■ ENERGY
Hyundai signs power deal
South Korea's third-largest builder Hyundai Engineering and Construction said yesterday it had signed a US$680 million deal with the Libyan government to build a power plant. The plant will be 20km west of Tripoli, it said in a regulatory filing, and will take 52 months to complete. Last October the firm signed a preliminary deal to build two power plants. Hyundai Engineering said it had yet to sign a formal contract for the second one.
■ INVESTMENT
China to invest in UK stocks
Chinese banks will be able to invest client money in British stocks and mutual funds, China said after striking a deal with the European nation's regulators. Britain will become only the second overseas investment destination after Hong Kong for Chinese banks, which can invest client money overseas under China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor program. The China Banking Regulatory Commission said banks would be able to invest in the US stock market once it strikes a similar arrangement with US regulators.
■ MEDICINE
Bristol to sell imaging unit
Drug developer Bristol-Myers Squibb Co said on Monday it will sell its medical imaging unit to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for about US$525 million in cash. The unit makes and sells medical imaging products used during ultrasound and diagnostic procedures. It had been on the sales block since earlier this month, when the company announced a series of restructuring moves. Earlier this month, the company said it would lay off about 4,300 employees and close more than half of its manufacturing plants in a move to save US$1.5 billion in costs by 2010.
■ TOBACCO
Loews to spin off Lorillard
US conglomerate Loews Corporation said on Monday that it had decided to spin off its ownership interest in Lorillard, one of the US' oldest tobacco companies. Loews said the spinoff, if approved by regulators, would see Lorillard become a separate publicly traded company. It is presently a subsidiary of Loews, which owns a range of businesses straddling finance, leisure and hospitality, energy and luxury goods. Lorillard claims to be the US' oldest tobacco firm. It was founded by Pierre Lorillard in New York in 1760. Loews' shareholders will still be able to own stakes in Lorillard under the deal's terms. The conglomerate wants to complete the spin-off by the middle of next year.
■ INVESTMENT
Centro shares plummet
Stocks in Australia's second-largest shopping center owner Centro plummeted 40 percent yesterday in the wake of a profit warning prompted by the global credit crunch. The losses added to a 75 percent plunge recorded on Monday, when Centro announced it was considering asset sales because it could not secure sufficient financing in the tight credit market. The stock opened the week at A$5.79 (US$4.98), but has sunk to less than a tenth of its initial value over the past two days. Shares hit A$0.82 in afternoon trading on a falling overall market. Centro warned on Monday that it was reviewing its structure after failing to secure short-term loans worth A$1.3 billion.
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