■INTEREST RATES
Thailand raises key rates
Thailand’s central bank yesterday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent, the first such hike in almost two years, as the economy recovers from the effect of deadly unrest. “The economy should continue to grow,” the Bank of Thailand said in a statement explaining its decision, which follows the end in May of two months of mass protests in Bangkok that hit the vital tourist sector. “The impact of the domestic political situation on the Thai economy in the second quarter proved to be limited. The tourism industry has shown signs of a quick recovery while consumption and production were little affected,” the bank said.
■Transport
Electric scooter unveiled
Japan’s Yamaha Motor yesterday unveiled a zero-emission electric motor scooter for city use that it said could travel five times farther than a gasoline model for the same cost. The EC-03 can travel 43km on a single six-hour charge from a household power outlet, which costs about ¥18 (US$0.20) in Japan, far less than the cost of powering a conventional 50cc scooter, it said. Yamaha will launch the e-moped on Sept. 1 in Tokyo, and a month later across Japan, at an expected retail price of ¥252,000 (US$2,800). It will start exports to Taiwan and Europe next year.
■South Korea
Mobiles to use Web for calls
South Korea’s top mobile phone carrier SK Telecom said yesterday it would allow subscribers to make Internet calls over its cellular network. Subscribers will be allowed to make phone calls using services from companies like Skype while they are connected to SK Telecom’s 3G network, the company said in a statement. Programs like Skype allow users to make cheap calls through the Internet without paying charges based on voice minutes. Mobile carriers have limited such services for fear of losing profits. Currently the use of mobile Internet phone calls is limited to Wi-Fi networks. SK Telecom also promised to create 15,000 Wi-Fi zones in South Korea by the end of this year, up 50 percent from its initial plan, to boost wireless data usage.
■Telecoms
Nokia, Motorola negotiate
Nokia Siemens Networks is in negotiations to purchase Motorola Inc’s telecommunications equipment business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The deal, which may come in the next few weeks, may be worth US$1.1 billion to US$1.3 billion, the newspaper said. The business, which mostly makes older equipment, would give Nokia Siemens access to Motorola’s customers in the US such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp, according to the report.
■MINING
Rio planning expansion
Mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday announced US$200 million in funding toward a major expansion of its Western Australia iron ore operations, less than two weeks after a tax row was settled. Rio said the money would be used for dredging works at its Cape Lambert port facility, an essential part of plans to boost overall capacity in the Pilbara region by 50 percent to 330 million tonnes a year. In the second quarter, Rio Tinto said iron ore production fell 2 percent to 43.6 million metric tonnes from 44.6 million tonnes a year earlier. That compares with an estimate of 44.8 million tonnes by UBS AG analysts.
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