■BANKING
Citi wants to pay bonuses
Citigroup Inc, which has received US$45 billion in federal bailout funds and potentially could have to raise more capital based on “stress test” results, is requesting permission from the Treasury Department to pay out special bonuses to certain workers, the Wall Street Journal said late on Tuesday. Citigroup is seeking Treasury permission to pay retention bonuses to workers it says are demoralized amid the company’s restructuring and the sharp drop in the value of its stock, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Treasury Department hasn’t made a decision on the request, the paper said. The amount of bonuses requested wasn’t disclosed.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Bayer profits fall 44 percent
German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer AG said yesterday that its first-quarter net profit fell 44 percent as the global economic crisis cut sharply into demand. The Leverkusen-based company said net profit for the January to March period was down to 425 million euros (US$561 million) from 762 million euros a year earlier. Sales for the company fell 7.5 percent, dropping to 7.9 billion euros from 8.5 billion euros.
■COMPUTERS
Sun’s losses balloon
Sun Microsystems Inc’s loss ballooned in the latest quarter as restructuring charges and a 20 percent drop in sales compounded the financial woes that Oracle Corp is set to inherit by acquiring Sun for US$7.4 billion. Sun, a server and software maker whose wobbly performance for most of the last decade pushed it into Oracle’s clutches, said after the market closed on Tuesday that it lost US$201 million, or US$0.27 per share, in the three months ended March 29. A year ago, Sun lost US$34 million, or US$0.04 per share.
■SOUTH KOREA
Surplus hits record high
South Korea achieved a record current account surplus of US$6.65 billion last month as imports fell more sharply than exports, the central bank said yesterday. The figure was the highest since January 1980 when records began and sharply up on a revised US$3.56 billion surplus in February, the Bank of Korea said in a report. South Korea’s current account, which measures trade, service and investment flows between the country and the rest of the world, had been in the black between October and December before it swung into deficit in January.
■EUROPEAN UNION
Confidence bounces back
European business and consumer confidence has bounced back this month for the first time in nearly two years. The European Commission says businesses and shoppers in both the 27-member EU and the 16 countries that use the euro are more optimistic for the first time since May 2007. Officials say yesterday’s report indicates “a clear improvement in sentiment in industry and among consumers.”
■SINGAPORE
Recession likely hit bottom
Singapore’s worst-ever recession likely bottomed out in the first quarter, but the city-state faces a tepid recovery as global demand for its exports struggles to rebound, the central bank said yesterday. The country’s economy could shrink as much as 9 percent this year as a “deep and prolonged” global downturn batters sales abroad, which account for about 60 percent of GDP. The economy contracted 11.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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