■ELECTRONICS
Philips beats estimates
Dutch electronics group Philips yesterday reported a first-quarter net profit of 201 million euros (US$271 million), thanks to strong sales of lighting products. The figure is more than two times better than forecasts given by financial analysts to Dow Jones Newswires, but in a statement Philips remained prudent about the coming months because of global economic uncertainties. Sales rose 12 percent to 5.7 billion euros compared with the first three months of last year, when Philips reported a net loss of 57 million euros. Lighting sales rose 18 percent during the period. “Economic uncertainty remains high and consumer confidence low,” Philips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said, adding that: “Some key markets such as the construction sector have yet to recover.”
■FINANCE
Alliance returns rise
British investment company Alliance Trust yesterday reported an increase in total returns for the year to Jan. 31, but underperformed broader equity markets, having missed the rally in the first half of the year. The 120 year-old trust said total returns stood at 22.2 percent, while the FTSE All-World index returned 28.4 percent. “Our investment performance lagged over the first half of the year, largely due to not participating fully in the rally in highly cyclical companies in March and April,” it said in a statement. It also said it ranked 34 out of 43 peers. In the first three months of the year, the trust’s return was a little above 33 percent, underperforming peers by 16.3 percentage points, Lipper data showed.
■TELECOMS
Etisalat profit slips 8.4%
UAE telecoms giant Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) on Sunday reported a first-quarter net profit of 1.99 billion dirhams (US$543.3 million), down 8.4 percent from 2.18 billion dirhams a year ago. Net revenue rose 5 percent to 7.94 billion dirhams from 7.56 dirhams in the same period last year. Last year, the company said it recorded total profits of 8.83 billion dirhams. With more than 100 million subscribers across 18 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Etisalat boasts of being one of the world’s largest telecoms firms.
■GREECE
Debt summit delayed
A meeting of IMF, ECB and EU officials in Athens to discuss billions of euros in emergency debt relief has been delayed because of air travel difficulties, the Greek finance ministry said in a statement. The new date for the beginning of discussions has been set for tomorrow. The negotiations that were due to begin yesterday were to focus on the conditions attached to 30 billion euros in loans to Greece from the EU and half as much again from the IMF.
■MINING
Bolivia warns Japan firm
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca on Sunday accused a Japanese mining subsidiary of “plundering” natural resources in the South American country while exploiting lead and silver, amid a dispute between the firm and local farmers. Choquehuanca told local media that San Cristobal, a firm owned by Japanese trading giant Sumitomo, “doesn’t pay a cent” for its consumption of about 600 liters of water per second for its metal mining operations. The company is “a multinational that steals our natural resources, plundering tonnes of minerals every day but does not pay” for its water usage, he told La Prensa newspaper.
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