■ COMMODITIES
Philippine rice tender fails
The Philippine government failed to buy rice yesterday after a tender to increase its buffer stock attracted only one bidder, highlighting global anxiety over the staple. The National Food Authority (NFA), the state-run grain importer, was seeking to buy 612,349 tonnes of rice to shore up its stockpiles. The government said last week it has already secured enough volume to make up for a 10 percent domestic shortfall. Only Vietnam Southern Food Corp, submitted a bid in yesterday’s tender, and even it did not comply with the required documents, NFA Deputy Administrator Ludovico Jarina said. The Philippines wants respective governments to guarantee that delivery contracts will be met. “We will wait for softer prices before scheduling another tender,” Jarina said.
■ AVIATION
UAL eyes US Airways
UAL Group, parent company of United Airlines, is looking at a possible merger with US Airways after its advances to Continental Airlines fell flat, the Wall Street Journal online reported on Sunday. The newspaper, citing people close to the affair, said talks have been ongoing for six weeks and a decision could be taken in the next 10 days. UAL and its smaller rival, US Airways, have reportedly identified US$1.5 billion in cost savings and revenue enhancements that could arise from a merger. However, the Journal cites concerns by some people involved about regulatory and labor problems posed by a match-up, which make it far from a done deal. Together, United and US Airways would become the world’s largest airline, slightly bigger than the new Delta-Northwest grouping. United originally planned a merger with Continental but its advances were rejected on April 27.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Deutsche Post hits target
Deutsche Post AG, Europe’s biggest postal service, said operations met forecasts in the first quarter and that it’s making progress in plans to turn around the ailing DHL Express unit in the US. “Business in the first quarter of 2008 was very satisfactory, with underlying profits making progress year on year and being in line with our targets and guidance,” the Bonn-based company said in a statement yesterday. DHL competes with United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp, which have been struggling with an economic slowdown in the US and faltering demand for domestic express deliveries. The German mail carrier reiterated that it intends to announce a turnaround program for the US express-delivery unit by the end of this month. Deutsche Post, which is scheduled to release first-quarter figures on May 14, said the logistics and express units’ volume growth in the period was “similar to the latter part of 2007.” New orders from its largest customers have been “generally encouraging,” it said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
CAW reaches deal with Ford
Union officials say the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) have approved a three-year contract with Ford. CAW spokeswoman Shannon Devine says the membership voted 78 percent in favor on Sunday. The union says the deal keeps Ford’s labor costs essentially the same as they are now. The deal freezes wages and cuts vacation pay but avoids changes to base wages. It also prevents a two-tier wage system used in the US, where new hires would be paid about half the hourly wages of older employees. Negotiations with GM were to start yesterday and talks with Chrysler begin today. CAW expects those automakers to accept similar terms.
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