■SOUTH KOREA
Economy may shrink 2.4%
The South Korean economy is expected to shrink 2.4 percent this year as a global recession dries up export demand and domestic demand stays weak, the central bank said yesterday. The forecast by the Bank of Korea is a downward revision from its estimate of 2.0 percent expansion made last December. Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 2.2 percent last year. The bank said the country was tipped to record growth of 3.5 percent next year. On Thursday the bank froze its key interest rate at a record low of 2.0 percent for the second straight month, saying a sharp fall in economic activity had moderated.
■FINANCE
China cuts executive pay
China has ordered pay cuts for executives at state-owned banks and other finance firms as public anger grows over their high salaries amid the global economic crisis. Last year’s pre-tax income for top executives, including salaries, bonuses and benefits, must not exceed 90 percent of their earnings in 2007, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its Web site late on Thursday. It added that the cap would be 80 percent for executives at financial companies whose operating profits fell last year.
■AVIATION
Three airlines to pay fines
Three international airlines have agreed to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a total of US$214 million in criminal fines, the US Justice Department said on Thursday. The move brought to 15 the number of companies fined by the US in a long-running criminal investigation of the industry. The latest charges implicate Luxembourg’s Cargolux Airlines International SA, Japan’s Nippon Cargo Airlines Co Ltd and South Korea’s Asiana Airlines Inc. The plea agreements must still be approved by a US court. Under the deals, Cargolux will pay US$119 million and Nippon US$45 million for fixing cargo rates over a six-year period starting in 2000. Asiana was fined US$50 million for price fixing of both passenger and cargo rates over the same timeframe.
■STEEL
POSCO’s net profit sinks
South Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO said yesterday its net profit plunged 68.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 325 billion won (US$244 million) because of the global downturn. Operating profit in the first three months slumped 70.7 percent to 373 billion won as demand from automakers and construction companies declined sharply. For this year, POSCO has set a production target of 28 million tonnes of crude steel, down 15 percent year-on-year, and sales of 25 trillion won, down 18 percent.
■COMPUTERS
Conficker virus mutating
A computer virus that has spread worldwide began mutating overnight, German government computer experts warned on Thursday. The Conficker worm uses the Internet to install new functions on millions of infected computers, the government’s BSI information technology agency said in Bonn. The creators of the virus intend to create a botnet or network of zombie computers to do their bidding. BSI said it was still analyzing the new Conficker code, which spreads thanks to a security gap in the Windows operating system. BSI advised computer users to update their Windows, Web browsers, Acrobat Reader and Flash software and use firewalls and anti-virus software to defeat the virus.
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
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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 —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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