■ TRADE
Canada, Europe ink deal
Canada said it signed its first free-trade pact with European countries on Saturday, clearing the way for it to boost its commerce there by ties with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The pact between Canada and the the four countries grouped under the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was signed on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the government said. Bilateral trade between Canada and the EFTA countries is relatively modest, worth some US$10 billion in 2006. The new agreement must now be ratified by the Canadian parliament.
■ TRANSPORT
Russia, N Korea mull link
A Russian delegation has arrived in North Korea to discuss a joint project to rebuild a cross-border rail link, North Korean state media said. The delegation will discuss providing power to the northeastern port of Rajin, the official Korean Central New Agency said late on Saturday. "Both sides will focus on discussing the issue of supply of electricity to Khasan-Rajin railways and Rajin Port," it said. Russian officials have visited North Korea to discuss modernizing the 55km line between Rajin and Russia's Khasan. Reconstruction of North Korea's railways would cost about US$2.5 billion, Russia estimates.
■ TRADE
Doha on WTO agenda
WTO members aim to conclude negotiations on the most difficult parts of the long-delayed Doha trade deal in April, the Swiss economy minister said on Saturday. Doris Leuthard, who has invited negotiators from 20 countries for talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, said ministers were working towards holding a ministerial meeting in Geneva to agree on trade in farm and industrial products. She cautioned however that "the ministers will meet only when the papers and the technical work can lead to solutions" for both areas, as well as other sticking points, such as product protection.
■ INTERNET
Google eyes Malaysia
US search-engine giant Google is interested in setting up a base in Malaysia, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, according to reports yesterday. "They want to make their presence felt in Malaysia," Abdullah told Malaysian journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "I was told that Malaysians formed the highest group of Google users in Southeast Asia," Abdullah said according to the Star daily. Earlier reports here said that Google was looking at Malaysia, India or Vietnam to establish the world's biggest "server farm," or cluster of such computers.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Seoul considers tax cut
The government may cut taxes to strengthen its economy amid worries about the impact of the US subprime mortgage crisis, Yonhap news agency said yesterday. Yonhap quoted officials as saying the government could cut taxes, front-load fiscal spending and remove corporate regulations. Experts warned last week that growing overseas financial turmoil and inflationary pressures were threatening to slow the economy despite resilient exports and a recovery in consumption. Annual inflation rose 3.6 percent last month, breaching the Bank of Korea's target range of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent.
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