■ Oil
Production cut unlikely
The OPEC cartel will likely decide against cutting oil production in Vienna on Wednesday owing to stubbornly high prices and simmering international tensions over Iran and Nigeria. "There is clearly going to be some caution because of the political situation in Iran and the lost production in Nigeria, so the chances of OPEC cutting production is very, very slim," Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said. OPEC is expected to keep its production quota of 28 million barrels per day, where it has remained for the past eight months, despite some disagreement among members. The threat of UN sanctions against Iran is likely to dominate output talks amid an ongoing nuclear crisis.
■ Mining
Australia going for the gold
Australia may overtake South Africa as the world's largest gold producing country later this decade as new mines start up, industry adviser Surbiton Associates said. The decision by Newmont Mining Corp and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd to develop the Boddington gold mine in Western Australia will add 30 tonnes a year to Australia's output starting 2009, Melbourne-based Surbiton said yesterday in a statement. Higher gold prices may encourage other projects, it said. Gold production in South Africa fell last year to an 82-year low of 296.3 tonnes as gains in the local currency caused mine closures, the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg said on Friday. Australia, the world's second-largest producer, produced 263 tonnes last year, 3 tonnes more than in 2004, Surbiton estimates. More than a dozen mining operations are expected to start production in Australia this year, Surbiton said.
■ Telecom
SMS still tops for users
Text messaging remains the most popular service for mobile phone users in the Asia-Pacific region despite offers for applications such as e-mail and gaming, International Data Corp (IDC) said on Friday. IDC its survey showed that less than 10 percent of mobile phone users are utilizing services other than the reliable short messaging system (SMS), or text messaging. There had been hype that the humble SMS would be eclipsed by its more advanced cousins following the emergence of pricey third generation (3G) mobile phones and more content applications. But IDC said that the "latest findings reveal that, despite the proliferation of content-rich mobile data services, the adoption of advanced services such as mobile phone payment, online mobile gaming and mobile e-mail have yet to reach noteworthy levels of usage." IDC's survey covered 4,056 urban Internet users in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
■ Automobiles
GM to sell Suzuki stake
Embattled US car maker General Motors (GM) has finalized plans to sell its entire 20 percent stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor to end a capital tie-up which dates back to 1981, a report said yesterday. The world's biggest automaker, which has been wallowing in losses, is the largest shareholder of Suzuki and has told the Japanese carmaker about its decision to end the tie-up, Japanese business daily the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. Suzuki is also in talks with GM about selling its interest of about 11 percent in South Korea's GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co to the US firm, the report 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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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