■INDUSTRY
Record output cut in EU
Factories and refiners in the 16 countries using the euro cut their output at the fastest rate on record in April in the face of depressed demand, official EU figures showed yesterday. The Eurostat data agency said eurozone industrial production fell 1.9 percent in April over one month, bringing the drop over 12 months to a record 21.6 percent, the sharpest annual contraction on record. In March, production had fallen 1.4 percent over one month and 19.3 percent over 12 months.
■ECONOMY
Asia can’t rely on US: ADB
Asia can’t rely on exports to the US for long-term economic growth because US consumers will buy less as they increase savings and pay down debt, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday. “I’m optimistic on Asia’s short-term outlook but pessimistic on the long-term,” Kuroda said in a speech in Tokyo. “The US savings rate could rise to as high as 10 percent and suppress consumption. It’s becoming impossible for Asia to rely on the US consumer.”
■LABOR
British postal strike planned
A British union says thousands of postal workers will strike next week in a dispute over jobs and services. The Communication Workers Union says up to 10,000 mail sorters, letter carriers and other London employees will walk out on Friday for 24 hours. The union accused the Royal Mail of making “arbitrary cuts” and called for negotiations. British public sector unions have increasingly called strikes as employers cut jobs and benefits amid the recession.
■COMPUTER
Dell planning acquisition
US computer giant Dell is planning to acquire a “significant-sized company” in the next few months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing people who have recently spoken with its chief financial officer, Brian Gladden, said the Round Rock, Texas-based company wanted to expand its data-storage and tech-services businesses. The Journal said Dell, which has more than US$9 billion in cash reserves, sold US$1 billion in bonds on Wednesday. A Dell spokesman said the debt offering was “for general corporate purposes, and among the possibilities — and certainly no commitment has been made — are acquisitions.”
■BANKING
World banks must act: China
The US government and global financial authorities need to remove toxic assets from their banking systems to restore world economic stability, a top Chinese banking regulator said yesterday. Actions taken by governments worldwide to stabilize the financial sector “have gradually eased the panic,” said Liu Mingkang (劉明康), chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. “But from the flip side of the coin ... I should say it’s not enough and all these are not ... working,” given the massive losses incurred by toxic assets still lingering in banking systems around the world, he said.
■INTERNET
AOL buys two Web startups
Internet pioneer AOL, which Time Warner plans to spin off into an independent company later this year, announced on Thursday that it had bought two small Web startups focused on local content. AOL, in a statement, said it had purchased Patch Media Corp, a local news and information platform for local communities, and Going Inc, a platform for sharing information about events in major cities.
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