■ Malaysia
Sugar in short supply
The government has launched an all-out campaign to overcome a severe sugar shortage as it embarks on a long festive season kicked off by Ramadan, mobilizing the navy and opening a 24-hour hotline to contain public outrage. Store-imposed rationing, scrounging around shops for sugar and panic-buying have become familiar activities in Malaysia in recent months. To overcome the crisis, Malaysia is importing some 80,000 tonnes of raw sugar from China and Brazil, while local manufacturers have also stepped up production. Malaysians consume a monthly average of 85,000 to 87,000 tonnes of sugar, which spikes to over 100,000 tonnes during festive months.
■ Telecoms
Telstra chief upbeat
A transformation program would begin paying dividends in the first half of next year with increased earnings for the troubled Telstra, Sol Trujillo, chief executive of the Australian telecoms giant, said in an interview with Nine Network television ahead of the launch today of the prospectus for a multi-billion-dollar share sale. "In the second half of this current fiscal year you will see a dramatic increase in terms of earnings. The point is the transformation about earnings growth will begin and begin in a material way." The government, which owns 51.8 percent of Telstra shares, will from Oct. 23 sell A$8 billion (US$6.06 billion) worth in an offering known as "T3" because it is the third such public offering.
■ South Korea
Companies feel optimistic
Major South Korean companies expect business conditions to remain favorable for a second straight month this month, according to a business survey index issued yesterday by the Federation of Korean Industries. "Amid sustained unfavorable conditions such as high costs of oil and raw materials, the won's appreciation, and slower recovery in domestic demand, companies are expecting the economy to improve, helped by a short-term increase in sales ahead of the Chusok holiday and due to seasonal factors," the federation said. South Korea's Thanksgiving holiday, or Chusok, was celebrated from last Thursday to Saturday.
■ Aviation
AirAsia rules out long-hauls
The head of Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia yesterday ruled out establishing a budget long-haul airline and labeled as "preposterous" a report flagging the move. AirAsia's Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes scotched a report of the Edge financial weekly that the carrier's management team was behind the new airline and would submit a business plan to the government. "It's a preposterous idea," he said. "I'm ruling it out, I don't see it happening, I don't believe in the model."
■ R&D
Firms establish think tank
Toyota Motor Corp and Canon Inc are among the Japanese companies setting up a think tank and may ask former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi to head it, the Mainichi Shimbun said. Toyota, Canon, Tokyo Electric Power Co and Nippon Steel Corp will invest ?100 million (US$847,000) each to set up the institute, the Mainichi reported. More than 20 other companies will put in between ?10 million and ?20 million each, the report said. The think tank will be independent from the government and issue policy proposals, the paper 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