■ Economy
Upturn for Japanese firms
One in every four publicly traded firms in Japan will chalk up a record recurring profit in the year to next March, according to a sur-vey published yesterday. The firms will collectively post a 15.8 percent year-on-year gain in consolidated recurring profit for fiscal 2004, according to earnings projections compiled by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. A total of 452 companies are expected to book a record profit, compared with 364 firms in fiscal 2003, the paper said. If achieved, the combined profit would mark an all-time high for the second year in a row, it said. Booming demand for digital equipment and robust exports will help boost aggregate sales by 3.3 per-cent, with particularly strong performances expected by manufacturers of steel and other industrial materials, shipping com-panies and trading firms, the paper said. The latest tally covers the projected figures of 1,617 companies that close their books at the end of March, excluding financial firms and those listed on stock markets for start-ups, it said.
■ Aviation
Qantas eyes Beijing route
Qantas Airways will pro-bably begin flying to Beijing within a year as part of its expansion into Asia, the Australian flag-carrier's chief executive, Geoff Dixon, said yesterday. When British Airways sold its 18.25 percent stake in Qantas for A$1.1 billion (US$766 million) last week, Dixon said Qantas would be free to expand its Asia-Pacific presence, and to take part in any future consolidation among the region's airlines. "I would hope that we would be going back into Beijing within around about 12 months," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp TV. "We must, if we're going to be successful, be successful in China," he said. "I also believe that's the same for India." Qantas restarted direct service to Mumai after halting nonstop services there for two years.
■ Environment
Perth to test green buses
Perth, Australia, is to test hydrogen-powered buses amid hopes the technology can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the government said yes-terday. Perth would trial three hydrogen-fuel-cell powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, powered by engines produced by Ballard Power Systems, Environment Minister Ian Campbell said. Another 30 buses are to be involved in similar trials in 10 European cities. Powering all Austra-lia's buses by hydrogen could cut greenhouse gas emissions from road trans-port by 2.7 percent a year, he said. The government is contributing A$2.5 million (US$1.7 million) to the trial, which also involves the Western Australia state government, Daimler-Chrysler and BP Australia.
■ Automobles
Mitsubishi Fuso stalled
Scandal-hit Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp has not been able to introduce new trucks because the Japan-ese government has toughened screening of its vehicles, a report said yesterday. The transport ministry had tightened screening due to a series of fatal and other serious accidents caused by defects in the company's larger trucks, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. The new trucks are designed to comply with tighter diesel emissions rules that took effect this month, the paper said. It was unlikely the company would be allowed to sell any of the new models soon, the paper said.
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