■US trade
Afghanistan gets deal
President George W. Bush has added Afghanistan to a list of developing countries that get preferential treatment on goods exported to the US. The Generalized System of Preferences gives the president the authority to give the duty treatment. Bush signed an order Friday designating Afghanistan a beneficiary of the program, and the White House announced the step on Monday. Bush named Afghanistan a ``least-developed beneficiary,'' a move that will allow the country to export about 5,700 products to the US without tariffs, the White House said. "This GSP designation marks an important step in Afghanistan's return to the world trading system," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
■ Shipping
Container trade rises
Intra-Asian containerized trade is forecast to grow more rapidly than the global average over the next decade, according to a UN study published yesterday. The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific report said Asia's share of containerized exports will rise to 51 percent and its imports to 44 percent by 2011, from the 1999 figures of 46 percent and 40 per cent respectively. Containerized trade within Asia is expected to grow by 7.6 per cent per annum over the next decade, Escap said, while the global average slows slightly from the current 6.5 percent. Among the three key Asia routes, the study published in the Shipping Times cited the trans-Pacific as having the weakest growth.
■ US economy
CEO confidence rises
Businesses leaders were more confident about the state of the US economy in the closing months of last year, although they didn't expect a notable pickup in growth in the new year, a report released Monday said. The Conference Board said its business confidence index for the fourth quarter rose to 58 from 54 in the third quarter. That was below the 61 mark seen in the second quarter and the 66 reported for the first.
Any number above 50 indicates more positive than negative responses to survey questions, the Conference Board said. "Chief executives are more optimistic now than they were in the third quarter," Conference Board economist Lynn Franco said.
■ French economy
Inflation creeps upward
French inflation rose by 0.2 percent in December from the figure for the previous month, and by 2.3 percent since December 2001, figures released yesterday by the national statistics institute INSEE showed. Price of manufactured products, services, transports and communications had led the increase in December. Core inflation, which strips out volatile items such as fresh foods and energy products, increased by 0.1 percent from November and by 1.9 percent on a 12-month basis, compared with an annual figure of 2 percent in November, INSEE said. A harmonised index which permits comparison with other European countries put inflation at 0.2 percent on the month and 2.2 percent on the year. France is a member of the euro zone for which the European Central Bank has set up upper medium-term target for inflation of 2 percent, although it has hinted that it might adjust this. In December 2001 the French harmonised 12-month figure was 1.4 percent.
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