■INDUSTRY
Record output cut in EU
Factories and refiners in the 16 countries using the euro cut their output at the fastest rate on record in April in the face of depressed demand, official EU figures showed yesterday. The Eurostat data agency said eurozone industrial production fell 1.9 percent in April over one month, bringing the drop over 12 months to a record 21.6 percent, the sharpest annual contraction on record. In March, production had fallen 1.4 percent over one month and 19.3 percent over 12 months.
■ECONOMY
Asia can’t rely on US: ADB
Asia can’t rely on exports to the US for long-term economic growth because US consumers will buy less as they increase savings and pay down debt, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday. “I’m optimistic on Asia’s short-term outlook but pessimistic on the long-term,” Kuroda said in a speech in Tokyo. “The US savings rate could rise to as high as 10 percent and suppress consumption. It’s becoming impossible for Asia to rely on the US consumer.”
■LABOR
British postal strike planned
A British union says thousands of postal workers will strike next week in a dispute over jobs and services. The Communication Workers Union says up to 10,000 mail sorters, letter carriers and other London employees will walk out on Friday for 24 hours. The union accused the Royal Mail of making “arbitrary cuts” and called for negotiations. British public sector unions have increasingly called strikes as employers cut jobs and benefits amid the recession.
■COMPUTER
Dell planning acquisition
US computer giant Dell is planning to acquire a “significant-sized company” in the next few months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing people who have recently spoken with its chief financial officer, Brian Gladden, said the Round Rock, Texas-based company wanted to expand its data-storage and tech-services businesses. The Journal said Dell, which has more than US$9 billion in cash reserves, sold US$1 billion in bonds on Wednesday. A Dell spokesman said the debt offering was “for general corporate purposes, and among the possibilities — and certainly no commitment has been made — are acquisitions.”
■BANKING
World banks must act: China
The US government and global financial authorities need to remove toxic assets from their banking systems to restore world economic stability, a top Chinese banking regulator said yesterday. Actions taken by governments worldwide to stabilize the financial sector “have gradually eased the panic,” said Liu Mingkang (劉明康), chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. “But from the flip side of the coin ... I should say it’s not enough and all these are not ... working,” given the massive losses incurred by toxic assets still lingering in banking systems around the world, he said.
■INTERNET
AOL buys two Web startups
Internet pioneer AOL, which Time Warner plans to spin off into an independent company later this year, announced on Thursday that it had bought two small Web startups focused on local content. AOL, in a statement, said it had purchased Patch Media Corp, a local news and information platform for local communities, and Going Inc, a platform for sharing information about events in major cities.
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
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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