■ Media
Livedoor raises NBS stake
Livedoor Co, the Web portal seeking to ally with Japan's biggest media group, raised its stake in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc, an affiliate of the group, to 50 percent. Tokyo-based Livedoor increased its holdings from 48.96 percent as of March 25, following an earlier increase from 46.24 percent as of March 15, the company said in two documents filed to Japan's Ministry of Finance on Thursday. A greater stake in Nippon Broadcasting may make it easier for Livedoor to collaborate with affiliates such as Fuji Television Network Inc to build an online entertainment and information company. Nippon Broadcasting and Fuji Television are part of the Fujisankei Group, which also owns the Sankei newspaper, a Tokyo-based daily.
■ Breweries
Heineken expands in China
Dutch brewer Heineken NV has bought a 40 percent share in a Chinese beer maker via its Asian joint venture company Asia-Pacific Breweries Ltd, expanding its interests in the world's biggest beer market. The US$28.6 million investment in Jiangsu DaFuHao Breweries Co, a mid-sized brewer located in Nantong, a city in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, will give Heineken a stake in four breweries with a total annual capacity of 350 million liters, the company said in a statement seen yesterday. China's beer production rose 15.2 percent on-year last year to 29 million metric tonnes, according to the China Beer Industry Association. The country has more than 400 breweries, with the top 10 accounting for more than half of total output.
■ Telecoms
US criticizes protectionism
The US took China, India and Japan to task on Thursday for excessively protecting their telecom markets, warning that it would "vigorously" enforce its trade rights in these countries. "We are deeply concerned by the tepid commitment some of our trade partners have shown to competition in the telecommunications sector," acting US Trade Representative (USTR) Peter Allgeier said. "This is especially true in countries such as China, India and Japan where national operators are already competing on a global level, but remain protected at home by relatively closed markets," he said. Allgeier made the comments following a 2005 annual review by the USTR office of foreign compliance with telecommunications trade agreements.
■ Airlines
Cathay to grant pay hikes
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said it will give back payments to its flight attendants after a court ruled that the airline violated their contracts by refusing to give them automatic annual pay rises. Cathay spokeswoman Carolyn Leung said the company decided not to appeal the Hong Kong High Court's ruling and will give the unpaid wages to about 3,300 flight attendants and make appropriate salary adjustments. But she refused to give the total amount involved. Newspapers quoted Cathay's flight attendants union as saying the back payments would amount to about HK$280 million (US$36 million). The decision came after the High Court in March ruled in favor of three flight attendants who accused Cathay of breaching their contracts in 1999 by refusing to automatically bump them up one salary grade each 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
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