■SARS closures
Ricoh closes factory
Ricoh Co, Japan's second-biggest office-equipment maker, said it shut a factory in Beijing for six days earlier this month after a worker was diagnosed with SARS. Ricoh closed the plant, which produces thermal transfer ribbons, from May 6 to 11, said spokesman Takanobu Matsunami. The company, which said SARS hasn't affected its production or earnings, asked 50 of the plant's 60 employees to stay home during the period. SARS has killed 662 people worldwide, with more than 80 percent of deaths in China and Hong Kong, according to the World Health Organization's Web site.
■ Technology
Temporary DVD unveiled
The Walt Disney Co is to test a rental DVD that self destructs in a bid to increase home viewing of its movies. The DVD's will go on sale in August for slightly more than it costs to rent a movie. Buyers can view the enclosed movie as many times as they want for 48 hours after opening the package, after which a chemical will be released that will render the movie unwatchable. Disney also plans to launch a trial version of a pay-per-view movie receiver box, which will plug into televisions like other devices such as video recorders. The box will come pre-loaded with 100 films, and Disney will upload about 10 more per month via broadcast in the pilot markets. Scheduled to launch in Salt Lake City and two other cities, Disney will make the set-top receivers available for rent at elec-tronics stores. Movie prices will be similar to those of rentals, and viewers will be able to watch a rented film as many times as they wish within a 24-hour period. Disney hopes that cus-tomers will use its new technology from home rather than drive to video rental stores.
■ Taxes
Expats keep tax break
The US Congress appears likely to retain tax-free status for 6 million Americans living overseas that make less than US$80,000 per year, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. A repeal of the Section 911 income-tax exclusion would make employing US workers more expensive and would send many expats home. Senate and House members have been taken aback by an aggressive campaign against the change from US businesses abroad, the report said. The repeal has modest support in the Senate and is expected to be retained by a majority in the House of Representatives, it said. Senate and House negotiators could finalize a decision no earlier than next Monday.
■ Monetary policy
Bank chief becomes cabbie
Brazil's respected former Central Bank chief Arminio Fraga is soon to be seen dispensing financial wisdom from behind the wheel of a taxi. Fraga is set to appear as a taxi-driver in one of Brazil's most popular satirical television shows, Casseta&Planeta, a local network said on Tuesday. In the skit a businessman is shocked to find his cab driver confidently expound-ing views on the wild swings of Brazil's exchange rate. Fraga's cover is eventually blown and he explains why he has chosen his new profession. "After I left the Central Bank I started thinking, where can a guy with my curriculum and knowledge be used to his full potential? In a taxi! Because the people who really run the economy and everything else are taxi drivers," Fraga is scripted to say, according to a Globo Television spokesman.
Agencies
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
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