■World markets
Japan spending boost
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday ordered a boost to government spending in the current financial year and a strengthening of his economic reform drive, but analysts were unimpressed. Koizumi told his cabinet to draw up details of a supplementary budget for the year to March after the government and ruling coalitions parties agreed the previous day to earmark an extra three trillion yen (US$24.4 billion) for public works projects and a social safety net. But some ministers and analysts warned the amount was insufficient to fight deflation and end a 12-year economic slump. Job losses and bankruptcies are expected to rise as the government pushes banks to accelerate the write-off of massive bad loans.
■ Computers
Microsoft announces flaw
Microsoft on Thursday announced a critical security flaw in most versions of its Windows operating system and urged users to download a security patch from the company website. The software giant said the flaw afflicted versions of Windows 2000, Millennium, 98 and NT 4.0, allowing attackers to exploit a vulnerability in the software that underlies many database functions and take over the user's computer. It was unclear how many times, if any, attackers had taken advantage of the flaw. The company's newest operating system Windows XP, does not suffer the problem. The announcement was Microsoft's 65th security flaw announced this year, underscoring how far the company has to go to fulfill demands of founder Bill Gates to create a trust-worthy computing platform.
■ Semiconductors
Infineon to post loss
Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's No. 2 semiconductor maker, expects to post an operating loss of at least 200 million euros (US$201 million) this fiscal year, <
■ World Markets
Vietnam piracy purge
Nearly 36,000 music, video and computer discs, 60,000 print advertisements and 15,668 books have been destroyed in the Vietnamese capital in a purge against piracy and "cultural pollution", officials said yesterday. Over 450 calendars and 1,097 advertising banners were also incinerated on Thursday in the third crackdown of the year in Hanoi against unlicensed and pirated goods. "We destroyed these products mainly because they were fake or unauthorized copies rather than because they contained poisonous material," an official from the city's culture and information department said. However, he added that some of VCDs contained pornography. The majority of the books that were set alight were illegal copies of best-sellers, but there were also some with "superstitious" content, the official said. Vietnam's communist government still remains suspicious about pagan and other traditional beliefs, fearing they could undermine its grip on power.
Agencies
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