■COMPUTERS
iPad delivery faces delay
Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer hits US shelves on Saturday, but fans who want the new touch-screen gadget shipped directly to them must wait a week. The company began taking pre-orders for the iPad on March 12, promising to get the device to eager buyers by its store launch date of Saturday. Customers who placed pre-orders by March 27 will receive the device by that date, where Saturday delivery is available, but Apple said on Sunday that new pre-orders would not be shipped out until April 12. The Cupertino, California, company declined to give a reason for the shipping delay, but said would-be customers could still pre-order the iPad for in-store pickup on Saturday, or purchase the device in stores that day.
■SOUTH KOREA
Current account swings up
The nation’s current account swung back to surplus last month as oil imports declined amid milder weather and people spent less on overseas travel, the central bank said yesterday. The surplus in the account — the broadest measure of trade with the world — was US$157.6 million last month compared with a revised US$630.8 million deficit the previous month, the Bank of Korea said. The January figure was the first shortfall for a year as energy imports rose because of unusually cold weather. The central bank forecast a current account surplus of around US$1.5 billion for this month as exports remain brisk. The goods balance last month recorded a surplus of US$1.53 billion compared with a revised US$1.38 billion in January. Exports rose 26.8 percent year-on-year to US$32 billion while imports gained 37.6 percent to US$30.5 billion. A shortfall in the services account, which includes spending by South Koreans on overseas trips, narrowed to US$1.78 billion last month from US$2.16 billion in January.
■ENERGY
Sinopec shares rise
Shares in Sinopec (中石化) rose yesterday after the Chinese refiner said net profit more than doubled last year on stronger demand and higher refined oil prices in the domestic market. Net profit rose 116.5 percent year-on-year to 61.8 billion yuan (US$9.1 billion) last year, Asia’s largest oil refiner said in a statement to the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Sinopec ended the morning session in Shanghai up 2.5 percent at 12.08 yuan in a strong market. Last year, China introduced a new fuel price system indirectly linking domestic prices with international crude oil costs, partially in an attempt to guarantee profit margins for refiners at home. Sinopec also said yesterday it had agreed to buy an interest in a deep-water oil block off Angola by acquiring 55 percent of Sonangol Sinopec International Ltd for US$2.5 billion from its parent China Petrochemical Corp. In 2008, Sinopec’s net profit tumbled to US$28.5 billion as demand contracted amid the crisis, compared with US$55.9 billion in the previous period.
■ENERGY
Oil prices rebound
Oil prices rebounded in Asian trading yesterday on optimism that US data this week would show the world’s biggest economy is extending its steady recovery, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, climbed US$0.60 to US$80.60 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for May delivery was up US$0.66 to US$79.95 per barrel. The Institute of Supply Management will release its index on US manufacturing growth on Thursday and the Labor Department’s report on non-farm payroll employment is to follow on Friday.
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