■FRANCE
Public debt to hit 83.7%
France’s public debt is expected to come to 83.7 percent of GDP this year, the government said on Tuesday, well beyond the 60 percent level prescribed by the eurozone. The government, in an upward revision of its previous forecast for this year of 83.2 percent, said that the public debt would expand to 87.5 percent of output in 2012. Earlier on Wednesday, the national statistics body INSEE said French public debt had risen sharply in the first quarter of the year to 80.3 percent of GDP. It said in a first estimate that at the end of March, the public sector debt rose by 46.5 billion euros (US$56.7 billion) from the figure for the previous quarter to 1.535 trillion euros.
■SPAIN
Moody’s reviewing debt
Moody’s Investor Service on Wednesday placed Spain’s sovereign debt rating “on review for possible downgrade” because of the weak growth prospects of its fragile economy. The credit rating agency said it could lower Spain’s Aaa rating by “one, or at most two, notches” at the end of the three-month review period. The decision was prompted by “the deteriorating [short-term and long-term] economic growth prospects,” by “the challenges the government faces in achieving its fiscal targets” and by “concerns over the impact of rising funding costs over the medium term,” it said. The warning followed a decision by another ratings agency, Fitch, on May 29 to cut Spain’s credit rating one notch from the maximum AAA to AA+, arguing that the economic recovery would be more muted than that forecast by the government.
■RETAIL
German sales rose in May
Retail sales in Germany rose in May as the economic recovery gathered pace and unemployment fell. Sales, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, increased 0.4 percent from April, when they dropped 0.5 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said yesterday. May’s gain was in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 17 economists. In the year, sales declined 2.4 percent. German companies are stepping up output and increasing their workforce as an Asian-led global recovery boosts export orders, in turn encouraging consumer demand.
■INTERNET
Yahoo to buy back stock
Yahoo has set the stage to buy back US$3 billion worth of its stock in the coming three years, according to a filing on Wednesday with US securities regulators. The plan was approved by the Yahoo board of directors on June 24 and authorizes the pioneering Internet firm to repurchase as much as US$3 billion in common stock during the next three years. “The repurchases may take place in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions,” the Sunnyvale, California-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
■COMPUTERS
Microsoft to kill Kin phones
Microsoft on Wednesday said it was killing the Kin line of mobile telephones it unveiled in April to win over young people enthralled by online social networking. “Microsoft has made the decision to focus on the Windows Phone 7 launch and will not ship Kin in Europe this fall as planned,” the US technology giant said in an e-mail response to a reporter’s inquiry. “Additionally, we are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases.”
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
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
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