■ UKRAINE
Government seeks IMF help
Ukrainian authorities have asked the IMF for help in stemming a financial crisis in the country, the organization said yesterday. The government took emergency measures to rescue banks and stabilize the currency, the hryvna, after worried depositors withdrew more than US$1 billion from their accounts this month, spooked by a fall in the hryvna, a shaken banking sector and a stock market crash.
■ FINANCE
Pension fund eyes bank
China’s pension fund is likely to pay up to 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) for a stake in China Development Bank (國家開發銀行), which is preparing for a stock market listing, state media reported yesterday. The national pension fund could pay 20 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan for an unspecified stake, the China Business News reported. The bank, which owns a 3.1 percent stake in British bank Barclays, may also introduce investment from domestic oil giants such as China National Offshore Oil Corp (中國海洋石油) and China National Petroleum Corp (中石油集團), the newspaper said.
■ AVIATION
Russia to suspend flights
Russia’s state federal aviation agency will suspend flights for nine regional airlines that have not paid their debts for services, the agency said in a statement yesterday. “Despite numerous requests from the federal aviation service to the management of these companies ... they currently have considerable unpaid debts,” Russian news agencies quoted the statement as saying. The flight suspension will come into effect tomorrow. The companies affected by the ban include Interavia and Dalavia.
■ JAPAN
Trade deficit returns
The country logged its first trade deficit in more than three years in August as rising commodity prices pushed up imports, the government said yesterday. Imports jumped 20.2 percent in August from the same month a year earlier to ¥6.96 trillion (US$68.02 billion), while exports were almost unchanged at ¥6.72 trillion, up 0.9 percent, the Finance Ministry said. Japan’s goods and services trade, measured on an international balance of payment basis, ran a deficit of ¥327.6 billion, while the current account surplus narrowed by 52.5 percent in August to ¥988.8 billion.
■ INTERNET
Spammers face fines
Three New Zealand men face fines of up to NZ$200,000 (US$124,000) for their role in one of the world’s largest spamming operations, which was shut down this week by US and other regulators, officials said yesterday. The alleged spammers were part of a ring that sent billions of e-mails in recent years encouraging people to click through to Web sites that allegedly used false claims to peddle prescription drugs, “male enhancement” products and weight-loss pills. In a statement of claim filed in New Zealand’s High Court, the department claims the trio earned more than US$2 million in sales commissions from the global operation.
■ INTERNET
Google to appeal in court
Google is expected to appeal two German court decisions that found it violated copyright law by showing thumbnails of works by two artists in search results, PC World reported on Tuesday. The cases involved Google’s Image Search feature in its search engine. The courts ruled that showing thumbnails of the images in its results list was a violation of copyright laws.
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