■ Semiconductors
NEC boasts smaller circuits
NEC Electronics Corp has developed a technology to make semiconductors with circuit widths smaller than those made by companies such Intel Corp, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, without citing where it got the information. NEC Electronics plans to start production of semicon-ductors with a circuit width of 55 nanometers in 2007, the paper said. Intel and Matsushita Electric Indus-trial Co have already started production of semicon-ductors with circuit widths of 65 nanometers, the report said.
■ Aviation
Cathay's salaries rise 3.5%
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will raise the salaries of its almost 8,000 employees by an average 3.5 percent next year, the Oriental Daily reported, citing an unidentified company spokesman. The increase will apply to the airline's 6,000-strong cabin crew and 2,000-member ground crew, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said. The airline will announce the salary adjustment plan for management staff before Christmas, the Daily said. Increased demand in leisure travel has made up for lower profit margins resulting from high oil prices, the paper said, citing the spokesman.
■ Economics
Managers trust in recovery
Nearly three quarters of Japan's top managers think the country's economy will continue on a path of recovery, according to a poll published yesterday. The showing from management at 73 of the country's 100 top companies was significantly more optimistic than a similar survey conducted earlier in the year. Seventy companies said they expec-ted individual consumption to improve moderately over the next 12 months, it said. The government cites consumption as one of main factors reining in a recovery. Eighty-seven companies said they regarded the status of the Japanese economy as growing, up sharply from 49 companies in the previous poll. The poll was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 26.
■ Aviation
Qantas mulls global Jetstar
Australian flag carrier Qantas is considering expanding its budget offshoot Jetstar's international presence, chief executive Geoff Dixon said yesterday. Dixon said the Qantas board would take a vote this week on expanding Jetstar's routes to include destinations no more than eight to 10 hours from Australia -- which could include Asian and Pacific island flights. Dixon said Jetstar, which this month launched a service to New Zealand, would not compete on profitable routes flown by Qantas, instead flying to new destinations or ones that the main airline had scrapped. He named Seoul and Taipei as destinations no longer serviced by Qantas that Jetstar could potentially pick up.
■ Software
Belarusian OS in the works
Scientists in Belarus are working on their own computer software to serve as an alternative to the market-leading Windows operating system from Microsoft. The inexpensive Belarusian operating system will work with open-source code like Linux, reports computer scientist Michail Machanek from the Academy of Science in Minsk. Both the EU and NATO have expressed interest in his project, he says. "Ordinary citizens cannot afford to buy an operating system for US$300," Machanek says. The Belarusian Windows will cost only 12 euros (US$14).
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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