■ McDonald's
McKids clothes expanding
US fast food giant Mcdonald's said yesterday it had tied up with apparel company Shanghai Longtrust Trade to sell its new McKids clothing line in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea. Shanghai Longtrust would be responsible for the design, manufacture, distribution and promotion of clothing, accessories and footwear in those markets, Mcdonald's said in statement. Mcdonald's first introduced the McKids line in 1987 and has expanded it to cover footwear, toys, games, videos, music, books and other products. McKids products are already on sale in Shanghai, and would be available in the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and western Europe early next year, it said. The company has some 600 fast food outlets in China and plans to nearly double those by 2008 in time for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
■ Currency
IMF supports ringgit peg
The International Monetary Fund sees no need for Malaysia to consider dropping the fixed exchange rate it imposed six years ago during the Asian financial crisis, backing up the stance of new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. But this Southeast Asian country could benefit from greater exchange rate flexibility in the future, the IMF said in an annual report released Wednesday in Washington. Despite following the dollar in a sizable depreciation over the past 18 months, "the ringgit exchange rate does not appear to be substantially misaligned" and its real effective exchange rate "remains close to its long-term trend," the report said. Speculation mounted after Abdullah took office five months ago that he would loosen the ringgit's peg of 3.8 to the US dollar, a level fixed in 1998 by then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
■ US Economy
Jobs, deficit greatest fears
The jobs drought and a massive budget shortfall present the gravest immediate threats to the US economy, top business economists said in a survey released yesterday. Both unemployment and the deficit topped the list of short-term risks, each picked by 25 percent of a panel of 203 members of the National Association of Business Economists (NABE). Terrorism was selected as the biggest threat by 19 percent of respondents, it said. The US economy churned out a meager 21,000 jobs in February, government data showed, meaning the nation has gone through a record 44 months without a single month of job creation exceeding 250,000. The unemployment rate was stuck at 5.6 percent.
■ Aircraft
Airbus targets China market
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus estimates China will buy up to 1,500 planes over the next 20 years and hopes to grab a 50 percent market share, state press reported yesterday. As the Chinese economy continues its rapid expansion, the largest demand will be for 100- to 200-seat planes such as the company's A320 model, Olivier Andries, an Airbus senior vice-president told the China Daily. "There is no doubt that the Airbus share of Chinese fleets can be expanded from today's 30 percent to 50 percent in future years," Andries said. In January, Airbus estimated it aims to sell more than 800 aircraft to China over the next 20 years, with the rest being supplied by Boeing.
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