■ AVIATION
Airbus plans flying casino
It's the world's biggest passenger plane, with a double-deck interior that can house in-flight gyms, shops and even a swimming pool. But for travelers who still have cash to spare, Airbus is in negotiations to transform its A380 superjumbo into a flying casino. "Certain clients of ours have shown their interest," said David Velupillai, marketing director at Airbus executive aviation. "The principal draw of the A380 is that it offers 50 percent more floor space than a Boeing 747, and if you plan to create something like [a casino], you have enough space." He did not identify which airlines or casino operators were interested, but said a fully equipped A380 with a casino on board could be available from 2012.
■ AUTO LOANS
US delinquencies soar
US auto loans that are at least two months delinquent hit a 10-year high last month, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday, signaling the continued spread of consumer weakness to beyond homes and credit cards. The firm said 0.77 percent of US prime and subprime auto asset-backed securities were more than 60 days behind on payments, with the rate jumping 12 percent from December and 44 percent from a year ago. Subprime delinquencies topped the 4 percent level for the first time since late 1997, reaching 4.03 percent last month, up 10 percent from December and 43 percent from a year earlier.
■ AVIATION
Price-fixing deal proposed
A tentative agreement by Virgin Atlantic Airways and British Airways PLC to settle civil price-fixing claims would give more than US$200 million to customers who bought tickets from either airline and who flew between Aug. 11, 2004, and March 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported. The proposed settlement was presented Thursday to US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, the newspaper reported. US and British authorities fined British Airways more than US$500 million for its role in the fuel-surcharge price-fixing case. Virgin was not fined because it came forward to expose the alleged collusion, which involved other airlines and markets, the paper said.
■ MEDIA
'NY Times' to cut 100 jobs
The New York Times is cutting 100 jobs from its newsroom this year as financial pressures mount from a weak economy and competition from the Internet. Executive editor Bill Keller told employees in a meeting on Thursday that the cuts would come mainly through attrition and buyouts, but layoffs were also possible. New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the paper has a total of 1,332 newsroom employees throughout the paper, which would make the cutbacks equivalent to nearly 8 percent of its editorial staff.
■ FINANCE
Zurich Financial profits up
Zurich Financial Services AG said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 13.5 percent to US$1.47 billion and that it was proposing a US$2 billion share buyback. The Swiss insurance firm, which has remained virtually unaffected by the raging US subprime mortgage crisis, said net profit for the three-month period ended on Dec. 31 compared with US$1.29 billion for the same period of 2006. The company said full-year net profit for last year rose to US$5.63 billion from US$4.62 billion in 2006. Gross premiums rose to US$47.47 billion from US$46.44 billion.
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
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
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
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