■AVIATION
New 787 may fly next week
Boeing Co says the long-anticipated first flight of its new 787 jetliner could come as early as Tuesday. Boeing announced on Thursday that its window for a first flight would open on Dec. 15, with the actual flight timing dependent on final internal reviews, taxi testing and Federal Aviation Administration documentation. The company also said it has completed “final gauntlet” testing on the 787 and verified the success of fixes it made to a structural problem. Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, says two days of testing checked out all the airplane systems, such as avionics, hydraulics and electrical.
■ENERGY
Majnoon sold to Shell
Royal Dutch Shell Plc won the bidding to develop the 12.6 billion barrels of oil reserves in Iraq’s Majnoon field, adding to two other agreements it is working on in the country. The bid by Shell and partner Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, targeting 1.8 million barrels of output a day at a cost of US$1.39 a barrel, was the winning offer in Iraq’s second licensing round in Baghdad yesterday, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said. Iraq, holder of the world’s third-largest oil reserves, says more than 35 companies are vying for service contracts to develop the country’s fields in the second bid round. The partners beat a rival bid by Total SA and China National Petroleum Corp (中國石油天然氣).
■JAPAN
Consumer confidence slides
Japan’s consumer confidence has worsened for the first time in 11 months due to worries about job security and sluggish wages, the government said yesterday. The Cabinet Office’s consumer confidence index declined to 39.5 last month, down 1 point from the previous month. A figure below 50 indicates that pessimistic consumers outnumber optimistic ones. The index had risen for nine straight months up to September, when it hit a near two-year high of 40.5 — a level that was matched in October.
■SOUTH KOREA
Growth forecast at 4.6%
South Korea’s central bank yesterday raised its growth outlook for next year to 4.6 percent as Asia’s fourth-largest economy recovers strongly from the global downturn. The Bank of Korea also upgraded its forecast to 0.2 percent growth this year compared with an earlier projection of a 1.6 percent contraction. The bank had previously forecast growth of 3.6 percent next year. “Private consumption is forecast to stage a sustained recovery,” it said in a statement, adding corporate investment in facilities would grow rapidly. The economy grew 3.2 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, the fastest quarterly expansion in more than seven years.
■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota adds Canada jobs
Toyota is adding 800 jobs at its Woodstock, Ontario plant to boost production of RAV4 sport utility vehicles to 150,000 per year, for sale in North America, the Japanese car maker announced on Thursday. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) will add a second shift at the plant to build the majority of its RAV4s for the North American market, it said in a statement. Hiring is to begin this month for the new shift set to launch in March, Ray Tanguay, president of TMMC, said in a video statement.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source