■MINING
Macarthur mulls offer
Australian miner Macarthur Coal Ltd said yesterday it would hold talks with Peabody Energy after two major shareholders said the US firm’s latest takeover offer of US$3.8 billion was worth considering. Macarthur, a major producer of pulverized coal used by steelmakers, said it was not making a recommendation to shareholders on Peabody’s increased bid of A$16 a share — an improvement over previous offers of A$13 and A$14 per share — for a total of A$4.1 billion (US$3.8 billion). However, one of its major shareholders, the world’s biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA, said Peabody’s latest offer warranted “due consideration,” while another shareholder, South Korean steel producer POSCO, offered “in-principle support” for the bid.
■TOBACCO
UK issues pricing fines
Two tobacco manufacturers and nine retailers have been fined a total of £225 million (US$348 million) for “unlawful practices” in the pricing of tobacco products, the Office of Fair Trading said yesterday. The fine is the largest-ever total imposed by the office, and relates to the pricing of cigarettes, cigars and rolling tobacco. Imperial Tobacco Group and Gallaher Group were slapped with fines of £112.3 million and £50.4 million respectively.
■SWITZERLAND
Nestle challenges taxes
The chairman of food and drinks giant Nestle SA said on Thursday that Switzerland was no longer the most attractive country for business taxes. “Today there are other more attractive locations with regard to tax, even within Europe,” Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said in a speech to shareholders of Nestle, which is Switzerland’s biggest publicly owned company. A Nestle spokesman said Brabeck-Letmathe wasn’t referring to “any specific list” of countries with more favorable tax conditions.
■ELECTRONICS
Videogame sales rebound
US videogame sales last month broke a losing streak blamed in part on tough economic times, new figures released on Thursday by NPD Group showed. Revenue tallied US$1.52 billion, 6 percent higher than the US$1.44 billion posted in the same month a year earlier, NPD said. Nintendo dominated the videogame hardware category, selling 557,500 of its Wii consoles and a record-setting 700,800 DS handheld playing devices.
■RETAIL
Carrefour sales rise
French retail giant Carrefour SA reported on Thursday its first quarterly sales increase in 18 months, with revenue up 5.5 percent in the first quarter despite a “challenging” market environment. The world’s second-largest retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc said revenues rose to 23.96 billion euros (US$32.52 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up from 22.7 billion euros a year earlier. Carrefour also announced a share buyback program of up to 6 percent of its capital.
■AVIATION
China Eastern to join team
China Eastern Airlines (中國東方航空) said yesterday it would sign a preliminary agreement to join global airline alliance SkyTeam. The companies were to sign a memorandum of understanding late yesterday, said Luo Zhuping (羅祝平), a spokesman for the nation’s third-largest carrier. China’s top carrier, China Southern Airlines (南方航空), is a member of SkyTeam, while the nation’s No. 2, Air China (中國國際航空), belongs to the Star Alliance.
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