■AIRLINES
Pilot strike cancels lights
Spirit Airlines flights were being canceled again yesterday as a pilot’s strike entered its second day, shutting down the discount carrier and stranding thousands of travelers. Spirit’s CEO said no talks were scheduled with picketing pilots and a union leader said the pilots “will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated.” The privately held airline based in Miramar, Florida, carries 16,680 passengers per day — about 1 percent of the US total. Spirit pilots have said their pay lags competitors such as AirTran Airways and JetBlue.
■STEEL
Concerns over mining tax
Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼), China’s biggest iron ore trader, declared itself “concerned” at the impact Australia’s proposed 40 percent tax on mining profits will have on its projects in the country. “Obviously there’s concern,” Guilio Casello, chief operating officer of Sinosteel Midwest Corp told ABC Television yesterday. “The Chinese are very large investors in the region. They invest in obviously not just our project but in a number of projects in the region. They’re still very committed to the region. They understand the potential. They’ll keep looking and see what impact it does to the cash flows.”
■STEEL
China mulls rebate cut
Beijing may adjust some export rebates this year to help the nation meet its targets for energy consumption and emissions reduction, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian (姚堅) told reporters in Beijing after a briefing on Saturday. China may cut or cancel export tax rebates on some steel products from July 1, Sina.com reported on May 27, citing an unidentified source. Meanwhile, Posco, South Korea’s largest steel maker, plans to raise steel-product prices next month and other South Korean mills will follow suit, the Seoul Economic Daily reported yesterday.
■ENTERTAINMENT
CBGB files for bankruptcy
The company that bought the right to market the name of the legendary New York City rock club CBGB filed for bankruptcy on Friday in Manhattan. In its punk heyday, CBGB hosted acts such as the Ramones, the Talking Heads and Patti Smith. The venue closed in 2006, but investors bought its name and intellectual property rights in 2008, hoping to revive the brand by selling memorabilia. CBGB Holdings LLC has listed debts of between US$1 million and US$10 million in its court filing.
■AUTOMOBILES
Ford cars recalled
Ford Motor Co’s South Korean importer will recall 1,128 vehicles because of a faulty cruise-control switch that might cause fires, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The recall affects Explorer, Windstar and Econoline models produced between Dec. 11, 1995, and Oct. 1, 2002, according to the statement.
■REAL ESTATE
Qatar steps up investment
Wealth funds from gas-rich Qatar are likely to make further investments in global real estate as prices in countries such as Germany fall, Jones Lang LaSalle said in a report yesterday. The funds “are likely to be emerging as the new powerhouse in terms of global real estate capital flows in 2010,” regional director at Jones Lang LaSalle, Fadi Moussalli said in the e-mailed report. The IMF expects the Qatari economy to grow 18.5 percent this year, far above estimates for the rest of the Gulf Arab region.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique