■ENERGY
BP, partners strike deal
BP agreed to a deal with the oligarch co-owners of TNK-BP yesterday that overhauls the Russian oil’s major management and sets a possible flotation of up to 20 percent of the company, ending months of increasingly hostile dispute. BP has agreed in principle to a number of its partners’ demands, including the removal of TNK-BP’s BP-nominated chief executive Bob Dudley and the appointment of independent directors. The British oil company said in a statement the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding, which would be finalized in the coming months. “It will create a stable base from which to grow the joint venture to the benefit of everyone involved, including the Russian state for which strong capital investment and continued technical innovation to boost declining oil output are so important,” BP chairman Peter Sutherland said in the statement.
■FINANCE
MUFG denies news report
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) yesterday denied a news report that the Japanese megabank was considering bidding for a stake in troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers. “The report is not true,” MUFG spokesman Takashi Miwa said without elaborating further. The Times reported on Wednesday that MUFG would make a bid for a “substantial” stake in Lehman, which suffered billions of dollars in writedowns and credit losses in the crisis triggered by the meltdown in US subprime mortgages. It possibly even aims to take control of Lehman, the newspaper said. Citing senior sources close to Japan’s largest financial group, the daily said MUFG viewed the possible acquisition of Lehman as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
■FOOD
Nestle Americas chief quits
Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA said yesterday that its Americas chief Paul Polman resigned. Polman is leaving to become chief executive of rival company Unilever PLC, Nestle said in a separate statement. The 52-year-old Dutchman was tipped as a possible successor to Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, but lost out to Paul Bulcke last year. Nestle said its Europe chief Luis Cantarell would take over the Americas region from Polman.
■UNITED STATES
Economy slowing: Fed
The US economy is sputtering amid weak housing, difficult credit and “retrenchment” in consumer spending, while inflation pressures are high, the US Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report on Wednesday. The report, to be used by its policymakers for their Sept. 16 meeting on interest rates, indicated little improvement from the sluggish pace of activity since July. Data from the 12 regional Fed banks “indicate that the pace of economic activity has been slow in most districts,” the Beige Book said. Some regions showed “weakening,” with others seeing modest improvement and others “stabilization,” the report said.
■GAMING
Xbox price to drop: report
Microsoft Corp plans to cut US prices of its Xbox 360 video game machine, lowering the price of its entry-level console to US$50 below Nintendo Co Ltd’s top-selling Wii, BusinessWeek reported on Wednesday. In an article on its Web site, the magazine said Microsoft would cut prices for its entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade to US$199 from its current price of US$279 and the prices of its mid-range and high end Xbox 360 consoles by US$50 each today, BusinessWeek 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