■ Airlines
Fuel costs get absorbed
Malaysia Airlines will absorb rising fuel costs caused by higher oil prices but the government is considering lowering airport parking fees and other measures to ease its burden, a report said yesterday. Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying that the flag carrier would not raise a fuel surcharge imposed in June despite record oil prices of US$46.58 a barrel last week. "It will absorb the recent increase," Chan said. "We will look into ways to help the national carrier, like reducing the parking fees [for its aircraft]" at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, he said. Malaysia Airlines in June imposed an extra 50 ringgit (US$13.20) fuel surcharge on fares for passengers travelling to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa, and 15 ringgit for regional flights.
■ Banking
NAB chaffs at rules
National Australia Bank Ltd, the country's biggest lender, said conditions placed on the company by regulators after the bank had losses from unauthorized currency trading is hurting some of its corporate customers. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority forced the bank to tighten risk controls and increase its capital ratios after the Melbourne-based lender had losses of A$360 million (US$258 million) from unauthorized currency trading in January. "The APRA conditions have impacted us in our foreign exchange trading and therefore there is some impact on our corporate customers," Chairman Graham Kraehe told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. That said, it's "fairly short term.
■ Global Trade
Europeans slam G.W. Bush
The European Commission hit back on Saturday after US President George W. Bush threatened to take action at the WTO against European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie, who he alleged it was receiving "unfair" government subsidies. The commission, the executive arm of the 25-nation EU, pointed out there was a EU-US agreement setting out clear rules on state aid for aircraft manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic. If Bush was unhappy with the rules, the appropriate channel for seeking changes was through negotiations with the EU, it said. "The EU would like to point out that there are specific and clear rules on government support to both (US aircraft manufacturer) Boeing and Airbus laid down in the EU-US 1992 aircraft agreement," commission spokeswoman Ewa Hedlund said.
■ Oil
OPEC toys with capacity
OPEC still has spare capacity of about 2 million barrels a day that it may use to help to ease world oil prices, its president Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta, yesterday. Yusgiantoro said so far only Saudi Arabia had reported its spare capacity but an inventory of the other member countries would be held to see the total extra production the cartel could throw into the market. "Saudi Arabia has already given their report," Yusgiantoro told journalists at his office. "About the others, we still want to inventarize to see the spare capacity we have, but the feeling is that there are still about 2 million barrels per day." However, Yusgiantoro said a decision would only be taken at the OPEC meeting in Vienna on Sept. 14, at which major non-OPEC producers will also take part.
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