■AVIATION
AirAsia X considers IPO
Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X, which is part owned by billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, said yesterday it is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year to raise funds for its global expansion. Chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said the airline expects to take delivery of 27 new Airbus A330 and A350 planes over the next decade, which will increase its fleet to 39 by 2020. “There are lots of upside in Asia-Pacific travel, especially in China and India,” he told reporters. “We think the timing is right [for a listing]. We expect the markets to recover in 2011.”
■SWITZERLAND
Growth forecast cut
Authorities yesterday cut the country’s growth forecast for next year to 1.6 percent from 2 percent, citing “increased external trade risks” arising from the debt crisis in the eurozone. For this year, however, the State Secretariat for Economics Affairs sees stronger growth than forecast earlier as it raised its forecast from 1.4 percent to 1.8 percent. “While the growth prospects for 2010 are even slightly better than anticipated until now, the [GDP] forecast for 2011 in light of increased external trade risks in connection with the euro crisis will be lowered slightly,” it said.
■TRADE
German April exports down
Official data show that German exports decreased by 5.9 percent on the month in April following a surge in March. The German Federal Statistical Office said yesterday that exports were worth 75.3 billion euros (US$89.9 billion) in April. Imports totaled 61.9 billion euros — a 7.3 percent decline on the month. Exports — traditionally the motor of the German economy, Europe’s biggest — were up more than 10 percent in March. In year-on-year terms, April exports were up 19.2 percent and imports rose 15.7 percent.
■BANKING
Goldman Sachs subpoenaed
A panel probing the causes of the financial meltdown has issued a subpoena for documents from Goldman Sachs Group Inc, accusing the firm of stonewalling an investigation. The US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) said Monday it had sent Goldman numerous requests for information, documents and interviews. Goldman didn’t respond to some questions, panel chairman Phil Angelides said. With others, it provided billions of pages of documents — far more than the commission staff can process. “This has been a very deliberate effort over time to run out the clock,” FCIC co-chair Bill Thomas said in a call with reporters. He said Goldman is “about mischief-making” and called the bank’s actions “unacceptable.”
■TECHNOLOGY
HP printers net-capable
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP), the world’s No. 1 printer maker, announced on Monday that it is rolling out technology that will give all of its new US$99-and-up printers Internet capabilities. They will each have their own e-mail address, to which smartphone users can send photos and any other files they want to print. The printers will also be able to connect to an HP Web site, from which users can tell their printers to do specific things at certain times, such as printing out copies of the day’s top news stories every morning. Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP’s imaging and printing group, said the changes answer demands from customers to make it easier to print from any Internet-connected device, including smartphones, netbooks and tablet computers.
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