IFA plans US hotel
IFA Hotels & Resorts Co, the Kuwaiti hotelier partly owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, agreed to open its first US hotel in New York with Related Cos.
The hotel in central Manhattan will cost US$300 million to build, IFA said in a statement on Saturday, without providing further details.
Agility invests in Philippines
Agility, the Middle East's largest storage and logistics company, plans to spend US$10 billion on development projects in the Philippines with Kuwaiti and US partners.
Kuwait-based Agility, Abraj Holding Co and a US company will undertake the projects, Agility said in a filing to Kuwait's stock exchange yesterday, without providing details.
Dai-ichi in joint venture
Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co plans to form a life-insurance venture in China with Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼集團), the nation's largest steelmaker, the Asahi Shimbun reported, without citing a source.
The Japanese and Chinese companies have been in talks for more than a year, with Dai-ichi Mutual Life already starting to develop computer systems for the venture, the Osaka-based newspaper said.
Nippon Life Insurance Co and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co have already formed life-insurance joint ventures in China, the report said.
Sohar Refinery to close unit
Oman's Sohar Refinery Co LLC plans to shut down its 116,000 barrel-a-day unit for maintenance in the first quarter of 2009, an official at the refinery said.
The plant will be closed for about 35 days, the Sohar company official, who requested not to be identified, said in a phone interview yesterday. There is no planned maintenance next year, he said.
Sohar was commissioned in June last year and its principal products include gasoline, low-sulfur gasoil and propylene. About 90 percent of the plant's output is exported. State-run Omani Oil Co SAOC owns 20 percent of Sohar and the country's Ministry of Finance owns the remaining 80 percent.
Oman produced 743,000 barrels a day of crude oil and condensate last year, 5 percent less than the year before, according to the Web site of the US Energy Information Administration.
Italy probes US funds
Italian prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into US investment funds Evergreen and Quantum for speculation in the bidding for Alitalia, the ANSA news agency reported.
The probe was prompted by a drop in Alitalia's share price after Asian giant Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Friday denied a report that it had submitted a bid for the Italian flag carrier along with Evergreen and Quantum.
Alitalia president Maurizio Prato reportedly received a letter expressing the consortium's interest in acquiring the loss-making airline.
The choice of the partner was initially expected on Thursday but reports said the Italian government was split on whether to sell Alitalia to Air France-KLM or to AP Holding, which operates Italy's second biggest airline, Air One.
The new investigation may merge with a probe already opened into Air One's actions, ANSA said. Air One took part in a failed government auction earlier this year.
The government owns 49.9 percent of Alitalia and is seeking to sell a controlling stake to a partner that can relaunch the ailing airline.
Gome plans more acquisitions
Gome Electrical Appliance Hold-ings Ltd (國美電器控股有限公司), China's largest electronics retailer, plans to continue making acquisitions of retailers to boost sales of information technology, communications and digital products.
Gome said on Friday that it would finance the 3.6 billion yuan (US$488 million) acquisition of Beijing Dazhong Electronics Ltd (北京大中電器).
A partner was given the finances to purchase the company and Gome may buy it later, giving it time to understand Dazhong and seek regulatory approvals, Gome president Chen Xiao (陳曉) said.
Hong Kong-based Gome's financing of Dazhong's purchase comes after Suning Appliance Co (蘇寧電器有限公司) scrapped its bid for the Beijing-based retailer on Thursday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique