■AVIATION
Air France-KLM traffic drops
Air France-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline, said yesterday that passenger traffic fell sharply last month as the economic situation deteriorated. “March saw another, sharp deterioration in the [economic] environment,” it said in a statement, adding that a near 3 percent cut in capacity was not enough to offset the wider downturn, with revenues slipping accordingly. It said it carried 5.6 million passengers last month, down 9.8 percent from February, with the load factor falling 5.5 percentage points to 75.5 percent. Cargo traffic was up 1.3 percent, it said.
■ECONOMY
Eurozone GDP shrinks 1.6%
The eurozone economy shrank 1.6 percent in the last three months of last year from the previous quarter amid collapsing exports and dwindling investment, official EU data released yesterday show. The figure was slightly down on a March 5 estimate for a contraction of 1.5 percent in GDP, the Eurostat statistics agency said. Compared with the same period in 2007, GDP shrank 1.5 percent. The combined economy of the 27 EU nations also contracted, down 1.5 percent in late last year compared with the previous quarter, and 1.4 percent compared with the last three months of 2007.
■RAILWAYS
Thales, Binladin to ink deal
French defense group Thales and construction giant Saudi Binladin Group were to sign contracts yesterday on a 2 billion riyal (US$533 million) contract to build Saudi Arabia’s ambitious North-South Railway, government and company officials said. The two companies have been chosen to build signaling and security systems for the main 1,800km section of the US$2.8 billion railroad, they said. The railway will link rich bauxite and phosphorus mines in the far north with planned Gulf coast processing and export facilities at Ras al-Zour.
■MINING
Rio Tinto to cut 700 jobs
Rio Tinto Ltd said yesterday it would cut more than 700 jobs at Australian mines owing to a drop in aluminum demand and prices. The miner said it would also slow expansion of a refinery at one mine and cut this year’s production of bauxite — the chief mineral used to produce aluminum — by 22.7 percent to 15 million tonnes from 19.4 million tonnes last year.
■INVESTMENT
Bids received for AIG unit
About half a dozen investment managers have put forward bids, ranging from US$400 million to US$800 million, for troubled insurer American International Group’s (AIG) asset management business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Private equity firms Ashmore Investment Management, Hellman & Friedman LLC, Rhone Group and TA Associates as well as mutual fund manager Franklin Templeton and asset manager Southgate Alternative Investments are among those who have shown interest, the Journal said in a report on its Web site.
■LABOR
Vietnam to hike state wages
Vietnam will raise the minimum salary for state employees by 20 percent to ease cost of living increases, the government said yesterday. Starting from May 1, the minimum monthly salary for civil servants and those who work for state-owned enterprises will increase to 650,000 dong (US$37) from 540,000 dong (US$31), the government said on its Web site. The government warned businesses not to make use of the minimum salary increase to hike prices of goods and services.
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