■ FOOD
Summit addresses crisis
Seventeen Latin American governments issued a regional “food emergency” on Wednesday at the close of a one-day summit on the food crisis that underscored an ideological split among its participants. The final statement included a US$100 million Venezuelan initiative to boost cereal production that Mexico said should have been omitted because it was merely a proposal. The document was signed by all but El Salvador and Costa Rica, which complained that Venezuela and its leftist allies were against free trade. The summit, convened by the Alba trade group, or the leftist regimes of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba, called for speeding up food production in Latin America and urged the 63rd UN General Assembly to take up the world food crisis when it meets in September.
■ AVIATION
Airbus claims more orders
European aircraft maker Airbus said on Wednesday it had outpaced Boeing so far this year, winning 397 orders in the first four months, compared with to April compared with 346 for its US rival. It said it had 432 orders in all in the period, but 35 cancelations. Medium-haul planes dominated, with 290 A320s ordered compared with 235 of Boeing’s 737 workhorse series. Airbus said that for its long-haul aircraft — the A330, A340 and A350 — it had won 104 orders, while Boeing had 109 for its 777 and 787 models. There were three orders for the A380 superjumbo while Boeing had two orders for its 747. Last year, Airbus won 1,341 orders compared with Boeing’s 1,413.
■ FINANCE
Group denies illegal gains
Credit Suisse Group denied allegations that it made improper gains from trading South Korean companies’ overseas convertible bonds. Credit Suisse has “not conspired with any Korean convertible bond issuers to engage in market manipulation or any other improper conduct,” the Zurich-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Media allegations that such trades took place are “baseless and unfounded,” it said. Credit Suisse has been in “regular dialogue” with the South Korean regulatory authorities and will continue to cooperate with them to help them reach the same conclusion, it said.
■ AVIATION
Air fares rise 7 percent
Business class air fares in the Asia-Pacific region climbed 4 percent in the first quarter of this year on demand for long-haul flights to the Americas and on regional routes, a business travel monitor said yesterday. Air fares across the region rose 7 percent year-on-year, an American Express report said. India was the exception to the upward trend in air fares in the region, the report said. “Current economic conditions seem to be having little effect on published air fares across [the] Asia Pacific, with demand still outstripping supply, the Business Times quoted advisory services head Kurt Knackstedt as saying.
■ TELECOMS
Apple signs new agent
America Movil SAB, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America, said on Wednesday it had inked a deal to bring Apple Inc’s iPhone to more than a dozen countries starting later this year. The company didn’t offer more details about the arrangement, including whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries. Mexico City-based America Movil boasts 159.2 million subscribers in 16 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
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
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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