■UNITED STATES
Trade deficit surges
The trade deficit surged to a larger-than-expected US$40.18 billion in December, the biggest imbalance in 12 months. The wider deficit reflected a rebounding economy that is pushing up demand for oil and other imports. The Commerce Department said the December deficit was 10.4 percent higher than the November imbalance. It was much larger than the US$36 billion deficit that economists had expected with much of the increase coming from a big jump in oil imports. For all of last year, the deficit totaled US$380.66 billion, the smallest imbalance in eight years, as a deep recession cut into imports.
■BEVERAGES
Diageo earnings increase
Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits group, said it was in the early stages of recovery when reporting a 5 percent rise in half-year earnings and keeping its profit growth target for the year. The London-based maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer posted underlying earnings for the second half of last year of £0.442 (US$0.69) a share, below a consensus of £0.462. The interim dividend was raised 5 percent to £0.146. The British group’s annual underlying sales were down 2 percent, while operating profit was off 3 percent.
■AVIATION
KLM losses continue
Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM posted a fifth straight quarterly net loss on Wednesday and forecast more heavy losses this quarter under a tough economic environment. “There were some signs of recovery in activity during the third quarter, but in an economic environment which remains difficult,” the airline said in a results statement. The group recorded a net loss of 295 million euros (US$405 million) in the third quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, but it was an improvement from a loss of 508 million euros during the same period in 2008.
■INTERNET
Alcatel-Lucent sees profit
Alcatel-Lucent SA yesterday reported a small net profit in the fourth quarter as one-off gains helped offset a nearly 20 percent drop in revenue during the period. Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent made net profit of 46 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared to a 3.9 billion euro net loss a year earlier. In a statement yesterday, Alcatel-Lucent said the economic environment “appears to be stabilizing” and that it expects its markets to recover next year.
■AUTOMOBILES
Renault predicts hard year
Renault SA says that it lost 3.07 billion euros last year, mostly in the first half, and predicts another difficult year this year. The full-year net loss is greater than the 2.59 billion euros forecast by analysts and compares with 599 million euros in net profit for 2008. Revenue fell 10.8 percent to 33.71 billion euros last year. Renault said the European car market could contract by 10 percent this year.
■UNITED STATES
Dow Jones sells stake
Dow Jones & Co is selling a 90 percent stake in its stock-market index unit to CME Group for US$607.5 million. The joint venture, announced by the companies on Wednesday, will allow the Dow Jones Industrial Average to keep its famous name. Dow Jones will retain a 10 percent stake in the business, which offers more than 130,000 stock indexes that are used as benchmarks by investors and licensed for use by mutual funds and other investment products.
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