German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck yesterday rejected the idea of a European stimulus plan to revitalize the economy, as EU finance chiefs gathered to map out a way to avert a recession.
“I think there is no need for a European stimulus package. Every country is responsible for itself ... It makes no sense to burn money,” he told reporters in Nice.
RECESSION FEARS
The two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bankers on the French Riviera comes amid growing fears that the European economy is headed for a recession.
The European Commission estimated on Wednesday that Europe was teetering on the brink of a technical recession, which economists define as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
After the 15-nation euro-zone economy contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the EU’s executive arm estimated that it would be at a standstill in the third quarter.
TAKING ACTION
Unlike other global economic heavyweights, Europe has few options for tackling the growing crisis.
Ever vigilant about inflation, the European Central Bank is unlikely to give a boost to the economy by cutting interest rates until at least next year, economists said.
On the fiscal front, few European countries have budgets strong enough to allow for major tax relief or spending programs such as in the US and Japan without breaking the EU’s strict public deficit rules.
HEALTHY GERMANY
Among the major euro-zone economies, only Germany has healthy public finances, but Steinbrueck has repeatedly refused to loosen up fiscal discipline even though the commission estimates that Europe’s biggest economy is already in recession.
Steinbrueck disputed Brussels’ prognosis, telling journalists: “I think we are not facing in Germany recession, [but] we are facing a lot of slowdown risk undoubtedly.”
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