■ Vehicle safety
Motorcycle airbag produced
Honda Motor Co has developed airbags for motorcycles that the Japanese automaker says is the first of its kind in the world for production motorcycles. The airbag, which inflates after sensors detect an oncoming crash, will be available on the new Gold Wing motorcycle that will go on sale in spring next year in the US, Honda said yesterday. The airbag opens in front of the riders and reduces the speed at which they get thrown off the motorcycle, lessening injuries when they hit the road or another vehicle, it said.
PHOTO: AFP
■ Economics
China, India to drive growth
Developing Asian economies should grow by 6.6 percent this year despite surging oil prices that will clip prospects in Southeast Asia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday. China and India will carry the region over the next two years with international trade and financial conditions expected to remain favorable for Asian exports as well as investments into the region, the Philippines-based lender said in a report. It upgraded the GDP forecast for China by 0.7 of a percentage point to 9.2 percent this year and by 0.1 point to 8.8 percent next year. India's 2006 GDP forecast rose by 0.7 percentage points to 6.8 percent, while the bank's forecast for the country for this year was unchanged at 6.9 percent. For developing Asia as a whole, the Asian Development Outlook report upgraded its GDP forecast for this year by 0.1 point to 6.6 percent this year, while maintaining its 6.6 forecast for next year.
■ Restaurants
Burger King targets China
US fast-food chain Burger King plans to have 1,000 stores in China by 2015, moving onto turf long dominated by rivals McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, senior executives were quoted as saying yesterday. Steve DeSutter, president of Burger King's Asia-Pacific business, said most of the stores will be franchises, the National Business Daily reported. Burger King opened its first restaurant in China in Shanghai at the end of June. Figures from the China Chain Store Franchise Association show McDonald's already has about 700 outlets in China and has pledged to have 1,000 by 2008.
■ Banking
HSBC to sell collection unit
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank by market value, agreed to sell a 56 percent share of its Asian credit card payment-collection unit to Global Payments Inc to gain technology and cut costs. Global Payments, based in Atlanta, will pay HSBC US$67.2 million for the stake in its Asian and Pacific unit, which collects credit card payments from 40,000 stores in 10 countries, the two companies said yesterday in a statement. London-based HSBC will retain a 44 percent stake in the company. "The joint venture will have the benefit of HSBC's large and extensive footprint in the region as well as Global Payments' technological expertise," said Michael Smith, chief executive of HSBC's Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd. Countries covered by joint venture include Hong Kong, India, China, Malaysia and Taiwan.
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