■Marketing
Thailand to ban liquor ads
Thailand may ban liquor and energy drink commercials on television for most of the day to reduce road accidents, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said. The cabinet today will consider a proposal to block advertisements of alcoholic and energy beverages daily between 5am and 10pm, Thaksin told reporters before a meeting that started in Bangkok at 10am. "We want to cut cases of drunk driving," he said. "Television should not promote drinking." The ban may hurt sales at BEC World Pcl, the nation's biggest publicly traded television operator, and ITV Pcl because makers of beer, whiskey and energy drinks are their largest customers, some analysts said. The government raised the penalty for drunk driving after road accidents claimed the lives of 569 people and injured 37,151 others during the five days of the nation's biggest holiday in April.
■ Telecom
Vodafone adds customers
Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest mobile phone company, added customers in Australia and New Zealand last quarter by introducing new service such as photo messaging and games. Vodafone, which competes with Telecom Corp in New Zealand, had 1.349 million subscribers in the nation as of June 30, an increase of 4.7 percent in the quarter and 20 percent from a year ago, according to figures on Vodafone's Web site. In Australia, where it competes with Telstra Corp and Singapore Telecom Ltd, Vodafone said it had 2.593 million customers, a 1.1 percent increase on the previous quarter, and a 20 percent gain on the year. Newbury, England-based Vodafone Group said Monday that it added a total 3 million customers in the quarter, increasing total subscribers to 122.7 million.
■ Macroeconomics
Japan's jobless rate falls
Japan's jobless rate fell to 5.3 percent last month and household spending had its biggest gain in almost two decades, prompting Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to say he sees "positive signs" for an economic recovery. The jobless rate fell from 5.4 percent in May, the first drop in four months, as the economy added 470,000 jobs. Spending by households headed by a salaried worker rose 4.8 percent last month from May, seasonally adjusted, the most since February 1984, the government's statistics bureau said in Tokyo. Meanwhile, sales at large Japanese retail stores last month declined 2.9 percent year-on-year after falling 3.6 percent in May, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday.
■ Trade
Japan imposes beef tariffs
Japan will raise tariffs on chilled beef to 50 percent from 38.5 percent beginning Friday, ignoring protests from its trading partners and favoring domestic farmers because meat imports rose fast enough to trigger safeguards. Chilled beef imports from the US, Australia and other countries rose 34 percent in the three months to June 30, the Ministry of Finance said. Under WTO rules, Japan can impose the higher tariffs if imports rise more than 17 percent from the same period a year ago. Tariffs will also increase on pork. Retail prices will rise about 2.5 percent, he added. Food companies in Japan and beef farmers in Australia and other countries argue that the increase in customs charges is unfair because the rise in imports reflects an overall recovery in beef demand after an outbreak of mad cow disease, or BSE, hurt consumption last year.
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
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