■ Stocks
Bourse reprimanded
Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) yesterday reprimanded the Tokyo Stock Exchange and ordered it to improve its business practices after a simple typo caused chaos on the market. The bourse admitted last Sunday that a fault in its system had prevented a Mizuho Securities trader from canceling an erroneous sell order, which resulted in an estimated loss of US$330 million. A "business improvement order" was slapped on the exchange, demanding that it ascertain the cause of the botched trade and take steps to prevent a recurrence, review its market surveillance system and clarify where responsibility lies. It must report back by the end of next month. The fiasco was triggered last Thursday as the dealer punched in an order to sell 610,000 shares in telecoms firm J-Com at ?1 each instead of the intended one share at ?610,000 (US$5,078).
■ ECONOMICS
China revises GDP figures
China will overtake Britain as the world's fourth-biggest economy this year after Beijing found it had underestimated output of the fastest-growing country in the world by as much as 20 percent. China's first national census will show that under-recording of the service sector meant that China was just behind Britain in the global league table last year. Economists said another year of rapid growth in China, a weak UK performance and changes in exchange rates left only the US, Japan and Germany ahead of China this year. China's GDP had been put at US$1.65 trillion last year. The census found an extra US$300 billion of output -- in sectors such as law, financial services, consultancy and advertising -- and will lead to revisions in the growth rate over the past 10 years.
■ ELECTRONICS
Samsung tops in LCDs
Samsung Electronics Co shipped more liquid-crystal- displays (LCDs) used in computers and TVs than LG.Philips LCD Co to become the industry's top producer in the third quarter, a researcher said. Samsung's market share rose to 21.8 percent in the third quarter, compared with 20.2 percent in the second quarter, Texas-based DisplaySearch said in a press release yesterday. LG.Philips saw its slice fall to 21.4 percent from 23.4 percent in the preceding quarter, according to the statement. Shipments of LCDs measuring at least 10 inches diagonally in the quarter rose 79 percent from the year-earlier period to 61.1 million units, led by sales of panels used in televisions, the researcher said. LCD makers are building multibillion-dollar factories to expand production, betting that consumers will replace glass-tube monitors and TVs with slimmer LCDs.
■ TELECOMS
NTT DoCoMo eyes KTF
Japan's NTT DoCoMo said yesterday it is in talks with South Korea's KT Freetel Ltd (KTF) about a possible mobile-phone services tie-up. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday that NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone service operator, will likely reach an agreement this year on a US$500 million to US$600 million deal with KTF. The deal would lead to DoCoMo acquiring a roughly 10 percent interest in the South Korean cellphone service provider by purchasing a portion of the 48.7 percent stake held by KT Corp. It's still uncertain, however, whether the Japanese firm will take a stake in KTF, NTT DoCoMo spokesman Kiyotaka Naiki 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
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