■SHIPPING
Maersk sinks into red
Danish shipping and oil giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk yesterday reported a first-half net loss of 3.02 billion kroner (US$577 million) as the global slump depressed freight demand. This compares with a net profit of 11.98 billion kroner in the same period last year. The global shipping firm said the recent global economic turmoil had hit the company “primarily by way of declining volumes and rates for container shipping activities.” Freight revenue tumbled 30 percent to 54.9 billion kroner, a statement said. The company downplayed the possibility of a return to profitability before next year.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Venezuela eyes Pfizer plant
The Venezuelan government is threatening to seize an idle medicine factory belonging to Pfizer Inc if a purchase agreement cannot be worked out. Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman said on Thursday that “if negotiations fail, our ministry will proceed to occupy the plant so it begins functioning.” A spokeswoman at Pfizer’s New York headquarters says the company is in talks with Venezuela’s health ministry over the sale. The spokeswoman, Tyrene Frederick-Mack, says the plant’s shutdown in May was part of a consolidation of the company’s manufacturing facilities worldwide. Pfizer says it transferred production to a second Venezuelan plant, also in the city of Valencia.
■MINING
Putin pledges US$1bn
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged US$1 billion to help the embattled domestic diamond industry withstand the global economic crisis as he visited a remote mining region yesterday. “We have no doubts that everything will be restored,” Putin told workers as he visited state diamond monopoly Alrosa’s mine near the far northern town of Mirny in Siberia. The government will help restore demand by earmarking as much as 35 billion rubles (US$1.1 billion) in state funds this year, he said in televised comments. He did not provide specifics on how the money would be spent.
■ECONOMICS
Euro zone PMI on the rise
Further evidence emerged yesterday that the 16 countries using the euro are on the verge of growing again following the most savage recession since World War II. Financial information company Markit said mounting optimism helped its composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a broad gauge of business activity — for the euro zone rise by a record three points this month to 50. The increase suggests that economic output in the euro zone has at least stabilized — 50 marks the inflection point between expansion and contraction. Markit said the services sector was nearly growing again. Its PMI swelled to 49.5 this month from 45.7 last month. The manufacturing sector also looks to be on the mend: Its PMI rose to 47.9 from 46.3.
■SOFTWARE
Oracle, Sun deal approved
Business software giant Oracle said on Thursday that the US Justice Department had given the green light to its US$7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems. Approval of the deal had been expected, but it still needs the clearance of the European Commission. Sun, a one-time Silicon Valley star, is the developer of the popular Java programming language. It is also the fourth-largest maker of computer servers but has been steadily losing market share to IBM, as well as Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
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