■ US ecomony
Fed indicates slowness
Manufacturing slowed and the retail sales weakened as consumers turned cautious at the onset of war with Iraq, the Federal Reserve said in its survey of regional economies. "The pace of economic activity continued to be lackluster during March and the first two weeks of April," the survey said. "The onset of the war appeared to have some effect on sales and spending, although it is too early to ascertain the full effect of the war on both consumer and business confidence."
■ Credit Suisse
Former chief arrested
The former chief of the technology-banking unit at Credit Suisse First Boston was arrested Wednesday on accusations that he obstructed an investigation of initial public offerings of Internet stocks. Frank Quattrone becomes the first securities industry executive to face charges in a series of criminal investigations since the 2001 bust in the Internet boom on Wall Street. He allegedly told others in his California-based division to destroy documents in a probe of Credit Suisse First Boston's investment banking practices, in which the firm was suspected of giving its own clients first access shares when it issued IPOs.
■ Playing cards
Iraqi decks in demand
More than 700,000 decks of the only "official" Iraqi most-wanted playing cards have been sold since they hit the US market 10 days ago, producers of the cards said. Louis Amoroso, founder of GreatUSAFlags.com of Lake Forest, Illinois, the exclusive marketer for the cards manufactured by United States Playing Card Co of Cincinnati, Ohio, had originally projected sales of 500 decks a day. Sales are brisk and he expects to sell the millionth deck soon.
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
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
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
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