■ENERGY
Peabody raises takeover bid
US energy company Peabody yesterday sweetened its takeover bid for Australian miner Macarthur Coal to A$3.56 billion (US$3.26 billion) after its earlier offer was rejected. Macarthur last week said Peabody’s initial A$3.3 billion bid of A$13 per share failed to recognize the improving outlook for coal and said it would press ahead with its planned takeover of rival Gloucester Coal. Peabody also urged Macarthur to delay a planned meeting on Monday, during which shareholders will vote on the Gloucester Coal proposal, to allow stakeholders to consider its offer.
■AUTOMAKERS
Renault to approve deal
French carmaker Renault was set to approve a deal to seal a strategic alliance with Germany’s premium carmaker Daimler, at a special board meeting yesterday, Le Figaro newspaper reported on its Web site. The board meeting, scheduled for 8:30am at Renault’s headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, was also to discuss cross-shareholding between the two groups. Japanese motor company Nissan, of which Renault has a 44 percent share, would also feature in the financial deal, with an official announcement expected tonight at the latest, the paper reported.
■OIL
Prices near 18-month highs
Crude prices hovered near 18-month highs above US$86 a barrel yesterday in Asia as traders mulled whether a recovering US economy warranted further gains. Benchmark crude for May delivery was down US$0.20 to US$86.42 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose US$1.75 to settle at US$86.62 on Monday, the highest since October 2008.
■OIL
Total accused of corruption
French oil giant Total said yesterday it has been charged with corruption and influence-peddling relating to the UN’s Iraqi oil-for-food program of the 1990s. A French judge decided on Feb. 27 to charge the company and several other defendants despite a prosecutor’s request that the investigation be dropped. Total lawyer Jean Veil said the oil firm is accused of corruption, complicity to deal in stolen property and influence peddling in connection with the UN program that ran from 1996 to 2003.
■ECONOMY
US service sector surges
The massive US services sector registered stronger than expected growth last month, amid signs of a continued economic recovery, a private survey showed on Monday. Buoyed by robust increase in orders at home and abroad, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index posted its third consecutive month of growth. The purchasing managers index (PMI) registered 55.4 percent last month. Any PMI number above 50 percent indicates growth in the sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity.
■TRADE
Countries sign SCRFTA
Singapore said yesterday it had signed a free-trade pact with Costa Rica after a year of formal talks between the two sides. Negotiations for the Singapore-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (SCRFTA) were concluded in January after four rounds of negotiations. The SCRFTA, the third such pact between Singapore and a South American country, is a further boost to two-way ties, the Singaporean government said in a statement.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
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)