Cathay Pacific profits jump 72%

Cathay Pacific Airways has reported a 72% rise in profits for 2007, but says conditions will be harder in 2008.

Cathay reported a net profit of $901.9m (£454m) for 2007, higher than expected and helped by the weak dollar and sales at Air China, in which it owns 18%.

Including its Dragonair subsidiary, Cathay Pacific carried 23.35m passengers last year, a rise of 28.5%.

But the company said 2008 would be more difficult, because of high fuel prices and a slowdown in the global economy.

"Any substantial slowdown in world economic activity would pose risks to anticipated passenger and cargo volumes and revenue," chairman Christopher Pratt said.

Dragonair, which focuses on mainland China, was taken over by Cathay in September 2006. Last year was its first contribution to annual profits.

China one-child rule 'to remain'

The Chinese leadership has denied suggestions that it is about to alter its controversial one-child policy.

Family planning chief Zhang Weiqing said there would be no change in the rule limiting families in cities to one child and those in rural areas to two.

His comments come a week after another family planning official said a policy change was under discussion.

The rule has been blamed for creating a gender imbalance, with families eager to have boys rather than a girls.

'Incremental'

Correspondents say many in China think the one-child rule is unsustainable in the long term.

But Mr Zhang, director of the State Population and Family Planning Commission, denied the policy would be overhauled.

"Changes to the family planning policy now could lead to population rises, posing higher pressure on China's future development," the Xinhua state news agency quoted him as saying.

Last week Zhao Baige, the vice-minister at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told reporters she wanted an "incremental" change in the policy, although she said some form of population control would remain in place.

From time to time China has considered changes to its one-child policy but has always backed off, fearing a massive spike in population growth.

Strict family-planning controls were introduced during the 1970s to combat China's soaring population.

Malaysia chooses new parliament

Malaysians have been choosing a new parliament in an election expected to see Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's huge majority reduced.

Inflation, rising crime and ethnic tensions have made inroads into support for his National Front coalition, analysts say.

Mr Badawi called for ethnic minorities to support him.

Some violence linked to the election has been reported in the north-east of the country.

Police in Terennganu State said they had fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred people protesting at what they saw as vote-rigging.

Arrests

Supporters of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) stopped buses they suspected of carrying National Front coalition supporters pretending to be voters from the district, said local police chief Ayob Yaacob.

He said 22 people were arrested and the rest of the crowd ran away.

Prime Minister Badawi said before voting began that he did not want a government "made up of only one race" after polls indicated his Chinese and Indian coalition allies might fare badly. Ethnic minorities make up more than a third of the population.

The National Front is still expected to be returned to power by the country's 10.9m eligible voters, as it has at all previous 11 general elections.

Mr Badawi is seeking another five-year term, and he knows that he will get it, the BBC's Robin Brant reports from the capital Kuala Lumpur.

But he has already conceded that he is unlikely to equal the staggering 91% of seats won at the last general election, our correspondent says.

His deputy, Najib Tun Razak, told the BBC that the benchmark for the coalition was a two-thirds majority, giving them power to change the constitution.

`Racial discrimination'

The National Front dominates Malaysian politics and currently controls all but one of Malaysia's 13 states and three federal territories - the northern state of Kelantan, which is held by PAS.

However, analysts say ethnic tensions and widespread concerns about price rises are likely to lead to gains for the opposition parties, including one led by the former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Mr Ibrahim, who is banned from holding office after being jailed for corruption in a trial he says was politically motivated, has promised to end racial discrimination if his Justice Party wins.

"We want strong Malays, strong Chinese, strong Indians," he told a campaign rally on Thursday night.

"Take the best Malays, let them work with the best Chinese and the best Indians."

Many ethnic minorities complain that government policy has denied them fair access to jobs, education, and housing.

Tensions have increased in particular in recent months as a result of a series of illegal street demonstrations. Last November, 10,000 Indians took to the streets during one protest.

Our correspondent says opposition parties put up a strong challenge in certain places, but the overall picture is expected to be much the same as every election since the end of British colonial rule in 1957 once the results are in.