■ INVESTMENT
Lone Star loses appeal
US buyout firm Lone Star Funds lost a tax appeal over the 2004 sale of a building in South Korea. The National Tax Tribunal rejected Lone Star's appeal in three cases totaling 101.7 billion won (US$110 million) in taxes linked to the sale of Star Tower, South Korea's finance ministry said in a statement yesterday. "According to tax treaties between [South] Korea and the US, it is possible to tax Lone Star's capital gains in real estate and equity transactions because it happened in [South] Korea," the ministry said in the statement. Lone Star "is disappointed in this decision and will appeal it to the [South] Korean courts," it said yesterday.
■ TELECOMS
BlackBerry coming to China
Research in Motion (RIM) has received clearance to sell its popular BlackBerry device in China after eight years of trying. The Canadian-based company said it was finalizing the delivery of its products there. RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie, speaking on a conference call with analysts last week, said the company was planning to serve corporate customers in key Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A manager in RIM's Beijing office was quoted in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday as saying RIM expected to start selling its 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month and has already received 5,000 advance orders.
■ ECONOMY
`Old Lady' raises UK rates
The Bank of England lifted official interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75 percent yesterday, the fifth increase in less than a year. British interest rates are now at a six-year high as the bank struggles to contain rising prices and a booming housing market. The bank's monetary policy committee said that it determined an increase was necessary because "the balance of risks to the outlook for inflation in the medium term continued to lie to the upside." The announcement gave the pound another push, lifting it to US$2.0190 in afternoon trading.
■ PROPERTY
DLF surged on debut trade
Shares of top real-estate firm DLF, which raised US$2.24 billion in India's biggest ever public share offering, leapt nearly 36 percent on their first day of trading yesterday before retreating. DLF opened at 582 rupees (US$14.36) on the Bombay Stock Exchange and climbed to a day's high of 714.25 rupees before sliding 23.3 percent or 166.75 rupees on profit-taking to 547.5 rupees. DLF sold 175 million shares at a price of 525 rupees a share on strong fund demand, with the offer oversubscribed 3.47 times.
■ ENERGY
Power consumption surges
China may not achieve its much-trumpeted five-year goal on improving energy efficiency because of runaway economic growth, the nation's top planning officials said in comments published yesterday. "The trend of overheated economic development has not been contained," Beijing News quoted Ma Kai (馬凱), China's top economic planner, as saying on Wednesday. Ma pointed to previously released data showing that industrial output increased 18.1 percent in the first five months of the year, which he said was the highest in recent years. Ma also said that energy consumption nationwide grew 15.8 percent during the first five months of the year, the highest in three years.
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