■ Armani empire expands
Giorgio Armani's luxury lifestyle empire expanded on Sunday as he announced the launch of Armani-designed residences in a Dubai skyscraper billed as the world's tallest building. A statement from the designer's Milan headquarters said a sales office had been opened to start selling the 144 apartments planned for the ninth to 16th floors of the Burj Dubai, which is being developed by the state-owned Emmar Properties. The skyscraper, due to be completed by the end of next year, is also hosting the first Armani Hotel, featuring 160 rooms and suites, restaurants and a spa. Armani said the hotel and private residences -- some as large as 200m2 -- would "bring to life my vision of hospitality."
■ Investment
Stan O'Neal on the outer
Members of the board of US investment firm Merrill Lynch have largely decided that chief executive officer Stan O'Neal will no longer remain at the company's helm, and his decision was to be announced within 24 hours, some leading US newspapers reported on Sunday. However, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on their Web sites that some details concerning O'Neal's departure still needed to be worked out. Those in the running for O'Neal's job include Laurence Fink, chief executive of money manager BlackRock Inc and Gregory Fleming, Merrill's co-president, the papers said. There could also be some power-sharing arrangement involving the two men, or a temporary solution to give the board more time to find a permanent replacement, the Journal said.
■ Banking
UBS warns of writedowns
UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, said that difficulties in the US subprime housing market may lead to further writedowns. The Zurich-based bank, which reports its third-quarter earnings today, said yesterday that it was still exposed to "further deterioration in the US housing and mortgage markets as well as rating downgrades" on mortgage-related securities. The last three months of the year "started with good results from all businesses," including the investment bank, UBS said in an e-mailed statement. The US subprime problems mean "UBS is not assuming that the quarter will continue as positively as it has begun, or that the current difficulties will be resolved in the short term," the bank said. UBS also confirmed it will report a group loss for the third quarter of between 600 million Swiss francs (US$516 million) and SF800 million.
■ Currency
US dollar plummets
The US dollar plummeted to a new record low against the euro yesterday, as markets awaited an indication from Washington how the Federal Reserve will move later this week. The 13-nation euro opened trading at US$1.4428, before settling back to US$1.4424, still above the US$1.4393 it bought in New York on Friday. The US dollar began to sour last week on the G-7 summit's failure to address its weakness and on a spate of disappointing economic reports from the US. Markets are also looking ahead to the US Federal Reserve Bank's meeting tomorrow, amid fears that last week's run of downbeat economic data is underlining the fact that the Fed's last rate cut of 50 basis points clearly hasn't been sufficient to spur demand.
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