■ Aviation
US$10 billion loss forecast
American Airlines, All Nippon Airways Co and other members of the International Air Transport Association may have a combined loss of as much as US$10 billion in 2003, an aviation consultancy said. The airlines' total loss this year will probably be between US$5 billion and US$10 billion, provided there is no war with Iraq and no further terrorist attacks, said a report by the Sydney-based Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation. A war between Iraq and the US would increase those losses by raising oil prices and cutting demand for inter-national air travel, said Peter Harbison, managing director of the aviation consultancy. The forecast compares with losses of US$13 billion in 2002 and US$18 billion in 2001, Harbison said in a report entitled Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook 2003.
■ France
Job cuts to rise in 1Q
French manufacturers expect to step up the pace of job cuts in the first quarter as selling prices are likely to keep falling, a government report showed. An index of hiring inten-tions from January through March dropped to almost a six-year low of minus 17 last month from minus 16 in October, national statistics office Insee said. The report also showed that produc-tion bottlenecks remained at a six-year low in January and that companies idled more plants than in Octo-ber. Unemployment is rising in France as businesses such as Alcatel SA, Europe's biggest maker of telecom-munications equipment, and aluminum producer Pechiney SA slash costs to restore margins.
■ Technology
FTC to look at e-mail issue
The Federal Trade Commis-sion said Tuesday that it would hold a forum to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail and to explore the technical, legal and financial issues related to so-called spam. The forum, which will be held at the commission's headquarters in Washington from April 30 to May 2, will bring together law-enforcement officials, Internet service providers and other technology professionals. The commis-sion said it was "seeking to explore the impact that spam has on consumers' use of e-mail, e-mail marketing and the Internet industry." Officials said the commis-sion intended to focus on many issues related to spam, including security problems and viruses, possible structural changes to e-mail systems, e-mail address harvesting techno-logy, deceptive routing and subject information, the cost of technology to eliminate or negate spam and effects on wireless devices, text messaging and wireless e-mail.
■ Utilities
Enron trader pleads guilty
A former Enron Corp trader confessed to helping mani-pulate California's electri-city market in 2000, contri-buting to higher power prices that still haunt consumers and the state's government. Jeffrey Richter, 33, pleaded guilty on Tues-day to two felony crimes -- conspiracy to commit wire fraud and lying to the FBI last September when agents asked him if he had defrauded California. Richter is the second Enron trader to plead guilty to helping inflate the state's electricity prices -- his former boss Timothy Belden pleaded guilty last October. Assistant US Attorney Matthew Jacobs said Richter "was in charge of trading schemes that defrauded California consumers."Agencies
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned