■AUTOMOTIVE
VW workers end strike
Workers at Volkswagen (VW) AG’s plant in Mexico — the only one in the world turning out the company’s new Beetle — ended a five-day strike on Saturday after negotiating a 3 percent salary increase, the company said. Workers will get a 2 percent raise starting this month and an additional 1 percent in December. The 9,400 workers at the plant in the central city of Puebla will also get a one-time payment of 2,000 pesos (US$155), the German carmaker said in a statement. The company employs a total of 14,700 people in Mexico. Union leader Victor Cervantes said full production would resume today.
■AUTOMOTIVE
Opel dealers disappointed
An association representing Opel dealers expressed disappointment at the lack of a decision to officially select the winning bidder for Opel at General Motors’ (GM) board meeting on Friday. “It’s really time now for this matter to be finalized, in the interest of all concerned and especially the dealers and their employees, prospects and buyers and in fact every one involved with Opel,” Jaap Timmer, chairman of the European Opel/Vauxhall Dealer Association, Euroda, said in a statement. They expected a decision before the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, which starts on Sept. 15, and certainly before the Sept. 27 German general election, Timmer said. Euroda, which represents 4,000 dealers, favors the bid from Magna International, as does the German government. GM, however, prefers a rival bid from RHJ International.
■AVIATION
EU takes aim at airlines
The EU said nearly 4,000 airlines, business jet operators and air forces around the world must join its greenhouse gas emissions trading program by 2012 or be penalized when flying to EU countries. The bloc’s official gazette published on Saturday the list of operators, including airlines such as Lufthansa, Alitalia, Quantas, KLM, Emirates, US Airways and United. Also listed are manufacturers Airbus and Dassault, hundreds of private business jet operators, the US Navy and the air forces of Israel and Russia. Operators must submit plans for monitoring emissions by next January.
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Qantas blames low demand
Australian flag-carrier Qantas yesterday blamed flagging demand on its key London and Los Angeles routes for an 88 percent drop in annual net profit. Chief executive Alan Joyce said the two routes, once the airline’s main profit generators, were operating at a loss because of increased competition and the impact of the global financial crisis. Joyce said that while the airline’s domestic operations were still profitable, the LA and London routes had dragged its international business into the red. “Basically, those routes are the biggest issue,” he told public broadcaster ABC. “Those two big routes are very dependent on premium traffic. Premium traffic dropped by between 20 and 30 percent for us.”
■AVIATION
Aeon to offer funeral service
Aeon Co will begin offering funeral services next month in Japan and expects 20,000 clients in the first year, Nikkei reported, without saying where it obtained the information. The retailer will partner with 400 funeral companies and provide services through them, Nikkei said. The company aims to reduce funeral costs by about 40 percent by making bulk purchases of funeral-related items, the paper said.
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
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
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