AVIATION
Toronto strike cancels flights
More than 200 flights were canceled and hundreds of others delayed to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Friday after staff responsible for refueling planes went on strike. Some workers with Consolidated Aviation Fueling of Toronto unexpectedly took the day off in protest against a decision by an airline consortium led by Air Canada and West Jet to cut ties with it. Howard Eng, president and chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, urged the sides to find a compromise.
CANADA
No recession: minister
Canadian Minister of Finance Joe Oliver on Friday dismissed claims that the country is heading for recession, a day after Nomura Holding Inc and Bank of America Merrill Lynch Corp predicted economic doomsday. “We are not in a recession... We do not believe we will be in a recession,” Oliver said. “We expect solid growth for the year, following a weak first quarter.” The economy shrank by 0.6 percent at an annualized rate in the first quarter.
ECONOMY
British growth stumbles
Growth in Britain’s private sector eased to its lowest level since the end of last year during the three months to June, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported. The CBI yesterday said its monthly growth indicator — based on separate surveys of manufacturers, retailers and services — fell to +14 last month, its lowest since December last year, from +33 in May. While manufacturing growth ticked up, the pace of expansion in service firms retreated from more than a nine-year high in the three months to May.
TRANSPORTATION
Mexico City eyes Uber deal
Mexico City is proposing regulations that would allow Uber Technologies Inc and other smartphone-based ride-sharing firms to operate, while requiring drivers and cars to be registered, its Office of Legal and Legislative Studies said on Friday. The proposed rule also requires such firms to pay into a fund for transportation infrastructure. The city would create an app for licensed taxis and help pay for GPS technology.
BRAZIL
Power project auction fails
A government auction to provide thermoelectric power project developers with long-term supply contracts failed to attract bids amid an economic downturn. No developers bid on the contracts offered at the auction on Friday, the Sao Paulo-based electricity trading board said yesterday on its Web site. Under the offered deals, companies would compete to supply energy for 20 years starting in January of next year.
UNITED KINGDOM
Inheritance tax set to change
British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is to announce plans to raise the threshold for the inheritance tax, a key election pledge, in Wednesday’s budget. The change would honor a promise made before May’s election to bring homes worth as much as ￡1 million (US$1.6 million) out of the inheritance tax bracket and is to take effect in April 2017. It would also apply to people who sell their home or buy a smaller home before that date, so more can benefit from the change, a Conservative Party official said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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