■HAITI
Quake takes toll on GDP
The quake that ravaged Haiti over six weeks ago destroyed up to 50 percent of the Caribbean nation’s GDP, President Rene Preval said on Thursday. “This earthquake ... led to the deaths of 200,000 to 300,000 people and destroyed from 35 to 50 percent of the GDP,” Preval said. He was speaking as he met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a UN-Brazilian military base in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, which was ravaged by the 7.0-magnitude quake on Jan. 12. “What is important now is to strengthen the Haitian government,” said Lula, adding to the Haitian people: “At this moment of pain, at this moment of desperation, we must lift our heads up.” He also called on the international community to cancel Haiti’s debt.
■COMPUTERS
Jobs presides over meeting
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on Thursday presided over an annual meeting of stockholders that re-elected the company’s board including former US vice president Al Gore. It was Jobs’ first meeting with stockholders since returning to Apple in June after a six-month medical leave last year for a liver transplant. Jobs, 55, considered the heart and soul of Apple, was among the board members re-elected. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt resigned from the Apple board last year as rivalry between the companies intensified. Jobs told investors that Apple will not to tap into its cash reserves to dole out dividends. Apple ended last year with US$25 billion in its coffers. “We were thinking of a toga party,” Jobs quipped before making a case in favor of saving the money for acquisitions or to cushion the company when it takes risky moves. Apple has not paid out dividends for 15 years, meanwhile the stock price has climbed above US$200 per share and the company that gave the world Macintosh computers has fielded culture-shifting products such as iPhones and iPods.
■ICELAND
Repayment talks break down
Iceland’s finance minister said on Thursday that talks with Britain and the Netherlands on repaying more than US$5 billion in debt had broken down after the parties were unable to agree on revised payment terms. “We had hoped to be able to reach a consensual resolution of this issue on improved terms, but this has not yet been possible,” Steingrimur Sigfusson said in a statement. Icelandic negotiators held talks this week in London with officials from the two EU nations to try to hammer out a deal that the island nation hoped would avoid the need for a politically risky referendum on the Icesave issue. But the Icelandic negotiating team was heading back to Reykjavik after the talks became stranded over “significant differences,” Sigfusson said.
■MEXICO
FDI falls by 50.7 percent
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico fell by 50.7 percent to US$11.417 billion last year, its lowest level in 10 years, chiefly due to the global financial crisis, the government said on Thursday. In 2008, total direct foreign investment reached US$23.17 billion, the Secretariat of Economy said. Top foreign investors in Mexico last year included the US, with US$5.8 billion, the Netherlands (US$1.46 billion), the US territory of Puerto Rico (US$1.16 billion) and Canada (US$1 billion), it added. Mexico’s economy, Latin America’s second largest, after Brazil, contracted by 6.5 percent during last year’s global financial crisis, its biggest slide since the 1929 Great Depression.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft