■Gold futures
Investors find gold shelter
Gold may climb above US$400 an ounce for the first time in seven years as investors seek better returns than they expect from stocks and bonds and a falling US dollar makes the metal appear cheaper for overseas buyers. "We are at the early stages of another bull market for gold," said Jean-Marie Eveillard, whose US$215 million First Eagle Gold Fund more than doubled in value last year as gold prices jumped 25 percent, the largest gain since the 1970s. Gold futures traded in New York have risen 14 percent from a four-month low reached last month, to US$366.50 an ounce in Singapore. The dollar yesterday touched a record low against the euro and has fallen 22 percent in the past year. The US currency's slide prompted billionaire George Soros and other speculators to buy gold.
■ Litigation
Landlord sues WTC victim
Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, the bond trading firm that lost two-thirds of its workers in the World Trade Center attack, is being sued by its former landlord for more than US$1 million in back rent. Cantor Fitzgerald owes rent from Aug. 1, 2001, through Sept. 10, 2001 -- the day before the attack -- for the floors it occupied near the top of Tower One, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan's State Supreme Court. Since the attacks, the documents stated, 1 World Trade Center, which held the lease, has tried to settle with its former tenants, and most have either paid or "engaged in good faith discussion to do so." Cantor Fitzgerald had no comment, said spokeswoman Amy Nauiokas. The firm lost 658 of its 1,050 employees on Sept. 11; it now has offices in midtown Manhattan.
■ Fiscal policy
US allows record deficit
Without comment or ceremony, US President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed a bill allowing a record US$984 billion increase in the amount the federal government can borrow, to a record US$7.4 trillion. The increased federal borrowing will enable the government to pay for the US$350 billion economic stimulus package that the Republican-led Congress passed last week at Bush's behest. Bush was to hold a signing ceremony at the White House yesterday to celebrate passage of that legislation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced. The package includes US$330 billion in tax cuts and US$20 billion in aid for states. Passage of the bill raising the nation's debt ceiling came last Friday, only hours after the tax-cut bill was approved. Congressional Democrats had sought to spotlight the federal IOUs that have resumed piling up under Bush.
■ Airlines
Lufthansa adds broadband
Boeing said Tuesday that the German carrier Lufthansa had signed up to become the first full-blown commercial customer for its airborne broadband service, Connexion. Under the deal, Lufthansa, which previously tested the service, agreed to equip its fleet of approx-imately 80 long-haul aircraft with the technology to allow passengers to surf the web while they are airborne, beginning in early 2004. Financial terms of the service agreement were not disclosed. "Our dedication to innovation, customer orientation and high quality will continue to be the key for our success," said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who will take over as chairman of Lufthansa's executive board on June 18.
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