residential areas.
■ MEDIA
`Les Echos' protests sale
French luxury goods group LVMH said on Monday it signed an agreement to buy Les Echos for 240 million euros (US$347 million) from Britain's Pearson Plc despite opposition from the business newspaper's journalists. In protest at the deal, the journalists decided they would not run an edition of the newspaper yesterday. They were concerned the paper would not keep its editorial independence once it becomes part of a huge industrial group. "This acquisition should be finalized between now and the end of the year," LVMH said in a statement.
■ SOFTWARE
BEA pleads with Icahn
BEA Systems Inc is sharing confidential information with billionaire investor Carl Icahn in hopes of persuading its largest stockholder that the business software maker is worth the US$8.2 billion sales price sought by its board of directors. The agreement announced on Monday represents BEA's latest attempt at placating Icahn, who has threatened to wield his 13.2 percent stake firm to lead a shareholder rebellion. Icahn, who has a history of provoking shake-ups at downtrodden companies, lashed out at BEA late last month after its board repeatedly spurned an unsolicited US$6.7 billion offer from rival Oracle Corp. Calling BEA's demands "impossibly high," Oracle withdrew its US$17 per-share bid on Oct. 28.
■ CURRENCIES
Greenback edges up
The US dollar edged up against the pound and euro in New York trading on Monday, rising from last week's slump as the greenback was bolstered by better-than-expected growth in the US services sector. The US dollar rose against the 13-nation currency, as the euro fell to US$1.4471, below its all-time high of US$1.4528 set last week and the US$1.4502 it bought late on Friday. The dollar rose against the euro and pound after the Institute for Supply Management's index gauging the health of US non-manufacturing industries registered 55.8, up from 54.8 in September.
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