■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.
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
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