■ Search sites
Yahoo battles Google
In 1999, Yahoo gave a small company its first big break, hiring it to provide results for its Internet search service. By last year, that company, Google, had usurped Yahoo as the No. 1 site for Web searches. Starting yesterday, Yahoo introduced a series of improvements to its own Web search service meant to reclaim the territory it ceded to Google. Yahoo is adding some features and removing some graphic advertising to make its service look more like the clean, simple style of Google. Moreover, Yahoo is trying to distinguish its search results by including information from its array of other services, many not offered by Google. For example, someone searching for "Yankee scores" will see the results of the most recent Yankees game in addition to a list of baseball sites.
■ Air carriers
EasyJet sees demand rise
EasyJet Plc, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, said its March passenger count rose 32 percent as the airline added routes across Europe. EasyJet flew 1.71 million people last month compared with 1.3 million in March 2002, including passengers on Go Fly Ltd, which it took over in August. The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, rose to 85.8 percent from 85 percent, EasyJet said in a Regulatory News Service statement. "Notwithstand-ing the onset of hostilities, EasyJet is still carrying significantly more passengers than it did a year ago," the company said in a UK Regulatory News Service statement.
■ EU economy
Growth forecast reduced
The European Commission has cut its euro-zone growth forecast for this year to 1.0 percent from 1.8 percent, according to a draft version of its spring economic forecasts to be released tomorrow. For next year, the forecast is reduced to 2.2 percent from 2.6 percent, according to the draft obtained by AFX News. Germany, the 12-nation zone's biggest economy, is expected to grow by just 0.4 percent in 2003 against the commission's autumn forecast of 1.4 percent. For next year, the German figures are 2 percent from 2.3 percent before. France, which like Germany is the subject of an "excessive deficit procedure" from the commission, is seen expanding by 1.1 percent this year against the earlier forecast of 2 percent. For next year, the prediction is 2.1 percent from 2.7.
■ Semiconductors
Hynix faces US ruling
South Korea said yesterday it would cut exports of computer chips to the US if Washington agreed to suspend tariffs imposed on Hynix Semiconductor memory chips. The offer followed a preliminary ruling by the US Department of Commerce last week that dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips from South Korea were unfairly subsidized. The ruling called for countervailing duties of 57.37 percent on chips shipped by South Korea's ailing Hynix Semiconductor Inc. "The government would offer to cut down Hynix US shipments under the [tariff] suspension agreement," the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the US Department of Commerce would have until April 15 to respond to the offer. "This government proposal does not mean that we accept the US preliminary ruling. The offer does not affect the future probes before the final ruling comes out," it added.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
China is deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Ministry of National Defense said today. Speaking in Taipei, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the scale of the current Chinese naval deployment in an area running from the southern Japanese islands down into the South China Sea was the largest since China held war games around Taiwan ahead of 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections. China's military has yet to comment and has not confirmed it is carrying out any exercises. "The current scale is
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