■ Energy
Japanese invest in refinery
Qatar signed an agreement on Monday giving four Japanese companies a combined 29 percent stake in an US$800 million gas refinery described as one of the largest being built in the world. The condensate refinery, which is being built in Ras Laffan Industrial City, 80km north of Doha, will have the capacity to process 146,000 barrels per day of gas products. State-run Qatar Petroleum said in a statement it had signed an amended joint venture agreement bringing the four new shareholders -- Idemitsu, Cosmo, Mitsui and Marubeni -- into the Laffan refinery venture. The refinery is due to come on stream in 2008.
■ Vietnam
Vote ratifies WTO entry
The nation's legislature ratified the country's entry into the WTO yesterday, paving the way for Vietnam to become the global trade body's 150th member. Vietnam's membership will take effect on Dec. 28, 30 days after the National Assembly vote, opening the gates to increased foreign investment and trade in Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economy. The move was approved by a vote of 444-3, with two abstentions. Despite the overwhelming support, lawmakers urged the government to ease the challenges that globalization will pose to Vietnam. "Once the opportunities emerge, the weaknesses of the economy will also be exposed," legislator Vu Tien Loc said.
■ Automobiles
VW to set up India plant
Volkswagen AG plans to invest US$530 million to build its first plant in India, the German embassy said yesterday. The factory will be built near the city of Pune in the western state of Maharashtra, the embassy said in a statement. An agreement between Volkswagen and the government of Maharashtra state is to be signed today, it said. The plant will employ around 2,500 staff and is due to start production of a compact vehicle in the second half of 2009.
■ Aviation
Low-cost airline to launch
A new low-cost tourist airline being created by Air France-KLM will be launched in June to compete with budget carriers flying to dozens of Mediterranean destinations, the company said on Monday. The new carrier, named Transavia.com France, will initially offer 67 weekly flights from Paris to 10 destinations and will add five more by the end of the year, Air France added. The main countries served will be Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Italy and Egypt. The new airline would enable Air France to respond to the needs of travel operators such as Club Med as well as to compete with low-cost operators for popular destinations, Air France's commercial director Christian Boireau said.
■ Food
Myojo evades takeover bid
Japanese Noodle maker Myojo Foods said yesterday that it had evaded a hostile takeover attempt by a US hedge fund thanks to a "white knight" counterbid from industry giant Nissin Food Products. The tender offer by Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund, the Japanese arm of the US hedge fund, ended in failure after shareholders shunned the ¥700 (US$6.02) per share bid, Myojo said in a statement. The noodle maker urged its stakeholders to accept Nissin's offer of ¥870 per Myojo share that will close on Dec. 14, saying a business and capital tie-up between the firms would boost shareholder value.
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