■ US economy
Service sector expands
The US service sector continued to expand in November, at a pace that surprised economists, a report showed Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of the non-manufacturing economy jumped to 57.4 in November from 53.1 the previous month and 53.9 in September. That was much stronger than the 53.5 economists were expecting. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Service-sector companies have fared better than their manufacturing counterparts. The group's index of manufacturing activity has shown contraction for the past three months. November marked the 10th straight month of expansion in the service sector, and there were signs that the growth will continue. The new-orders index -- a key measure of future activity -- jumped to 58 in November from 50.9 in October.
■ Semiconductors
Intel may boost forecast
Intel Corp, the world's biggest semiconductor maker, probably will raise the low end of its fourth-quarter sales forecast because demand for personal computers is improving, investors and analysts said. Intel, which makes Pentium processors, will give a mid-quarter update today. Investors and analysts predict better-than-estimated PC demand this quarter will lead Intel to lift the floor on its sales forecast of US$6.5 billion to US$6.9 billion given Oct. 15. Sales estimates that Dell Computer Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co gave in November for their quarters ending in January matched previous forecasts by analysts, indicating Intel should meet its goal, investors said. An increase in shipments of motherboards, which link a PC's processor to other chips, and retail sales that are meeting analyst forecasts also are helping Intel, they said.
■ Online shopping
Top four engines used
The four top Internet search engines are used for more than 90 percent of global shopping referrals, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey by the research group WebSideStory said Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and America Online accounted for 92.79 percent of all global search referrals to shopping Web sites. Google was first with 27.16 percent, followed by Yahoo (25.92 percent), MSN (24.11 percent) and AOL NetFind (15.6 percent). "This is critical information for retailers who are planning any type of online marketing campaign this holiday season," said Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket. "Search engines still represent the best source of new visitors." The survey coincides with other reports showing a growing dominance of the top Internet companies.
■ Trade Secrets
Sun Micro nabs thieves
Two Northern California men were indicted for stealing trade secrets from Sun Microsystems Inc, Transmeta Corp and others to enable a Chinese company to make microprocessors. Fei Ye and Ming Zhong conspired to commit economic espionage and carry stolen trade secrets to Hangzhou, China-based Supervision Inc, according to a grand jury indictment filed today in federal court in San Jose, California. Supervision Inc had applied for funding from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China and was working with a professor at Zhejiang University, the indictment said.
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