■ Economy
Minister likes low rates
Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said keeping interest rates near zero is important as mild deflation persists in the world's second-largest economy. Japan's economy "has been improving, but mild deflation still continues," Tanigaki said yesterday on Asahi TV's Sunday Project program. "Zero interest rates are important for now." He said the Bank of Japan and the government need to work together to end deflation and support the economy. He also said the government should reduce fiscal spending. "I can't give a concrete figure" on how much the government will cut spending, he said. "We probably won't be able to earn public understanding unless we cut more than half of the ¥16.5 trillion [US$141.9 billion], in terms of avoiding waste."
■ Banking
UBS gave data to US
UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, said a senior executive who is also a Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), director, was aware that the cooperative provided details about fund transfers to US authorities. UBS's Stephan Zimmermann knew that Swift answered requests about transfers from the US Treasury Department, a spokesman said for the Geneva-based UBS. Zimmermann is the chief operating officer of UBS's Global Wealth Management & Business Banking unit.
■ Entertainment
Beijing mulls Disney plan
Walt Disney Co chairman George Mitchell said China is weighing the company's push to open a Disneyland theme park in Shanghai, a state-run newspaper reported. "Our discussions have been with Shanghai officials, and now they are engaging with the national officials," Mitchell was quoted as saying by the China Daily on Saturday. "We have an interest in proceeding and we hope that satisfactory terms can be worked out and we can proceed," Mitchell reportedly said, adding that he doesn't think a Shanghai park will hurt Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened last September.
■ Telecoms
Maxis makes Sri Lankan bid
Maxis Communications Bhd, Malaysia's biggest cellphone company by subscriber numbers, is bidding for Sri Lanka's fifth mobile operator license, a news report said yesterday. Other bidders are believed to be Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and India's Reliance Infocomm Ltd, said The Edge business weekly. Their interest in Sri Lanka's market is indicative of operators' "desperation" to venture abroad, the paper said. "There are only a few assets in markets with low mobile penetration which are for sale and this explains why even a fifth license in a country like Sri Lanka will be pursued," the report quoted an unidentified analyst as saying. Sri Lanka had 3.3 million mobile phone users at the end of last year, with a penetration rate of 17.3 percent. There is also a lack of landline service in the country, which makes mobile services more attractive, the report said.
■ Coffee
Tata Coffee buys EOC
India's Tata Coffee Ltd (TCL) announced yesterday that it has acquired Eight O'Clock (EOC), a US-based coffee company for US$220 million, the PTI news agency reported. TCL told the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had signed an agreement to acquire EOC from Gryphon Investors for a total of US$220 million, the agency 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
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