■Unemployment
Rate in Hong Kong rises
Hong Kong's unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in the three months to December, with the contruction sector the hardest hit, the government said yesterday. The under-employment rate -- those with jobs not paying enough to cover their basic needs also edged up, from 3 percent to 3.1 percent over the same period, the Census and Statistics Department said. The rise in the unemployment rate in December followed four successive monthly falls to 7.1 percent in November, after reaching a record 7.8 percent in July. An official said reductions in jobs were seen mostly in the decoration and maintenance, communications, real estate and business services sectors.
■ Semiconductors
Infineon loss narrows
Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-largest semiconductor maker, said its fiscal first- quarter net loss narrowed as revenue rose on higher prices for memory chips. The loss for the three months through December narrowed to 40 million euros (US$42.6 million) from 331 million euros a year earlier, the company said in a statement on Business Wire. Revenue rose to 1.5 billion euros from 1.03 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected the loss to narrow to 47.8 million euros, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
■ Economy
Pakistan gets encouraged
The IMF praised Pakistan's progress toward macro-economic stability and urged the new government to stick to austerity measures imposed by the previous military regime. IMF Middle East Director George Abed told Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and finance adviser Shaukat Aziz that sticking to the plan would "generate economic activity and help reduce poverty," the government said in a statement. The IMF team arrived Friday for talks with top officials in Islamabad in the first visit since elections in October ended three years of military rule. The IMF agreed to lend Pakistan US$1.3 billion last year, enabling it to reschedule a third of its US$36 billion debt with other lenders.
■ US retailers
Kmart gets a new CEO
Julian Day left grocery retailer Safeway Inc. in June 1998 after five years as chief financial officer with the goal of becoming the chief executive officer of a publicly traded company. Day accomplished that objective yesterday, when he was named to replace James Adamson as CEO of Kmart Corp. Day, 50, may face a similar long haul when trying to right the retailer, analysts said. "Kmart is a very troubled company," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group. "It will take a lot of doing to finally get it out of bankruptcy if that is at all possible and put it on track to re-emerge as a viable, going concern. That is not going to be easy."
■ Steel
Japan to limit production
Japanese steel processors will keep a tight rein on production this year to support prices amid an expected fall in exports, an industry group said yesterday. "The domestic demand situation, excluding for automobile use, is still severe, and exports are expected to drop," the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said in a report. It said steel companies will set production at levels to maintain current levels of steel stockpiles and allow for prices to be adjusted, it said.
Agencies
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from