■ Natural Gas
Gazprom to liberalize stocks
The chairman of Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom promised yesterday that restrictions on foreign stock ownership in the world's biggest gas producer would be lifted by the end of the year. The liberalization is seen as a move by the Kremlin to restore the faith of foreign investors who have been shaken by the legal assault on the Yukos oil company. Dmitry Medvedev, who serves simultaneously as the Kremlin chief of staff and chairman of the Gazprom board, said that the liberation "is not only a significant and long-awaited event, but also an important step in developing the entire Russian stock market," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
■ Automakers
Venezuela gets tough on tax
Venezuela's tax office closed the sales and administrative offices of three foreign automakers on Thursday for alleged bookkeeping violations, the office said in a statement. The move was the latest step in the Seniat tax office's campaign against tax evasion. Japan's Mazda Corp, France's Renault and US automaker General Motors Corp all had their head offices closed for two days, starting on Thursday. The Seniat inspected the car companies as part of a wider audit of businesses in the central cities of Maracay and Valencia, where dozens of smaller companies were shut for tax violations. Last year, Seniat began an aggressive push to curb tax evasion that included shutting down operations of large firms with bookkeeping violations. Tax revenue has surged as a result of the initiative against evasion and strong economic growth.
■ Fuel-cell Vehicles
Honda aims to cut prices
Honda Motor Co said the company aims to lower the price of its fuel-cell operated vehicles to about the same as regular gasoline-engine powered cars by 2020. Honda wants to cut the price of its fuel-cell vehicles to between ?3 million (US$27,500) and ?4 million, a similar price as that of its Accord sedan, Yozo Kami, who leads the fuel cell project, said at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. Honda wouldn't give an exact price of the FCX fuel-cell vehicles now. "The fuel-cell technology may never be used," if no one is able to cut production costs by 2020, Kami said. It may take another 10 years from now to cut the cost of such vehicles to ?10 million, he added. Honda currently leases the FCX for ?800,000 a month in Japan for a one-year period.
■ Automakers
Toyota plans new factory
The Toyota Motor Corp is expected to announce next Thursday that it will build a second manufacturing plant in Canada, people who have been briefed on the company's plans said. The plant will be in Woodstock, Ontario, about 50km southwest of Toyota's operation in Cambridge. The plant is expected to open in 2008 and will cost about C$600 million (US$486 million), including C$125 million in incentive money from the governments of Canada and Ontario. The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto first reported the possible announcement on Thursday. Toyota's current Canadian operation is the only plant outside of Japan making Lexus models. It also builds Corollas and the Matrix hatchback. The new factory is expected to produce small SUVs under the Toyota brand name as well as models for the company's Scion line, which is not offered in Canada. Like all auto plants in Canada, most of the new factory's production will be shipped to the US.
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