■SERVICES
Services sector recuperates
The contraction in the US services sector eased considerably last month, the industry index showed on Tuesday, with its best reading for the sector in six months. The Institute of Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing index rose to 43.7 percent last month from 40.8 percent in March, above most analysts’ expectations of 42.2 percent. It was the highest reading since October, with three of its four components — new orders, employment and business activity — moving higher. “Reduced downward pressure on services activity is expected to continue,” Brian Bethune of IHS Global Insight said, adding that the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus pumped into the economy and signs of improvement in the financial markets and emerging export markets.
■ONLINE SHOPPING
eBay to close office
Online auction giant eBay announced plans on Tuesday to close a customer service facility in Vancouver, which employs some 700 people. eBay said the closure of the Canadian facility, expected to be completed by Sept. 30, was part of a plan to “consolidate its North America customer service facilities,” it said in a statement. “It is eBay’s intent to increase the number of employees at its Salt Lake City [Utah] facility, which currently employs more than 900 customer service agents, and at certain other facilities globally,” eBay said. “While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations,” eBay vice president Chad O’Meara said.
■TELECOMS
Swisscom profit grows
Swiss telecoms giant Swisscom yesterday said net profit grew 14.1 percent to 485 million Swiss francs (US$427 million) in the first quarter and that its earnings expectations for this year were unchanged. “Swisscom still expects a slowdown in performance in its Swiss business in 2009 due to the continued high level of competitive pressure, unbundling and flatter growth in the mobile and broadband market,” it said in a statement. Excluding its Italian subsidiary Fastweb, Swisscom said it expected revenues to fall by SF300 million to between SF9.2 billion and SF9.3 billion for the full year.
■AUTOMOBILES
Nissan seeks more money
Nissan Motor Co is seeking an additional ¥100 billion (US$1.01 billion) in emergency government loans designed to help Japanese firms cope with the global economic crisis, a report said yesterday. Nissan, which has so far borrowed ¥50 billion under the lending program, has already informed the government-run Development Bank of Japan of its additional request, the Nikkei Shimbun said. The Japanese automaker, suffering from a slump in the global auto industry, is thought to be aiming to roll over part of its debt procured through commercial paper and other instruments, it reported.
■RETAIL
Next reports drop in sales
British fashion and homewares retailer Next reported yesterday a fall in first quarter underlying sales at its retail stores, ahead of its own guidance, but forecast improved first-half sales. Next, the UK’s second-largest clothing retailer by sales value, said like-for-like sales in stores unaffected by new openings fell 2.3 percent in the 14 weeks to last Saturday and forecast that first half like-for-like sales would fall between 4 percent and 7 percent.
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