■ Interest rates
HK banks to lift rates
Two Hong Kong banks announced yesterday they will increase their prime lending rates by a quarter percentage point to 5.50 percent -- a move that will likely prompt similar action from other local banks. Bank of East Asia Ltd. and the local operations of London-based Standard Chartered PLC said they will also raise their benchmark savings rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 0.50 percent. The prime lending rates move will take effect tomorrow.
■ Electronics
LG, Matsushita settle
LG Electronics Inc of South Korea and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd of Japan said yesterday they have settled a patent dispute over plasma display panels and agreed instead to enter a patent cross-licensing arrangement. The cross-licensing agreement will include personal computers and DVD technology as well as plasma displays, they said. They declined to provide details. Matsushita filed a lawsuit in Tokyo in November demanding a halt in sales of LG-made plasma displays in Japan, and the court halted imports of such panels. In turn, LG asked South Korean authorities to investigate alleged patent violations by Matsushita, and South Korea slapped a temporary ban on imports and sales of Matsushita plasma displays. The companies agreed to throw out their suits in South Korea and Japan.
■ Printing
Fuji Photo plans China plant
Fuji Photo Film Co will build a second plant in China to make printing plates as demand increases in Asia. Fuji Photo will invest US$39 million in the plant, which is scheduled to start operations in March 2007 in Suzhou, eastern China, according to a faxed statement. The Tokyo-based company will also set up a joint venture in Shanghai to manage the sales of the plates. The new plant will help meet rising demand for printing in China and serve as a base for exports in the region, the company said. Fuji Photo now has a printing plate factory in Hebei Province.
■ Aviation
Nissan to buy into airline
Nissan Motor Co said it will invest &$165;150 million (US$1.4 million) in Star Flyer Inc, an airline based in southwestern Japan's Kyushu island. The Tokyo-based carmaker, which operates a plant on the island, will buy new shares "soon" to be issued by Star Flyer, Nissan said in a press release, without elaborating the stake it would own. The airline plans to start a shuttle service to Tokyo from Kitakyushu when a new airport opens in March next year, Nissan said. The airline will also apply for charter services to China and other destinations in eastern Asia from Kitakyushu, Nissan said.
■ European economy
Growth to decline
Economic growth rates in both the eurozone and the 25-nation EU are set to fall this year and next as a result of rising oil prices and the impact of a stronger euro on the bloc's exports, the European Commission said yesterday. The Commission, unveiling its spring economic forecast, said euro area GDP growth this year would be no higher than 1.6 percent, down from 2 percent last year. EU GDP growth would fall to 2 percent this year, down from 2.4 percent last year, the report said. Growth rates will start rising again next year, climbing to 2.1 percent in the 12-nation eurozone and 2.3 percent in the EU, the Commission 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
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