■ AVIATION
Gulf Air orders 16 787s
The Bahrain-based airline Gulf Air has ordered 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliners valued at around US$4 billion and taken options for eight more, an airline official said on Saturday. "Gulf Air has signed today [Saturday] with Boeing a firm order for 16 Boeing 787 aircraft and taken the right to purchase eight more of the same aircraft," Adnan Malek, acting head of corporate communication at Gulf Air said. The value of the firm order for the new long-haul jets at list price is around US$4 billion, while the total amount would go up to US$6 billion if options are firmed up in the future, he said.
■ AGRICULTURE
Japan suspends imports
Japan has suspended beef imports from a US meat packing plant that breached rules aimed at preventing mad cow disease, a government official said yesterday. US officials discovered parts of beef consignments from a plant in Pennsylvania came from cattle 21 months old, violating an age limit Japan imposed on US beef imports, the official from the agricultural ministry said. The official said the parts were "discovered during an audit by the US Department of Agriculture and Japan immediately suspended the sale of the beef in question." Japan's government was told of the discovery on Saturday, prompting the suspension, the official said.
■ FINANCE
Sandler waiting in the wings
The former head of Lloyd's insurance market, Ron Sandler, said on Saturday he has been appointed to lead troubled British bank Northern Rock should it be nationalized. "In the event of nationalization, I have agreed I will go in as executive chairman," Sandler said in a statement, explaining that his role would be "to get things stabilised, to make sure the bank has proper plans in place." He would also be responsible for ensuring a management team was in place at the mortgage lender, he said.
■ AVIATION
Airlines mull merger
The chief executive of Northwest Airlines says his carrier could benefit from a merger -- if it is the right deal. As the Delta Air Lines Inc board met to discuss the issue, Northwest Airlines Corp chief Doug Steenland sent an internal memo to employees on Friday saying his airline's board and management team would analyze any deal carefully. "Most importantly, we will carefully consider the impacts on our own employees and ensure that the outstanding employees of Northwest Airlines are included in this process," he wrote. "The right transaction could be of benefit to our employees, our shareholders and the communities we serve."
■ ENERGY
Iraq's oil output rises
Iraq's oil output rose again last month, wrapping up the year with a roughly 25 percent increase over last January's average, the country's oil ministry said on Saturday. The average output last month reached 2.475 million barrels per day (bpd), about 73,000 bpd more than in November, according to figures released by the State Oil Marketing Company. Last month's figures brought the total average of the Iraqi output for 2007 to 2.181 million bpd, a rise of 28,000 bpd over 2006. In January last year, output was 1.9 million barrels. Iraq has the world's third-largest crude oil reserves.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from