■ SOUTH KOREA
Economic growth at 5%
The economy expanded a revised 5 percent last year from a year earlier, the central bank said yesterday, increasing its earlier 4.9 percent estimate. GDP grew 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, more than an initial estimate of 1.5 percent, a preliminary report by the Bank of Korea said. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is targeting 6 percent growth this year. Moody's Economy.com forecasts a growth rate of around 4 percent this year and the central bank's forecast for this year was 4.7 percent.
■ INTERNET
EBay cuts 125 jobs
Internet auctioneer eBay Inc said on Thursday it was cutting 125 jobs in Europe and North America, including 70 positions at the online auctioneer's headquarters in San Jose, California. Company spokesman Jose Mallabo said the work force reduction was part of a reorganization to streamline operations -- not cut costs. The cuts amount to less than 1 percent of the company's global head count of 15,500 people. Mallabo says the cuts in Belgium, Spain and Austria are the result of a centralization of corporate functions. He wouldn't talk about what jobs were affected at headquarters.
■ AVIATION
Aloha files for bankruptcy
Aloha Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, a little more than two years after emerging from bankruptcy. Aloha said it would continue to fly as long as a bankruptcy court accepts the airline's financial plan to keep operating. The airline said in its filing that it was unable to generate sufficient revenue because of "predatory pricing" by Mesa Air Group Inc's go! airline. In January, go! reported a US$20 million operating loss in its first 16 months of operations. Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines reported combined losses of nearly US$65 million since go! began operating.
■ INSURANCE
Allianz expects write-downs
Insurer Allianz SE said it expected to make further write-downs in the first quarter of this year amid ongoing turbulence on international financial markets. Allianz head Michael Diekmann said in the company's annual report, released on Thursday, that because he could not rule out further write-downs, it had become "clearly more difficult" to reach the company's goal of 10 percent growth by next year. Last month, the company said that Dresdner's write-downs in its asset-backed securities trading book amounted to US$2 billion last year, of which US$1.4 billion was in the fourth quarter.
■ INVESTMENT
Fed offer attracts firms
Big Wall Street investment companies are taking advantage of the US Federal Reserve's unprecedented offer to secure emergency loans, the central bank reported on Thursday. Those large firms averaged US$13.4 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending facility. The report does not identify the borrowers. The Fed, in a bold move last Sunday, agreed for the first time to let big investment houses get emergency loans directly from the central bank. This mechanism, similar to one available for commercial banks for years, got under way on Monday and will continue for at least six months. It was the broadest use of the Fed's lending authority since the 1930s.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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