■ ENERGY
BP's Moscow offices raided
Raids on the Moscow offices of British oil giant BP on Wednesday were conducted by secret service agents and may be part of a looming "redistribution" of oil assets in Russia, newspapers said yesterday. "Market sources do not exclude that the measures could be a new serious step in the redistribution of assets in large companies" as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to leave power in May, the Vremya Novostei daily said. An interior ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the raids on BP and its joint venture TNK-BP were part of a long-running criminal inquiry into Sidanko, a company that was merged to form TNK-BP in 2003. But the newspapers did not find that argument convincing and quoted company officials as well as security officers saying that the Sidanko inquiry has long been wrapped up. TNK-BP is Russia's third-largest oil company.
■ INVESTMENT
Ping An eyes Fortis stake
China's Ping An Insurance (平安保險) said it plans to buy a 50 percent stake in the asset management arm of Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis for 2.15 billion euros (US$3.35 billion). The insurer has entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Fortis on the purchase of the stake in Fortis Investment Management NV/SA, Ping An said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late on Wednesday. The companies will continue talks on the proposed deal, aiming to reach a final agreement by the middle of next month, Ping An said, adding that the proposed deal would improve its integrated platform of financial services, increase its asset management capability and "enhance the process of the company's globalization."
■ METALS
Australian gold firms merge
Australian gold producers Lahir and Equigold said yesterday they are merging, a deal that will create one of the world's largest gold companies with combined assets of A$9 billion (US$8.4 billion). Equigold had agreed to a Lahir offer of 33 shares for every 25 Equigold shares, valuing Equigold at A$5.33 a share or A$1.1 billion, the companies said. The combined group will have assets in Australia, West Africa and Papua New Guinea, producing in excess of 34,000kg of gold a year from next year, they said. The deal, expected to be completed in June, subject to regulatory approval.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Import tariffs to be lifted
The government said yesterday that import tariffs on dozens of grains and raw materials will be lifted and it will try to freeze public utility charges in an effort to battle inflation. The announcement came after the Korean won plunged to a 26-month low against the US dollar this week. Starting on April 1, tariffs will be lifted on imports of about 70 grains and raw materials, including wheat, corn, soybean cake and coffee cream, and will be cut on 18 other items, the president's office said in a statement.
■ AVIATION
Alitalia deal in jeopardy
A bid by Air France-KLM to take over Alitalia was under threat as the head of the French-Dutch company warned unions at the loss-making Italian airline there was little or no room for negotiation. "It's not a traditional negotiation," chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told a news conference in Rome on Wednesday, a day after failed talks with union leaders over the bid.
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