■ELECTRONICS
Toshiba increases cost cuts
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba plans to reduce fixed costs 10 percent more than previously announced, a news report said yesterday. It will cut costs ¥330 billion (US$3.5 billion), which should allow it to secure an operating profit of ¥100 billion in this fiscal year, which runs to next March, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Toshiba, which posted an operating loss of ¥250 billion in the last fiscal year, is one of many major Japanese electronics firms that suffered a slump in sales because of the global slowdown.
■ECONOMY
GDP descent slowing
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said on Saturday the rate at which GDP is falling in developed countries is slowing and a recovery could be expected next year. “We are in an episode in the industrial world of a progressive slow-down of the fall of GDP,” Trichet said at a Rome meeting of the G30, which gathers leading figures from the public and private sector as well as academia. “We are likely to see the fall is diminishing but it is still negative.”
■TRADE
Ecuador nixes EU trade deal
Ecuador will not sign a free trade deal with the EU, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said on Saturday, criticizing the tenor of talks between the two. “The European Union can give [the deal] whatever pretty name it wants, but we are headed toward a free trade agreement, and we will not accept that,” Correa said. Speaking during a weekly TV and radio address, the leftist leader accused the EU of trying to reach a deal that mimics rules of the WTO.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Sony to unveil music site
Sony Computer Entertainment is set to unveil a music video service this summer. Dubbed “VidZone,” the service is aimed exclusively at the Playstation 3 (PS3). “Thousands of music videos” will be available at no cost from what is being called the PlaystationStore, the company reports. Videos can be downloaded from the store directly onto the console. The option to create video playlists will also be available. Gamers who own both the PS3 and a Playstation Portable (PSP) can also load those clips onto the portable device, either through the PlaystationStore or streaming from the PS3.
■AVIATION
Hainan announces loss
Chinese regional carrier Hainan Airlines (海南航空) lost 1.4 billion yuan (US$208 million) last year as high oil prices and dwindling passenger demand took their toll, state media reported yesterday. The Shanghai-listed company said the loss was because of a rise in the value of oil in the first half of last year and a drop in demand in the second half because of the global financial crisis, the Xinhua news agency said.The net loss compared to a profit of 627 million yuan in 2007, Xinhua reported.
■ENERGY
Basic steps can save power
Taking basic steps to save energy can also save up to 60 euros (US$80) a year, said the Consumer Central of Rhineland Palatinate in Mainz, Germany. Computer users should set their system to energy saving mode and doing without a screen saver is another good idea, the consumer agency said. Another good idea is to not set the monitor to be any brighter than necessary, since that also keeps down energy consumption, the agency said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)