■ Airlines
Flight paths reviewed
Major changes in flight routes aimed at helping the flagging airline industry cut costs will slash travel time between Asia and Europe by up to 30 minutes, the International Air Transport Association said yesterday. The changes, which are expected to save the airline industry an estimated US$55 million annually in fuel alone, mark the largest-ever overhaul of flight paths, IATA, the world's largest airline trade association, said in a statement. Flight paths that previously arced around political borders and military zones can now travel in straight lines after negotiations between 21 countries, airlines and military agencies, said David Behrens, the Singapore-based head of operations and infrastructure for IATA. The route changes took effect Thursday and will help the airline industry, which is still reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of last year, by increasing their efficiency without any new investment, Behrens said.
■ Trade
WTO head supports US plan
WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi said Thursday a US plan to eliminate global tariffs on consumer and industrial goods was a "positive contribution" to jump-starting sluggish trade negotiations. "We need ambitious proposals to get the round moving forward ... and we need leadership. I welcome this initiative by the US government to help us push for more dynamic momentum," Panitchpakdi told reporters after meeting with French President Jacques Chirac at the presidential Elysee palace. The US on Tuesday unveiled a bold plan to eliminate global tariffs on consumer and industrial goods by 2015, saying it would benefit developing countries as well as the US economy. The plan is to be presented to the WTO in Geneva next week.
■ Semiconductors
Sales rise in October
Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose 1.8 percent last month from the previous month, indicating demand for chips is recovering, an industry study said. Sales rose to US$12.51 billion in October from US$12.29 billion a month earlier, boosted by demand for chips used in mobile phones, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in an e-mailed report. Chip sales posted their steepest decline last year and will recover more slowly than expected, the SIA has said. Worldwide sales are expected to rise 1.8 percent this year, missing an earlier forecast, the group said earlier this month.
■ Condoms
Thai actress refuses award
An actress who topped a survey to win the title of "Sexiest Woman in Thailand" will refuse to accept the award because it was sponsored by Durex, the condom company, the woman's mother was quoted as saying yesterday. Chalida Nilpirom, the mother of movie actress and top fashion model Shermal Bunyasak, blasted the widely publicized Durex award for "abusing my daughter's name. Durex should not have abused us," The Nation newspaper quoted Chalida as saying. "Thai culture and Thai people cannot accept images associated with sexiness. No one admires it." She said it would have been fine if the award had been bestowed by the media or an educational institute, but condoms had a negative sexual connotation and so her daughter would not pick up her Durex award. She said her daughter just wanted to be known as a "nice lady and a respected actress."
Agencies
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