■PHARMACEUTICALS
Cancer drugs boost Roche
Pharmaceuticals maker Roche Holding AG yesterday reported a 6 percent increase in first-quarter sales with strong performance by its anti-cancer drugs such as Avastin. The Basel, Switzerland-based drug maker said sales grew to 12.3 billion Swiss francs (US$11.6 billion) from SF11.6 billion in the first three months of last year. Roche said sales of anti-cancer drugs Avastin and MabThera, sold in the US and Canada as Rituxan, rose 18 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, sales of Tamiflu rose 32 percent during the tail end of the northern hemisphere’s flu season.
■MINING
Rio Tinto production soars
Mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday said iron ore production soared 39 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, pushed by strong demand from China. The Anglo-Australian company produced 43.4 million tonnes of steel’s raw ingredient, a sharp rise from the same period last year, when the world was in the grip of the financial crisis. Chief executive Tom Albanese said the company was still cautious about “short-term volatility,” but added the long-term outlook “remains very strong.”
■TECHNOLOGY
Russia searches HP offices
Russian authorities have searched a Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) office in Moscow in what one news report said was a bribery investigation. HP confirmed the search but did not provide further details. Russian prosecutors said in a statement the investigation was carried out at the request of German authorities but didn’t elaborate. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the probe centers on whether HP representatives paid millions of dollars in bribes to win a contract to sell computer equipment through a German subsidiary to Russian prosecutors.
■MALAYSIA
Growth forecast raised
The economy could grow as fast as 5.2 percent this year in a broad-based recovery, a leading forecaster said yesterday, but warned of the need to reverse falling investment quickly. The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said it expected GDP to expand more rapidly than its earlier forecast of 3.7 percent. “The recovery [in last year’s fourth quarter] was broad-based with all economic sectors registering strong turnaround,” it said.
■EUROPE
Juncker hits out at Germany
Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker hit out on Thursday at what he called the German government’s “hesitant” approach to Europe in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. Juncker told the Financial Times Deutschland he was worried that Germany was “being excessively hesitant when it comes to Europe.” He suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was being unduly influenced by a key election next month in Germany’s most populous state that could see Merkel’s coalition lose its majority in the upper house. Juncker is also Luxembourg’s prime minister and finance minister.
■TRANSPORT
Vietnam to build bullet train
Vietnam will use Japanese bullet train technology in a US$56 billion national railway link, an official said yesterday, with Japanese companies in line for multibillion-dollar contracts. The project will see the construction of a 1,560km high-speed rail link between the capital, Hanoi, and the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.
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
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft