■ ECONOMICS
US women still earn less
US women make only 80 percent of the salaries their male peers do one year after college; after 10 years in the work force, the gap between their pay widens further, according to a study released yesterday. The study, by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, found that 10 years after college, women earn only 69 percent of what men earn. Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the study found that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained.
■ PHARMACEUTICALS
AstraZeneca to buy US firm
Anglo-Swedish giant AstraZeneca said yesterday it has agreed to buy US biotechnology company MedImmune for US$15.6 billion in total. "AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MedImmune Inc in an all-cash transaction," the group said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. "Under the terms of the agreement, which has unanimous MedImmune Board support, AstraZeneca will acquire all of the ... shares of MedImmune common stock at a price of US$58 per share, for a total consideration of approximately US$15.6 billion."
■ AVIATION
BA may join bid for Iberia
British Airways PLC said yesterday it has contacted private equity investors about joining in a possible bid for Iberia SA, the Spanish airline. Iberia announced last month that it had been approached about a possible takeover offer worth more than 3.4 billion euros (US$4.6 billion) from US private equity firm TPG Capital LLP, formerly known as the Texas Pacific Group. Spain's flagship airline said TPG was studying the possibility of making a cash bid of 3.6 euros per share for the company and has requested more detailed information on its finances.
■ TRADE
Seoul resumes US imports
South Korea yesterday resumed imports of US beef three weeks after the two countries sealed a landmark free-trade pact, officials said. "US beef totaling 4.5 tons [4 tonnes] arrived in South Korea today, awaiting inspection at Incheon airport," an agriculture ministry official said on condition of anonymity. South Korea, once the third-largest market for US beef, last year lifted a three-year ban imposed to keep out mad-cow disease and agreed to accept shipments of boneless meat. But inspectors blocked all three shipments totalling 20 tonnes sent between October and December after finding tiny bone fragments in them.
■ PROPERTY
Singapore REITs growing
Singapore's real estate investment trust (REIT) market has become the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang (林勳強) said yesterday. Since the first REIT listing in 2002, Singapore now has 16 listed REITs with a total market capitalization of S$26 billion (US$17.22 billion), he said in a speech to a property conference. This makes it "the largest REIT market in Asia outside of Japan," he said, without giving a size of the Japanese market. "Singapore REITs offer investors access to a diversity of real estate assets including retail malls, office buildings, industrial properties and serviced apartments," Lim 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
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