■MINING
Alcoa Q4 loss smaller
Alcoa Inc on Monday reported a smaller net loss for the fourth quarter, though revenue shrank as higher metal prices were offset by ongoing weakness in aerospace, construction and gas turbine businesses. Alcoa’s quarterly performance marks the unofficial beginning of the earnings season for S&P 500 companies, and it can be a sign of things to come. The report was released after the market closed and Alcoa’s shares fell in aftermarket activity. The Pittsburgh company reported a net loss of US$277 million, or US$0.28 per share, compared with a loss of US$1.19 billion, or US$1.49 per share, a year ago.
■JAPAN
Current account surplus rises
The country’s current account surplus grew in November for a fourth straight month, boosted by solid exports to the rest of Asia, government data showed yesterday. The surplus in the current account — the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world — rose 76.9 percent from a year earlier to ¥1.10 trillion (US11.9 billion) in the month, the finance ministry said. The world’s second-largest economy logged a trade surplus of ¥490.6 billion, against a deficit of ¥92.2 billion in the same month of the previous year.
■AVIATION
Airbus to double output
Plane maker Airbus aims to double output of its new A380 superjumbo this year, chief operating officer Fabrice Breguier said in an interview published yesterday. “Airbus’ objective is to double A380 deliveries in 2010,” Breguier was quoted as saying in the French business daily Les Echos. “Our objective is deliver 20 A380s this year, attaining a stable rate of two planes per month in the second half of the year,” he said. In 2008 Airbus delivered 12 of the superjumbos.
■UNITED STATES
Fed made record profits
The Federal Reserve made record profits last year of about US$45 billion that will be returned to the coffers at the Treasury, the Washington Post reported on Monday. The Post said the figure, which it said was according to its own calculations based on public records, would be the highest earnings in the Fed’s 96-year history. The newspaper noted that much of the profits came about because of the Fed’s program of buying bonds with the aim of driving down interest rates and fueling growth in the hobbled the domestic economy.
■INTERNET
AOL to trim workforce
US Internet company AOL said on Monday it would cut jobs after a voluntary departure program failed to meet a target of trimming one-third of its global workforce. The Internet pioneer, which was spun off from media giant Time Warner last month after a troubled merger, had announced in November it would take a US$200 million charge as part of a restructuring as it regained independence.
■AUTOMOBILES
BMW expects growth
German automaker BMW expects a return to global sales growth this year, helped by emerging markets like China, after a difficult period last year, its head of sales said on Monday. “We see markets starting to recover,” Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing, told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show, adding that BMW was aiming for “single digit growth.” BMW, which owns the BMW, Rolls-Royce and Mini brands, reported a 10.4 percent drop in global sales last year, for a total of 1.29 million vehicles.
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