■US economy
Factory orders decline
US factory orders in September fell for the third time in the last four months as the faltering economic recovery restrains manufacturing. Companies are reluctant to boost orders until consumer and business spending strengthen, economists said. Federal Reserve policy makers may offer aid to the economy by lowering their benchmark interest rate when they meet today. "Demand is weak, business profits aren't good, and companies are being very cautious," said Kevin Logan, chief market economist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities LLC in New York. Factory orders decreased 2.3 percent, reflecting fewer bookings for commercial aircraft, machinery and communications equipment, the Commerce Department said.
■ Airlines
BA's Q2 profit up eightfold
British Airways Plc said fiscal second-quarter profit rose eightfold on job and route cuts. Europe's largest airline expects to return to profit for the full year because of the cost reductions. Net income in the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to ?152 million (US$237 million), or 13.7 pence a share, from ?19 million, or 1.8 pence a share, a year earlier, the airline said in a Regulatory News statement. Sales fell 6.5 percent to ?2.1 billion. "They did better than expected," said Chris Tarry, an analyst at Commerzbank, who has the shares under review with no rating. "They're doing very well on the cost side. Revenue is stable, they say. It may be stable but it's still not going up, so improvements still have to come from the cost side. It's a tough environment."
■ China Telecom
IPO slashed 55 percent
China Telecom Corp, a unit of China's biggest fixed-line phone company, cut its initial public offering by 55 percent to as much as US$1.66 billion after investors balked at the size of the offer last week. China Telecom reduced the number of shares it's selling and kept the share price the same, according to revised sale documents filed with US regulators. Selling less new stock will boost earnings per share, increasing potential returns for investors. Merrill Lynch & Co, Morgan Stanley and other banks failed to win enough demand from investors who soured on telephone companies worldwide after their stocks plunged. With the Communist Party Congress this week in Beijing, China's leaders want to complete the sale, adding to the pressure on the banks, investors said.
■ Airlines
Cheap service pondered
Thai Airways International is considering offering a no-frills service for long-haul flights in a bid to tap the booming budget travel market, a report said yesterday. The flag carrier has appointed a subcommittee to research the viability of launching a low-cost service with no hot meals, minimal entertainment, and no seating assignments, Thai Airways president Kanok Abhiradee said in the Bangkok Post. "I'm closely monitoring the service of Australian Airlines, which calls itself a low-cost carrier, offering intercontinental flights at low-cost," Kanok was quoted as saying. Should Australian Airlines prove successful, Thai could launch a similar service on long-haul flights, Kanok said in the daily. Australian Airlines was launched by Qantas Airways Ltd late last month.
Agencies
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique