■ Aviation
EADS deal meets obstacles
A consortium of investors put together by the German government to buy a bloc of EADS shares put up for sale by DaimlerChrysler has hit difficulties, notably because of French resistance to the plan, Der Spiegel magazine said. In its edition to be published today, Der Spiegel quoted senior German civil servants as saying that Paris had so far vetoed the purchase of any stake in the aerospace and defence group by the consortium, which is led by Deutsche Bank. Compounding its difficulties, the German bank had also failed to fully convince the potential investors themselves of the worth of its project.
■ Real estate
Mack-Cali pulls out of bid
Mack-Cali Realty Corp withdrew from its planned participation in a group led by billionaire Carl Icahn that is bidding for Reckson Associates Realty Corp, owner of 101 New York-area office properties. Reckson, a Uniondale, New York-based real estate investment trust, said Mack-Cali told the company on Saturday that it was pulling out of the group. Reckson didn't give a reason for Edison, New Jersey-based Mack-Cali's withdrawal. Reckson also said that Icahn and partner Harry Macklowe, owner of New York's General Motors Building, still hasn't provided "any documentation with respect to its debt financing arrangements" for their US$4.26 billion buyout.
■ Oil
Iran calls for OPEC cuts
Iran's OPEC envoy Hossein Kazempour Ardebili yesterday called on the oil cartel to agree to a new oil output cut at its next meeting to counter an oversupply of crude, official news agency IRNA reported. "Some factors like the decrease of world economic growth and accumulation of oil and stockpiles of its by-products indicate that the market needs a cut in OPEC oil output again," Ardebili said. "There is still oversupply in the market beyond the oil demand and with OPEC's output cut [agreed in October] all the global market demands have been covered," he added. The 11 members of OPEC are due to meet in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Dec. 14.
■ Steel
Nippon mulls Baosteel buy
Nippon Steel Corp, the world's second-largest steelmaker, may buy a stake in Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼集團), China's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel president Akio Mimura told reporters in Tokyo yesterday. Baosteel Chairwoman Xie Qihua (謝企華) proposed having Nippon Steel buy into Baosteel to strengthen the companies' ties, and Nippon Steel will consider the purchase on the basis of profitability, Mimura said. Mimura and Xie had talks on Friday. Baoshan Iron and Steel Co (寶山鋼鐵), Baosteel's publicly traded unit, said on Thursday that conditions for share sales were improving.
■ Automobiles
Delphi, GM reach agreement
Delphi Corp and former parent General Motors Corp have exchanged "draft agreements" during negotiations to help the automobile parts supplier emerge from bankruptcy protection, court documents show. A 110-page report that addressed the talks was filed late on Thursday in the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, the Detroit News reported. "The parties have exchanged various draft agreements and term sheets, which taken together, have advanced negotiations considerably," Delphi bankruptcy lawyer Jack Butler wrote in the report.
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
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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