■ Aviation
Low-cost flights considered
South Korean flag carrier Korean Air said yesterday it may set up a low-cost carrier for short-distance international routes amid an expected raise in competition over short-haul travel within the region. "We will consider establishing a separate low-cost carrier, if needed for short-distance overseas services. We have already studied it and preparations are under way," Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho told reporters. Cho said the low-cost carrier could operate independently from Korean Air, in a move which may prompt carriers in Japan and other Asian countries to intensify competition. Korean Air is the world's third largest air cargo carrier and the 15th largest in terms of passenger numbers. The carrier posted a net profit of 472 billion won (US$467 million) last year with sales rising 16.7 percent year-on-year to 7.21 trillion won, thanks to increased demand for air travel and cargo transportation.
■ Inflation
Consumer price index up
Hot on the heels of the Federal Reserve's tough new line on inflation came alarming news Wednesday that US consumer prices posted their biggest gain in four months in February. Surging energy prices fuelled a 0.4 percent rise in the consumer price index (CPI) last month, the US Labor Department reported. The core CPI rate, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3 percent. The markets had been expecting the headline figure to go up 0.3 percent and the core rate to rise by 0.2 percent. The figures came a day after the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) shocked Wall Street with strong language on inflation as it raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent.
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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