■ Aviation
Delta shares rise
Delta Air Lines stock moved skyward on Thursday as new shares traded for the first time since the third-largest US carrier emerged from bankruptcy this week. The shares quoted under the DAL symbol closed up 1.6 percent at US$20.72. Delta executives were participating in the opening and closing bell ceremonies on the New York Stock Exchange to mark resumption of trading in the shares. The company is making the initial distribution of its new common stock to some unsecured creditors and to 39,000 employees.
■ Oil
China touts new oil find
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC, 中國石油天然氣) announced it has found an oil field with proven reserves of 405.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent in north China's Bohai Bay, state media said yesterday. CNPC said in a statement on Thursday that Jidong Nanbao oil field, located in the Bohai Sea near Caofeidian port in Hebei Province, has proven reserves of 405.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent. However, oil analysts have said reserve figures released by mainland state firms are often inflated compared to standards used by Western companies when calculating how much oil can be economically produced.
■ Tourism
Chinese visiting HK booms
The number of mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong soared 24.5 percent during the week-long Labor day holiday despite a string of scandals to recently hit the city's tourism industry. The Tourism Commission said yesterday that numbers from the mainland increased to 355,681 in the first six days of the "Golden Week" holiday, accounting for 61.7 percent of 576,752 arrivals. Total visitor numbers gained 19.8 percent on the same period last year. Official figures showed that those traveling in tour groups fell 13.5 percent to 20,996 during the period, while those visiting independently jumped 43.5 percent to 238,442.
■ Entertainment
EMI confirms interest
Shares of EMI Group PLC rose yesterday after the company confirmed that it had received several indications of interest in taking over the business. EMI, which has long flirted with Warner Music, did not identify any of the potential suitors. "There can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made," the company said. EMI shares were up 7.9 percent at 245.5 pence (US$4.89) on the London Stock Exchange. The statement followed a report in yesterday's Financial Times that the private equity group One Equity made an approach for EMI last month. The approach valued EMI at about ?3 billion, the FT said.
■ Beverages
US chain nears Ethiopia deal
Starbucks expects to complete a licensing, distribution and marketing deal with Ethiopia this month that would settle a dispute over trademarks for three coffees produced in the African nation. In a joint statement on Thursday, neither the Seattle-based coffee retailer nor the Ethiopian government released details about an agreement in principle that both said they signed after two days of talks in Seattle. Ethiopia wants to secure rights to three coffee names -- Harar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe -- through the US Patent and Trademark Office. So far it has trademarked the name Yirgacheffe, but a final decision has yet to be made on the others.
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