■ ENERGY
Japanese firms to merge
Nippon Oil Corp, Japan’s top oil refiner, and Nippon Mining Holdings Inc said yesterday they had agreed to merge in response to dramatic changes in the global energy industry. The move comes against a backdrop of plunging crude oil prices as fears grow of a deep global recession. The companies plan to merge by next October under a single holding company and integrate their businesses to become “one of the world’s leading integrated energy, resources and materials groups,” they said. The two companies aim to achieve cost savings of at least ¥60 billion (US$645 million) per year, and eventually at least ¥100 billion through the tie-up. The merger ratio has not yet been decided.
■ELECTRONICS
Goldman Sachs rejects offer
Goldman Sachs yesterday it rejected a new offer from Panasonic Corp for its stake in rival Sanyo Electric Co, part of a planned merger to create Japan’s biggest electronics maker. “We decided not to accept this offer. We don’t believe this process and the price is fair for all Sanyo’s shareholders,” the Wall Street giant said in a statement. It said it was considering its options including whether to exercise its right to buy other Sanyo stakeholders’ shares in the company. Panasonic said last month that it aimed to acquire Sanyo, which is controlled by a group of financial heavyweights, including Goldman.
■UNITED STATES
Economic activity down
Economic activity weakened across the country over the past several weeks with most sectors facing pressure, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report on Wednesday. The report, to be used by Fed policymakers for their meeting on interest rates next week, indicated a further decline in already grim economic conditions. “Overall economic activity weakened across all Federal Reserve districts since the last report,” the Beige Book said. The report noted weak consumer spending and auto sales “down significantly” in most regions.
■AIRLINES
Jet maker makes layoffs
Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney laid off about 350 employees across the US on Wednesday amid concerns that airlines may delay or cancel orders as the global economy slows. The cuts will affect less than 1 percent of the company’s work force of more than 38,000 employees, and will take effect immediately, Jennifer Whitlow, a spokeswoman said. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp, supplies both military and commercial jet engines for Boeing and Airbus, among many others.
■ENERGY
Oil reaches multi-year low
Oil prices sank to multi-year lows during Asian trade yesterday in a market dominated by declining demand and dismal economic news, analysts said. In afternoon trade, New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, fell US$0.93 to US$45.86 a barrel. The contract at one point fell as far as US$45.30, its lowest point since Jan. 12, 2005, after closing down US$0.17 at US$46.79 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery dropped US$1.19 to US$44.25 after dropping to US$43.80 — its lowest point since Feb. 20, 2005. “This market is trying to find the bottom,” said Ken Hasegawa, manager of the energy desk at Newedge Japan brokerage in Tokyo. Hasegawa said there were no bullish factors in the market, which he sees reaching as low as US$40 a barrel.
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
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
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
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