■ Semiconductors
Sales rose 37% in April
Global semiconductor sales rose 37 percent in April from a year earlier to the highest level since July 2000, helped by higher demand for chips used in mobile phones and personal computers, the Semiconductor Industry Association said. Sales were US$16.94 billion in the month, the industry group said in a statement released on Business Wire. Worldwide chip sales rose 4.1 percent from US$16.28 billion in March, San Jose, California-based SIA said. "The fundamentals are in place for strong growth through the remainder of the year, and it is likely that growth for 2004 will significantly surpass last fall's forecast of 19 percent growth," SIA president George Scalise said in the statement.
■ Television
TVB cuts jobs
Television Broadcast Ltd, Hong Kong's dominant TV network, said yesterday it had slashed between 25 and 30 jobs as part of a restructuring. The latest job cuts occurred in the art, construction, production and security departments, said Winnie Ho, a TVB spokeswoman. TVB cut 30 jobs in February. TVB employs more than 3,000 staff and is trying to merge different departments, she said. "We are constantly reviewing our operations," Ho said, adding that the company may hire production staff later this year. She dismissed as a "rumor" a local newspaper report Tuesday that said the broadcaster plans to slash another 100 jobs after the Olympics in Athens, Greece in August. The report cited an unidentified TVB employee.
■ Airlines
Ryanair profits fall
Budget airline Ryanair posted a 5 percent drop in net profits yesterday, blaming increased price competition and the weakness of the British pound for the fall. Net profit before goodwill and exceptional items fell to 226.6 euros (US$280 million) for the year ended March 31. The airline has been slashing ticket prices to meet the competition and said it carried more than 23 million passengers over the year, up 47 percent from the previous year. "This year was characterized by adverse market conditions including sterling weakness, the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorist attacks, significantly higher oil prices, and intense price competition all over Europe from chronically loss making flag and new entrant carriers," said Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary.
■ Airlines
Hong Kong agrees charges
Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair and nine other airlines have been given permission to levy surcharges on passengers traveling on flights into and out of Hong Kong to cover surging fuel prices, a government spokeswoman said yesterday. Civil Aviation Department spokeswoman Sandra Lai said the government has permitted Cathay to charge passengers US$5 each way for flights within Asia and US$14 for flights to other destinations. Dragonair and three Chinese airlines -- China Eastern, China Southern and Air China -- can collect US$5.40 per flight from each passenger, regardless of its length. The six other airlines that won approval Monday were Australian Airlines, Qantas Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Emirates Airlines, Air India and Gulf Air. Their surcharges will range from US$4 to US$10.70.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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