■ FINANCE
IMF approves Iceland loan
The IMF’s executive board approved on Wednesday a US$2.1 billion loan for Iceland to help the country rebound from a dire financial crisis. The two-year loan, accompanied by quarterly reviews, is designed “to support the country’s program to restore confidence and stabilize the economy,” the IMF said. It was the first time a country in Western Europe had secured a loan from the IMF since Britain in 1976. “Iceland is in the midst of a banking crisis of extraordinary proportions. The three main banks, accounting for about 85 percent of the banking system, collapsed within a time span of less than one week,” IMF acting chairman John Lipsky said. The IMF move makes US$827 million immediately available, with the remainder of the loan to be paid out in eight installments of US$155 million.
■ AVIATION
Air travel dips in September
Business and first-class air travel dropped sharply in September because of the global financial crisis, the International Air Transport Association said (IATA) said on Wednesday. The airline industry body said that “premium traffic” on cross-border flights fell 8 percent in September from the same month last year, with Asia most affected. Economy air travel also decreased 4 percent in September, the month in which credit woes triggered severe market losses and raised worries about an economic decline that could hit both business and leisure travel. IATA said the ongoing financial turmoil has likely continued to pinch premium travel, the most lucrative sector for airlines. “Business confidence has fallen sharply in October, and with recession deepening further, significant falls in premium travel should be expected,” it said in the Premium Traffic Monitor report, which excludes domestic air traffic.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Isuzu, Mazda to cut jobs
Isuzu Motors said yesterday it would cut 1,400 jobs and slash domestic production by 10 percent, the latest in a slew of layoffs by Japanese automakers to cope with the financial crisis. The company will reduce its Japanese production for the year to March to 249,000 vehicles, down 28,000 from the original target. Mazda Motor Corp will also cut 500 temporary workers in Japan, Spokesman Toyota Tanaka said. Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it would stop production at all of its US and Canadian plants for an additional two days next month because of sluggish sales. Nissan Motor has decided to cut production and axe 3,500 jobs worldwide.
■ ECONOMY
AfDB chief decries crisis
The global economic downturn could not have hit Africa “at a worse time” as the continent struggles with food shortages and humanitarian crises, African Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka said on Wednesday. The head of the AfDB made his comments at the opening of the sixth annual African Development Forum in Addis Ababa. “Over the past 24 months, Africa has been hit by crisis after crisis. Over the last 12 months, the world has been affected by a financial crunch,” Kaberuka said in a speech to delegates. The former Rwandan finance minister said it would take time “to restore confidence and stability” in the global financial system, adding that “the crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for the continent which is still battling with food shortages and humanitarian issues.” Several African government officials fear their economies could suffer a knock-on effect from the financial crisis, notably in the shape of reduced aid.
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