■INVESTMENT
Seoul to launch fund
South Korea will launch a US$3.94 billion fund next month to boost corporate investment as part of a drive for economic recovery, officials said yesterday. The 5 trillion-won fund was approved by President Lee Myung-bak at his meeting with business leaders and policymakers, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said. The ministry plans to expand the fund to 20 trillion won after drawing participation from other pension funds and institutional investors.
■TRADE
Australia posts huge deficit
Australia yesterday reported its largest trade deficit in 12 months as softening commodity prices and demand hammered export earnings, dealers said. The trade deficit almost doubled to A$556 million (US$449 million) in seasonally adjusted terms in May, up from A$282 million in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. Exports plunged 5 percent over the month, partially offset by a 4 percent fall in imports. It was the steepest fall since July last year, when Australia reported a seasonally adjusted deficit of A$717 million and was more than four times the median market expectation of A$125 million.
■ELECTRONICS
Hitachi to supply GM
Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi Ltd said yesterday it would supply lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles to General Motors Corp next year and sharply raise production capacity to meet surging demand for gas-electric cars. Hitachi currently makes 40,000 lithium-ion batteries per month and will lift the capacity to 3 million units. “We plan to boost our production capacity for lithium-ion batteries as we expect demand for hybrid vehicles will continue to grow worldwide,” Hitachi spokesman Shinya Yamada said. He declined to say when capacity expansion would start.
■INTERNET
YouTube raises upload limit
Video-sharing site YouTube said on Wednesday it was doubling the size limit for uploads to its Web site to allow users to post more high-definition (HD) video. YouTube, in a blog post, said the size limit for uploads to the site was being doubled — from 1 gigabyte to 2 gigabytes. “The increase means you can upload longer videos at a higher resolution as well as large HD files directly from your camera,” YouTube said. “The changes allow you to share links directly to the HD version of your video, as well as embed the HD version on your blog or Web site,” it said.
■TELECOMS
Telefonica eyeing T-Mobile
Telefonica has joined Vodafone in considering a bid for T-Mobile UK, while France Telecom is weighing up a possible joint venture with the British mobile operator, the Financial Times said yesterday, citing people close to the matter. The FT on Monday reported that Vodafone, the world’s biggest mobile phone company by revenue, was exploring a bid to buy T-Mobile UK, the British arm of Deutsche Telekom.
■MINING
Rio Tinto 97% subscribed
Mining giant Rio Tinto said yesterday investors had bought 97 percent of the new London-listed shares issued by the group to help it raise US$15.2 billion. The Anglo-Australian group on June 5 announced plans to raise US$11.8 billion from the sale of fresh London-listed stock and US$3.4 billion from new shares listed in Sydney. Results of the Sydney rights issue would be announced today, the company said.
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
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
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