■ Auto industry
BMW posts record sales
German luxury automaker BMW boosted global vehicle sales by nearly 10 percent last year to a record 1.33 million, with US sales topping the list, the company said on Monday. All of the Munich-based automaker's brands -- BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce -- posted higher sales last year, according to data released at the Detroit Motor Show. Profit and dollar sales figures were not released yet. "We expect BMW Group to stay on the growth path also in 2006," chief executive Helmut Panke said. Claiming world leadership in the premium car market, the company said it sold 1,127 million of its flagship BMW brand cars last year, up 10.1 percent from the year before. Sales of Mini models rose by 8.7 percent to 200,400.
■ Aviation
United secures financing
United Airlines' parent UAL Corp said on Monday it secured US$3 billion in loans and credits as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy, which is scheduled for Feb. 1. The financing by JP Morgan and Citigroup is secured by effectively all of United's assets. United is scheduled to present its reorganization plan at a Jan. 18 hearing, with an official Chapter 11 exit coming two weeks after that. A majority of all United's creditor classes have approved the exit plan, and the results of the balloting have been forwarded to the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which is overseeing the case, the company said.
■ Aviation
EU endorses compensation
A 2004 EU law that increases compensation to airline passengers for delays, cancelations and overbooking conforms to EU rules, Europe's highest court said. The rules, which took effect last February, raised compensation for travelers stranded because of overbooked or canceled flights to between 250 euros (US$302) and 600 euros from a maximum of 300 euros. Airlines also must provide meals and hotels for delayed passengers. "The regulation on compensation and assistance for air passengers is valid," the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said in a statement yesterday. Full-service airlines such as British Airways Plc and low-cost carriers including Ryanair Holdings Plc want the legislation scrapped. The airlines have said the law breaches rule-making procedures and contravenes an international agreement that provides a defense to airlines in cases of delay that are beyond their control.
■ Technology
Oracle to add staff in India
US business software maker Oracle Corp plans to hire 1,400 people in India as part of its plans to expand its operations to nine more cites in the South Asian nation, a company executive said yesterday. Oracle already has about 8,600 employees in India and operates in six cities, and is looking to quickly add the additional staff, said Derek Williams, the company's executive vice president for Asia-Pacific. Williams refused to specify what types of operations would be set up in the three new cities. The company already operates research and development centers in Bangalore and Hyderabad. "We will grow from 8,600 employees to over 10,000 employees over the next eight months," he said on the sidelines of a two-day conference Oracle is hosting on the future of information technology in Bombay. The conference began yesterday. Over the past five years, Oracle has invested over US$2 billion in India, he said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a