■FINANCE
UK mulls Lloyds stake
The UK is poised to increase its stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) as part of a deal that would also see the group agree to the government insuring its risky assets, the BBC reported on Thursday. It said the two sides were on the verge of a deal that would see the government increase its stake in LBG — created earlier this year from the merger of rivals HBOS and Lloyds TSB — from 43 percent to up to 60 percent. This would be achieved by converting the expensive shares already held by the taxpayer to ordinary shares that carry voting rights.
■INDIA
Rupee seeks symbol
India announced yesterday a contest to design a global symbol for the rupee so that the currency can join the likes of the US dollar and the yen, which already have their own identifiable symbols. The new symbol will be the “identity of the Indian currency,” a finance ministry statement said. “Major world currencies like the US dollar, pound, yen and euro have an identification symbol. The government of India is also proposing to have a symbol for the rupee,” finance ministry official B.S. Rawat said. “The symbol for the Indian rupee is to be selected through a public competition” that closes on April 15, Rawat said.
■JAPAN
Forex reserves drop
Japan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped US$1.6 billion last month after US Treasury bond prices and the appraisal value of the nation’s euro-dominated assets fell, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. The nation’s foreign reserves fell for the second month in a row but remained barely above the US$1 trillion level. As of the end of last month, Japan held US$892.34 billion in foreign securities, while foreign currency deposits came to US$87.81 billion.
■INTERNET
Amazon launches trade-ins
Amazon launched an online videogame trade-in store on Thursday, granting credit at the online retail giant to customers who send in used games. “Amazon Video Games Trade-In is a new service that enables you to trade in your games for an Amazon.com Gift Card,” the Seattle-based company said in a statement on the company blog. Customers use a prepaid shipping label to send a used videogame to Amazon and receive credit in return they can use to purchase items on Amazon.com.
■GAMBLING
Magna files for bankruptcy
Magna Entertainment Corp, the biggest North American race track operator, filed Thursday for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada to cope with heavy debt and a weak economy. The Ontario-based MEC, which operates the Pimlico Park track for the Preakness Triple Crown event, said it filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in a court in Delaware. The company said it will seek recognition of the Chapter 11 proceedings in Canada.
■TELECOMS
Unicom vies for iPhone
China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd (中國聯通), the country’s second-biggest mobile-phone company, is in talks with Apple Inc to offer the iPhone handset in the world’s biggest phone market by users, Chang Xiaobing (常小兵), chairman of the Chinese phone carrier, said. Chang, speaking to reporters in Beijing yesterday, didn’t give details of the talks, citing confidentiality agreements. Unicom faces competition from China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), the world’s largest wireless carrier by users, to offer the iPhone in China.
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