■Semiconductors
Intel cuts sales forecast
Intel Corp, the world's biggest semiconductor maker, said first-quarter sales will fall short of its highest forecast as orders decline for flash-memory chips. The company's stock dropped 5.1 percent. Revenue will be US$6.6 billion to US$6.8 billion, the company said. Intel in January predicted US$6.5 billion to US$7 billion, and analysts had expected Intel to keep the high end of its range in place. Chief financial officer Andy Bryant said the chipmaker probably lost sales to rivals after it raised prices by as much as 40 percent on flash memory used in cellphones and digital cameras.
■ Transportation
DHL ups stake in airline
DHL Worldwide Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net of Germany, said that it had purchased an additional 10 percent of Air Hong Kong, an air cargo carrier, increa-sing its stake to 40 percent. Cathay Pacific Airways, which sold the stake to DHL, owns the rest. The price of the deal was not disclosed. DHL is also building a new express cargo terminal at Hong Kong's airport, Chep Lap Kok, which already handles more international air cargo shipments than any other airport in the world.
■ Aviation
United plans more layoffs
United Airlines is laying off another 900 flight atten-dants next month as it continues to lose money in bankruptcy. United, which this week reported a net loss of US$382 million for January during its first full calendar month in bank-ruptcy, cited economic reasons for the action and said it has a surplus of flight attendants based on current service. Spokesman Joe Hopkins said the carrier would seek volunteers for the furloughs, which take effect April 1. The Asso-ciation of Flight Attendants attributed the move to lighter-than-expected passenger traffic. United is on a strict timetable to show progress toward profita-bility in bankruptcy or else risk losing its interim financing.
■ Finance
ECB urged lower rates
The European Central Bank is coming under pressure from some finance ministers to lower interest rates again after delivering Thursday's smaller-than-expected cut. The bank's quarter-point reduction in its main rate to 2.5 percent was "a positive step," Greece's Nikos Christodoulakis said on Thursday. "A positive step is a step, it's not a jump." Thurs-day's reduction brought borrowing costs to the lowest in almost three-and-a-half years.
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
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