■ GERMANY
Giant slumps into recession
Europe’s biggest economy slumped into a recession during the third quarter of this year, official data released yesterday showed, amid signs that a global economic downturn was taking hold. The economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, after it contracted 0.4 per cent in the three months to the end of June, the Federal Statistics Office said. The third quarter decline was more than analysts expected. As a result, the country will fulfill the technical definition of recession, after clocking up two consecutive quarters of falling GDP.
■BANKING
Mizuho to raise capital
Japan’s No. 2 bank, Mizuho Financial, hit hard by the credit crunch, said yesterday it would bolster its finances with a capital hike that reportedly could top US$3 billion. Mizuho said it would issue preferred securities to domestic institutional investors through a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. It said the size of the capital hike had not yet been decided. The Nikkei Shimbun reported the bank was considering tapping investors for some ¥300 billion (US$3.1 billion). Mizuho last month slashed its profit forecast for this financial year by more than half, blaming the falling stock market, rising corporate bankruptcies and the collapse of Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers.
■INVESTMENT
Citic secures bailout
Citic Pacific Ltd (中信泰富), the Hong Kong arm of a Chinese government investment company, said it has secured a US$1.5 billion bailout from its parent company to cover losses from bad currency bets. Beijing-based Citic Group (中信集團) has agreed to provide a standby loan of HK$11.6 billion (US$1.5 billion) that would be replaced by a convertible bond of the same value, Citic Pacific said in a statement filed to Hong Kong stock exchange late on Wednesday. Citic Group will also assume all liabilities from Citic Pacific’s bad bets against the US dollar from leveraged foreign-currency contracts, the statement said.
■INVESTMENT
Morgan Stanley cuts staff
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday outlined plans to cut 10 percent of staff in its biggest business, which covers everything from investment banking to stock trading. The US’ No. 2 securities firm, which converted into a bank holding company in September, intends to scale back its most capital-intensive businesses before the end of the year. The layoffs inside the institutional securities group follow a 10 percent cut made earlier this year in the same group. Morgan Stanley also intends to restructure its money management business by cutting 9 percent of its staff. It was not immediately clear how many positions will ultimately be eliminated from the company’s total ranks of about 44,000.
■ELECTRONICS
Siemens reports loss
Siemens posted a 2.4 billion euro (US$3 billion) final quarter loss, mainly as a result of restructuring costs and efforts to root out corruption, the German engineering giant said yesterday. In the corresponding quarter of the previous business year, the company reported a loss of 74 million euros. Turnover in the three months up to the end of September in the 2007 to 2008 business year increased 7 percent to 21.7 billion euros, while orders were up 4 percent at 22.2 billion euros, Siemens said. Chief executive Peter Loescher said the company was sticking to its “ambitious” forecast for the business year ending next September, despite the uncertain economic climate.
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