■ FRANC
Jobless rate leaps 3.2%
The jobless rate leapt 3.2 percent in November, compared with the previous month, and 8.5 percent year on year, with more than 2 million out of work, the employment ministry announced on Tuesday. More than 64,000 people joined the ranks of those seeking work, the new figures said. Employment Minister Christine Lagarde blamed the surge in the jobless figures on the global economic crisis. The job losses came in a sharp rise in redundancies and a fall in short-term contracts. On Monday, the latest figures from the state statistics institute suggested the country would just manage to avoid recession, with growth of 0.1 percent in the third quarter.
■REAL ESTATE
US home prices slump
Home prices in the US’ top 20 cities slumped to March 2004 levels after more record declines through October, a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller survey showed on Tuesday. The survey showed a record year-on-year decline of 18 percent in the 20 largest US metropolitan areas. In the 10 largest, the decline was 19.1 percent. “The bear market continues; home prices are back to their March 2004 levels,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s. Blitzer said that as of October, the 10-city composite was down 25 percent from its mid-2006 peak and the 20-city index was down 23.4 percent. Three of the metro areas have given back, on average, more than 30 percent of the value of homes since October of last year. Phoenix, Arizona, was the weakest market, reporting an annual decline of 32.7 percent, followed by Las Vegas (31.7 percent) and San Francisco (31 percent).
■SOUTH KOREA
Inflation hits 10-year high
The annual inflation rate for last year hit a 10-year high of 4.7 percent, well above the central bank’s target of 2.5 to 3.5 percent, official figures showed yesterday. The figure compares with a 2.5 percent rate in 2007, the National Statistical Office said. Last month, the consumer price index rose 4.1 percent from a year earlier, slowing for a fifth straight month because of falling oil prices. The eased inflationary pressure gave the central bank leeway to cut interest rates sharply to counter the global downturn. Since early October the bank has cut its key interest rate by a total of 2.25 percentage points to an all-time low of 3 percent. Central bank governor Lee Seong-tae said in a New Year message that the central bank would focus its monetary policy next year on boosting the economy and stabilizing financial markets. His remarks were seen as hinting at more rate cuts.
■FINANCE
Kookmin Bank raises funds
Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest, raised 57.3 billion won (US$45.5 million) selling shares in its parent KB Financial Group Inc as it braces for rising bad debts. Kookmin sold 1.78 million shares for 32,142 won apiece on Tuesday, arranger Merrill Lynch & Co said in a statement yesterday.
■FINANCE
Integra signs loan accord
Integra Group, the first Russian oil-field services company to list in London, signed an accord to borrow US$300 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Integra will use the first US$75 million of the five-year loan to refinance short-term debt, the company said in a statement yesterday.
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