■MINING
Macarthur rejects bid
Australia’s Macarthur yesterday rejected a sweetened A$3.56 billion (US$3.3 billion) takeover bid by US energy firm Peabody, saying it wanted to stage its own buy-out of a rival miner. The US company’s offer of US$14 per share had been conditional on Macarthur delaying a planned April 12 shareholder meeting to seek approval for its bid for fellow miner Gloucester Coal Ltd. Macarthur said Peabody’s revised proposal did not represent an adequate premium for control of the company and it would go ahead with the meeting.
■AUTOMOBILES
Nissan to recall vehicles
Carmaker Nissan is to recall more than 25,000 vehicles in Japan due to accelerator pedal defects, the company said yesterday. The recall of 25,024 vehicles came on top of the company’s worldwide recalls for nearly 540,000 vehicles, most of them in the US, over brake pedal defects and faulty fuel gauges. The company decided there was a risk that gas pedals in affected cars could return slowly from a depressed position due to oil clogging up the controlling mechanism, Nissan spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said.
■AVIATION
Japan Airlines speeds cuts
Japan Airlines is speeding up planned job cuts in an effort to return to profitability and intends to lay off one-third of its workforce this fiscal year instead of over three years as previously announced, the country’s top business newspaper reported yesterday. The Nikkei said Japan Airlines Corp is now considering cutting 16,452 employees by next March under a plan that also calls for cutting routes and selling off old equipment. The company is moving faster because its business is still deeply in the red and is losing ¥500 million to ¥1 billion yen (US$5.3 million to US$10.6 million) each day, the paper said.
■ECONOMICS
Eurozone PMI jumps
Private sector business activity across the eurozone climbed last month with the largest increase since August 2007, according to data and research group Markit on yesterday. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the 16 countries that share the single currency, compiled by Markit, jumped to 55.9 points from 53.7 points in February, up slightly from an estimate on March 24, the researchers said. Any score above the boom-and-bust 50-point line indicates economic growth.
■AVIATION
Spirit to charge for luggage
Low-cost US airline Spirit announced on Tuesday it would charge up to US$45 each way for hand luggage that does not fit under a passenger’s seat. Passengers wanting to place bags in the overhead bins will pay the US$45 fee, with discounts for online bookers and paid-up “club” members, the Florida-based company said in a statement. Spirit said the decision means less-encumbered customers would no longer have to subsidize fellow travelers.
■INTERNET
AOL seeks Bebo buyer
AOL Inc plans to find a buyer for its social networking site Bebo, for which it paid US$850 million in 2008, or shut it down. The level of competition in social networking makes it difficult for the company to fight larger players such as Facebook and News Corp’s MySpace, AOL said. The company plans to decide whether to close Bebo or sell it by the end of May, it told staff on Tuesday. Bebo has about 40 employees, mostly in the US.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from