■CRIME
Madoff will not appeal
Disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, convicted of running the biggest financial fraud in US history, has decided not to appeal his 150-year prison sentence, his lawyer said on Thursday. “We decided not to file an appeal,” said Madoff’s lawyer, Ira Sorkin. Legal experts had said an appeal would have been unlikely to achieve a reduction in Madoff’s sentence, which effectively means the 71-year-old will spend his last days in prison.
■CHINA
Exports drop 21.4%
Chinese exports dropped 21.4 percent year-on-year last month, state media reported yesterday, narrowing from May’s fall of 26.4 percent. The latest plunge was the eighth straight monthly decline, underlining how China’s crucial export sector has been hit by a fall in demand from the US and Europe during the global economic crisis. Imports tumbled 13.2 percent year-on-year last month, Xinhua reported citing customs figures. For the first six months of the year, the trade surplus was US$96.9 billion, down 1.3 percent compared to the same period last year, Xinhua said.
■JAPAN
Wholesale prices plummet
Japanese wholesale prices fell at the fastest pace yet last month, data showed yesterday, deepening concern that renewed deflation could hinder a recovery in the world’s No. 2 economy. The prices of goods traded between companies dropped by 6.6 percent last month from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said, the steepest decline since records began in 1960. It was the sixth straight year-on-year fall, following a revised 5.5 percent drop in May, with lower commodity prices seen as the main cause.
■INVESTMENT
Derivatives caused turmoil
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is telling lawmakers the US economy stumbled last year in part because the power and risks of an explosive derivatives market blindsided the government. In congressional testimony prepared for delivery yesterday, Geithner said the ease with which derivatives were bought and sold in an era of easy credit encouraged financial institutions and investors to take on too much risk. At the same time, government regulators weren’t given the proper tools to mitigate those risks and protect the US consumer, he said.
■MINING
John Parker heads Anglo
Mining group Anglo American Plc, which has rebuffed a merger approach from rival Xstrata Plc, has appointed veteran industrialist John Parker as chairman. Anglo, which owns the world’s biggest platinum producer, said yesterday Parker would join the board immediately and take up the post held by retiring Mark Moody-Stuarton on Aug. 1. Parker is chairman of National Grid Plc and also co-chairman of paper and packaging group Mondi.
■FINANCE
Citi shuffles management
Citigroup Inc shuffled its top management again on Thursday, naming its third chief financial officer of the year and bringing in a new head of its Citibank division as it returns its focus to traditional banking. Edward Kelly, who took over as the bank’s finance chief in March, is on the move for the second time in less than five months and will now oversee strategy and mergers in a new role as vice chairman. John Gerspach, 56, currently the bank’s chief accounting officer, is taking over as CFO.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
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