■FINANCE
AIG, MetLife discuss deal
American International Group Inc (AIG) is discussing a deal for all or part of its foreign unit, American Life Insurance Co, with MetLife Inc, according to a published report on Wednesday that cited people familiar with the matter. Alico operates in 50 countries, and a deal could offer its rival a chance to expand overseas quickly, the Wall Street Journal said in a report on its Web site. AIG must repay tens of billions of dollars to the US after it rescued the firm in September from potential bankruptcy, the newspaper said.
■ASIA
IMF raises growth outlook
The IMF has raised this year’s growth forecast for Asia’s developing economies from 4.8 percent to 5.5 percent, but cautioned that a sustained rebound would depend on recovery in developed economies. The Washington-based IMF cited improved prospects for regional giants China and India. In a report on Wednesday, it raised its growth outlook for China by 1 percentage point to 7.5 percent and for India by 0.9 percentage points to 5.4 percent. The IMF raised next year’s growth projection for developing Asian economies from 6.1 percent to 7 percent.
■AUSTRALIA
Jobless rate hits 5.8 percent
The unemployment rate rose to a six-year high of 5.8 percent last month as companies shed workers despite the government’s massive stimulus spending, official figures showed yesterday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of people in jobs fell by 21,400, with a small increase in the number of part-time employees overwhelmed by losses in full-time employment. The increase in joblessness was more moderate than economists had predicted. The rate hit 5.8 percent for the first time since October 2003, rising from 5.7 percent in May.
■SOUTH KOREA
Key rate still frozen
The central bank yesterday froze its key interest rate for the fifth straight month at a record low 2 percent, a statement said. The Bank of Korea’s decision to leave the seven-day repo rate unchanged came amid signs of economic improvement and easing inflationary pressure. The bank had made six consecutive rate cuts totalling 3.25 percentage points between October and February to prop up the export-dominated economy.
■LCD PANELS
Sharp to boost production
Bucking the economic gloom, Japan’s Sharp Corp said yesterday that it would move to boost production of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to meet increasing demand for flat-screen TVs. Sharp will increase production capacity by 10 percent at its Kameyama No. 2 plant in central Japan sometime from August. The company, which makes the popular AQUOS brand of LCD TVs, is also preparing to put a new LCD plant in Sakai, western Japan, into operation in October, ahead of the original schedule.
■CELLPHONES
NTT DoCoMo raises goal
NTT DoCoMo Inc aims to ship as many as 1 million smartphones in Japan this year, helped by the release of a model running Google Inc’s Android operating system. The company aims to capture half of the country’s market for smartphones, estimated to be between 1.5 million and 2 million units in the 12 months ending on Dec. 31, president Ryuji Yamada said yesterday. The Tokyo-based carrier will begin selling an Android handset made by Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電) tomorrow to compete with Apple Inc’s iPhone offered by rival Softbank Corp.
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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