■ Telecoms
NTT DoCoMo profits drop
Japan's largest mobile phone service operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc, said yesterday profit dropped 21 percent in the most recent quarter, as rising expenses helped offset increased revenues. Net income fell to ¥163.5 billion (US$1.41 billion) in the April-June period compared with ¥207.9 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 2.7 percent to ¥1.22 trillion from ¥1.19 trillion.
■ Oil
Shell unveils new project
Royal Dutch Shell will invest billions of dollars in a new petrochemical complex in Singapore, press reports said yesterday. Shell is to build a new ethylene cracker on Bukom Island as part of an integrated refinery and petrochemicals project, the reports said, citing a company statement. The project will also include modifications and additions to Shell's existing refinery on Bukom Island and a new mono-ethylene glycol plant, Shell said. Construction of the ethylene cracker is to begin later this year. Start-up of the new and modified facilities is expected by 2009-2010, Shell said.
■ Oil
Analysts remain positive
Analysts from Standard & Poors (S&P) said on Thursday that an oil price spike to US$100-a-barrel would not send the US economy into a recession. Chief economist David Wyss said if crude oil, now trading above US$74 a barrel, were to climb an additional 33 percent, it would slice about 1.5 percent off annualized economic growth. That would still leave the US financial engine moving forward. The industries that would be most harmed by US$100-a-barrel are airlines, auto manufacturers, chemical makers and retailers catering to lower-income families, S&P 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