■AVIATION
Airlines seek new venture
US carriers United and Continental and Japan’s All Nippon Airways asked for approval for a new joint trans-Pacific venture to compete against other global alliances. The airlines filed an application with the US Department of Transportation for antitrust immunity “to create a more efficient and comprehensive trans-Pacific network, generating substantial service and pricing benefits for consumers.” The airlines said the venture would enable them to compete more effectively with other global alliances. Approval would give them authority to jointly manage trans-Pacific activities including scheduling, pricing and sales. The announcement came a day after the US Justice Department said a tie-up of British Airways and American Airlines for trans-Atlantic flights would lead to “competitive harm” and called for restrictions on the deal.
■AUTOMOBILES
Share know-how: Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told foreign automakers on Wednesday to share their technology with local businesses or they will be told to leave the country. Chavez gave the ultimatum to Ford, GM, Toyota and Fiat during a public ceremony in Caracas. There was no immediate response from the companies, which all have assembly plants in Venezuela. If his demand isn’t met, Chavez said, “I invite you to pack up your belongings and leave. I’ll bring in the Russians, the Belarusians, the Chinese.” Last year, auto plants in Venezuela produced 135,042 cars and trucks. But Venezuela’s currency controls have the industry struggling to obtain the cash they need to import enough parts and pay down debts.
■IRELAND
Immigrants returning home
Tens of thousands of immigrants who flocked to Ireland to seek work during its Celtic Tiger economic boom appear to have gone home during the recession, official data out on Wednesday showed. A Central Statistic Office (CSO) analysis of personal public service numbers (PPSN) that are needed to get a job or claim welfare showed that of the 967,800 foreigners assigned numbers from 2002 to last year, only 425,600 were working at some time during 2008. The number of PPSNs allocated to foreigners fell sharply last year to 154,834, a 28 percent drop from the 2007 figure of 215,265. The CSO said the largest drop was for the EU accession states, which fell by over half to 65,700. The number of PPSNs issued peaked at 226,807 in 2006. The CSO said the economic downturn contributed to the low first-year employment rate for last year, when only 48 percent of immigrants got jobs.
■MALAYSIA
Unpopular tax watered down
Malaysia has watered down an unpopular property gains tax, saying the 5 percent levy will only be imposed on properties sold within five years of purchase, reports said yesterday. Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly said the decision was made following appeals from industry groups, and that the government would forgo tax revenue amounting to 200 million ringgit (US$59 million) a year. “We are willing to forgo a substantial amount of revenue so that the sector can expand and grow,” he was quoted as saying by the Edge financial daily. The tax, imposed on financial gains made on the sale of a property, was announced by Najib in the budget for next year in October. It is being reintroduced after being removed in 2007, in a move aimed at broadening Malaysia’s tax base to finance various development projects.
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
‘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)
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