■ Investing
Nomura bets on Huis
Nomura Principal Finance Co will invest ?8 billion (US$74.3 million) in Huis Ten Bosch Co around June, when the failed theme park operator's reorganization plan is expected to be approved by the court, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Nomura Principal will invest the funds in Huis Ten Bosch, based in Nagasaki prefecture, southern Japan, after the operator's capital is reduced to zero, the paper said, citing contracts agreed by the companies yesterday. Nomura will invest another ?3 billion in two installments by spring 2007, the paper said. Yoshifumi Kawabata, president of Nomura Principal, an investment firm wholly owned by Nomura Holdings Inc, was appointed administrator for Huis Ten Bosch's rehabilitation yesterday, the paper said.
■ Macroeconomics
S Korean GDP grows 5.4%
The South Korean economy may grow 5.4 percent next year, the country's central bank may say at its monthly interest-setting meeting this week, Yonhap News reported, citing an official at the Bank of Korea it didn't name. The central bank will probably leave its benchmark interest rate at 3.75 percent for a fifth straight month when policy makers meet on Dec. 11 because investment and consumer spending haven't recovered enough to raise rates, the report said. The government predicts economic growth will accelerate to about 5 percent next year as record-low interest rates help reverse a slide in consumer spending and corporate investment. Finance and Economy Minister Kim Jin Pyo has said he expects growth to accelerate to a 5 percent annual pace in the first half of next year from growth of 3 percent this year.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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