■ Aviation
A380 receives certification
The Airbus A380 received certification from European and US aviation authorities on Tuesday, clearing its last official hurdle before the first 555-seater superjumbo is scheduled to be delivered to Singapore Airlines Ltd next October. Officials from the European Aviation Safety Agency and US Federal Aviation Administration signed airworthiness certificates for the much-delayed plane at a ceremony at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, southern France. The A380's clearance for commercial takeoff offered some much-needed good news for Airbus -- which has fallen behind rival Boeing Co on orders this year.
■ Internet
Winny inventor convicted
A Japanese court yesterday convicted the inventor of popular file-swapping software for copyright violations but refused to jail the programmer, who has become a cyberspace icon. Isamu Kaneko, 36, created the "peer-to-peer" Winny software, which lets users exchange files such as computer games and movies over the Internet for free. Kaneko, who was a research assistant at Tokyo University until his arrest in 2004, was ordered to pay a ?1.5 million (US$13,000) fine in Japan's first ruling on file-sharing software. But the Kyoto District Court turned down a call from prosecutors for a one-year prison sentence for Kaneko, who pleaded not guilty.
■ Insurance
Hannover to sell Praetorian
Germany's Hannover Re AG said yesterday it is selling its US-based specialty insurer Praetorian Financial Group Inc to Australia's QBE Insurance Group Ltd for US$800 million. "This successful sale demonstrates that it was the right decision to carve out our US primary specialty business into Praetorian," Hannover chief executive Wilhlem Zeller said. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, and expected to be completed by June, is part of the Hanover-based reinsurer's commitment to focus on its core markets. Praetorian provides insurance on what the industry calls niche products, such as art collections, cell phones, jewelry businesses and even pet insurance.
■ Automobiles
Court acquits executives
A Japanese court yesterday acquitted three former executives of Mitsubishi Motors Corp in a fatal crash that prosecutors said was caused by a design flaw, Kyodo News agency reported. The Yokohama Summary Court also found the company not guilty over a 2002 accident in which a tire fell off a Mitsubishi truck, killing a 29-year-old woman, Kyodo said. The victim's two children were also injured. Prosecutors accused the three executives -- Takashi Usami, 66, Akio Hanawa, 65, and Tadashi Koshikawa, 64 -- of falsifying defect reports on its truck wheel parts, and failed to take measures to avoid vehicle recalls.
■ Economy
Fed keeps rates unchanged
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Tuesday for the fourth straight time as worries about inflation continued to trump concerns about the slowing economy. At its final meeting for the year, the central bank left its target for the federal funds rate at 5.25 percent. The funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, has been at that level since June, when the Fed raised rates for the 17th time in a two-year effort to combat rising inflation. The decision means that banks' prime lending rate will remain at 8.25 percent.
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