■ Retail
Wal-Mart sales on track
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said that sales this month at its US stores open at least a year are rising within its forecast range as general merchandise led the week's gains. The company forecast a sales gain of 2 percent to 4 percent this month after a 2.5 percent increase last month. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, updated results through Friday in a recorded call yesterday. Sales of general merchandise outpaced food for the third consecutive week after lagging behind most of the year. Warmer weather helped, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks sales at about 75 US chains. "With the hot weather driving demand for seasonal goods, we have seen sales increase," he said.
■ Charity
Buffett lunch attracts bids
Warren Buffett attracted bids that reached US$250,100 yesterday in the third day of a weeklong charity auction that raised more than US$202,100 last year. The auction on EBay Inc's Web site for a chance to meet and dine with Buffett, the world's second-richest person and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, is on track to exceed the most paid for the lunch auction, now in its sixth year. That was a US$250,100 bid won by Greenlight Capital LLC founder David Einhorn two years ago. Winners have had to pay at least US$200,000 for the lunch for eight since the auction was moved from a gala event in San Francisco to EBay's site three years ago. Proceeds from the auction go to Glide Memorial Church, a San Francisco-based non-profit with programs for the poor and homeless.
■ Aviation
Qantas mulling alliance
Australian flag carrier Qantas likely will form some kind of alliance with another airline in the future, Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon said yesterday. "I think that we will be in some association with another carrier," he told Australian television's Nine Network. "I think that will become necessary." Dixon declined to identify a likely partner and said the Qantas brand name would remain even if it ties up with another carrier. "I've always said I believe Singapore Airlines are a wonderful carrier, have a tremendous brand, tremendous track record," Dixon said, responding to recent speculation about a possible merger between Qantas Airways Ltd. and its Singapore rival. "Yes, they would be a lovely partner but so would British Airways, so would Cathay Pacific, so would a lot of carriers out there," he added. "So would Air New Zealand."
■ Automotive
Nissan, Toyota renovate
Japanese auto giants Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor will make major investments to improve their sales network in the US, a news report said yesterday. Nissan Motor plans to spend roughly US$4 billion to renovate 1,200 local dealerships in the US market, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Having already renovated about 250 dealerships, Nissan would renovate another 800 outlets by 2007, the newspaper said. Separately, the work for 177 Infinity outlets for upscale Nissan vehicles began this month and would be completed next year, the Nihon Keizai said. Meanwhile, Japanese industry leader Toyota would spend more than ?200 billion (US$1.8 billion) in the next two years to revamp about 1,400 dealerships, the newspaper said. The plans follow steady production increases in North America.
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