■ MARKETS
Japan to tighten regulations
Japan aims to increase fines for accounting fraud, insider trading and other violations of securities laws following a series of high-profile scandals, a news report said yesterday. The Financial Services Agency will submit a bill to parliament next year to bring fines closer to levels imposed in the US, according to a report in Japan's largest business newspaper, the Nikkei. Critics say the current fines, set by the agency based on individual cases, are too small to deter companies from illegal activity. The move to boost penalties follows a string of high-profile accounting fraud cases.
■ ENERGY
Oil-from-coal effort may end
China is considering halting efforts to make oil from coal due to concerns about the expense and energy demands, a state news agency yesterday quoted an official as saying. China is hoping to ease its rising dependence on imported oil by promoting alternative energy sources such as oil-from-coal and solar, wind and nuclear power. "Liquefied coal projects consume a lot of energy, though the successful industrialization of liquefied coal could help reduce the country's dependence on petroleum," Xinhua news agency said, citing an official of the National Development and Reform Commission on Saturday.
■ TOURISM
IDB, Elad to build US casino
Israel's IDB Development Corp and Elad Group agreed in principle to form a joint venture to develop a Las Vegas hotel and casino project for between US$6 billion and US$8 billion. The venture, which will be held equally by the two companies, will build the complex on a 14 hectare site now occupied by the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, IDB said yesterday in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The project, to be called "The Plaza," will include a casino, a 3,500-room hotel, luxury apartments and shops, it said. Tel Aviv-based IDB's holdings include insurance, retail and industrial companies mainly in Israel.
■ ELECTRONICS
Samsung to invest in Russia
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest liquid-crystal-display television maker, will invest US$57 million in a television factory in Russia to meet rising demand for digital TVs in the region. Samsung will begin building the plant next month in Russia's Kaluga State, southwest of Moscow, and complete construction by October 2008, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement yesterday. Samsung plans to make 2.2 million digital TVs annually from the factory in 2010, the company said. Samsung currently has television factories in Korea, Mexico, China, Slovakia, Hungary, Thailand, Indonesia and Brazil, according to the statement.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Denso to set up offshoot
Japanese auto-parts maker Denso will produce eco-friendly fuel-injection equipment for diesel engines in China to meet growing demand for cleaner vehicles there, a report said yesterday. Denso Corp would set up a subsidiary in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, and build a plant to produce the equipment, possibly in 2009, the Japanese business daily Nikkei said. The company's investment in the plant was estimated at ¥5 billion (US$41 million), the daily said. The injection systems would be supplied chiefly for use in locally produced commercial vehicles.
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