■ MACROECONOMICS
US confidence drops
US consumer confidence fell to an all-time low as worries about jobs, energy bills and home foreclosures darkened people's feelings about the country's economic health and their own financial well-being. According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence tumbled to a mark of 56.3 early this month. That compares with a reading of 65.9 last month -- and a benchmark of 100 -- and was the worst since the index began in 2002. The RBC consumer confidence index was based on responses from 1,027 adults surveyed from Monday through Wednesday about their attitudes on personal finance and the economy.
■ MUSIC
Sony BMG relents on DRM
Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the last major music label holding out against selling music online without copy protection, relented on Thursday and announced Amazon.com Inc's digital music store will carry songs by its artists. Until this week, Sony BMG had resisted selling songs from its catalog without embedding Digital Rights Management (DRM) coding, which prevented them from being copied. Amazon's digital music store sells songs only in the MP3 format, which can be burned onto CDs, copied to multiple PCs and played on any number of digital media players, including Apple Inc's iPod and Microsoft Corp's Zune.
■ AVIATION
Growth may lead to curbs
China's civil aviation traffic soared 16 percent to 185 million passengers last year, triggering government plans for curbs on industry growth to ensure safety, state media reported yesterday. The booming sector was growing too fast, raising safety risks, and needs to be brought under control, the China Daily newspaper quoted state aviation chief Li Jiaxiang (李家祥) as saying. The risks looked set to rise, with volume projected to surge another 14 percent this year to 210 million passengers, the paper said, citing figures from the General Administration of Civil Aviation.
■ ENGINEERING
Report boosts JFE and IHI
Shares in Japanese engineering companies JFE Holdings Inc and IHI Corp rose sharply yesterday on a newspaper report that said the two will merge some of their operations to create Japan's largest shipbuilder. The companies separately issued statements saying they had made no decisions on any restructuring of their shipbuilding operations. The Nikkei said that based on fiscal 2007 sales projections, a combination of the two would have sales of ¥345 billion (US$3.1 billion) a year.
■ SECURITIES
Merrill losses bigger: report
Merrill Lynch & Co, the US' third-largest securities firm, may write down US$15 billion related to US mortgage losses, almost twice its original forecast, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the plan. Analysts had estimated the New York-based firm would announce a markdown of about US$12 billion when it reports fourth-quarter earnings next week, adding to an US$8.4 billion charge in the previous quarter. Citigroup, the biggest US bank, may post about US$14 billion of writedowns when it reports fourth-quarter earnings next week, JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts estimated yesterday. Bank of America Corp may announce writedowns linked to collateralized debt obligations of about US$5 billion, they said.
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