■ ENERGY
Clean energy investment up
Investments in solar power, wind energy, bio-fuels and fuel cells surged 40 percent last year to US$77.3 billion and will more than triple in the next decade, the US industry group Clean Edge said. Investment in alternative energy has jumped as oil topped US$100 a barrel, coal reached records in global markets and governments faced increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Installations of wind turbines, which last year reached a record 20,000 megawatts worth US$30.1 billion, will jump to US$83.4 billion in 2017, Clean Edge said. Solar, with almost 3,000 megawatts installed last year, will more than triple to a US$74 billion market by 2017.
■ CHINA
Beijing mulls equity funds
Beijing is considering a proposal to set up four private equity funds to help finance development of ship building, water treatment and other key industries, a state-run financial magazine reported yesterday. The National Development and Reform Commission has submitted the plan to the State Council for approval, Caijing magazine said without naming sources. The proposed 30 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion) Huayu Water Industry Investment Fund would target water services in inland cities such as Xian, the report said. The other three funds named were the Tianjin Ship Industry Investment Fund, the Northeast Equipment Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund and the Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Fund.
■ AUSTRALIA
Consumer confidence down
Consumer confidence has plunged to a near 15-year low this month, figures showed yesterday, which economists said could signal the end of rising interest rates. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index fell 9.1 percent this month to 88.6 points, its lowest reading since September 1993, after successive rate hikes and stock market turmoil spooked consumers. "The decline over the last three months -- 23.9 points or 21.2 percent -- is the sharpest three-month decline since the index was first measured in January 1975," Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said.
■ JAPAN
Growth rate revised down
Japan's economy grew 3.5 percent at an annual pace in the October-December quarter, the government said yesterday, revising down the previously announced figure of 3.7 percent. The downward revision was due largely to weaker-than-expected business investment. Japan's GDP increased a price-adjusted 0.9 percent on quarter during the October-December period, or 3.5 percent in annualized terms, the Cabinet Office said.
■ FINANCE
GIC to take Sintonia stake
A Singapore sovereign wealth fund will invest about 1 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) into the share capital of Italian holding company Sintonia, the Italian company said. Sintonia SA, one of the Benetton family's two holding companies, said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, or GIC. GIC's private equity unit will acquire a 3 percent stake in Sintonia SA, based in Luxembourg, Sintonia said. GIC will also subscribe to a capital increase in the company that will raise its stake to about 14.3 percent, the statement said.
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