AVIATION
WOW halts operations
Iceland’s budget airline WOW air, which focused on cross-Atlantic travel, yesterday announced it had ceased operations and all its flights have been canceled after failing to reach an agreement with investors on infusions of fresh cash. In a statement on its Web site, WOW advised passengers to check available flights for so-called rescue fares with other airlines to get to their destinations. “We have run out of time and have unfortunately not been able to secure the funding of the company,” chairman Skuli Mogensen said in a letter to employees. “I will never be able to forgive myself for not taking action sooner.” Earlier in the day, the company had postponed flights, saying it was in the “final stages” of raising new equity from a group of investors.
CHINA
Premier upbeat on economy
Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) yesterday said that “changes” in the economy this month had exceeded expectations, with the economy operating in a steady manner in the first quarter. At the Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan, Li was upbeat on the domestic outlook, although he sounded a warning on the global economy. The government plans to greatly expand market access for foreign banks and securities and insurance companies, and work on more favorable policies for foreign investors to trade Chinese bonds, Li said.
AVIATION
Boeing awaiting approval
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday said that it has not yet granted provisional approval for Boeing Co’s announced anti-stall software upgrade of 737 MAX aircraft following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The firm has “worked very closely with the FAA and other regulators to develop the computer-based training module. We have received provisional approval by the FAA,” Boeing said, referring to training.
TURKEY
Traders dump stocks, bonds
The most vulnerable corners of emerging markets are bracing for turbulence as the nation’s standoff with investors begins to test the nerves of traders. Volatility in the lira has posted the biggest four-day surge since 2004 as officials adopt measures to create a scarcity of the currency to prevent a slump in its value. As overnight borrowing rates crossed 1,000 percent, traders have dumped the nation’s stocks and bonds just days before Sunday’s election, which will test the popularity of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
REAL ESTATE
Vanke sheds shares
China Vanke Co (萬科) sold HK$7.8 billion (US$993.6 million) of shares to pay down overseas debt, highlighting the potential for a wave of equity raising by Chinese developers. The sale at HK$29.68 per share represented a 5 percent discount to Wednesday’s closing price, the company said yesterday. Vanke is China’s biggest listed property developer, and the move highlights the strength of its balance sheet and boosts the liquidity of its H-shares.
FOOD
TGI Fridays in potato lawsuit
It is acceptable to sell French fries that are not made in France, but a new lawsuit says it is not acceptable to sell potato skin snack chips that are not made from potato skins. A New York City woman on Wednesday sued TGI Fridays, in a proposed class action, claiming that the company misleads consumers by selling “Potato Skins” snacks that contain potato flakes and potato starch, but no skins.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day