■Trade
EU opens doors to GMOs
Seeking to avoid a trade battle with Washington, the European Parliament paved the way for new biotech foods to be sold in Europe if they are clearly labeled. But the Bush administration complained that the labeling requirements are onerous. Under the new laws, hundreds of American-made foods would have to be labeled as having genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, because many of them contain starches or syrups derived from genetically engineered corn. The 626-member EU assembly, meeting in Strasbourg, France, gave final approval Wednesday to legislation introducing the tougher labeling of new genetically altered food products. That will enable consumers to tell whether products contain biotech ingredients and allow the European Union to do away with its five-year freeze on the introduction of new biotech products.
■ Economic aid
Bush urges development
US President George W. Bush on Wednesday pledged to promote Palestinian development to instill an "economic hope" needed to foster peace with Israel. Bush's remarks came as his administration was considering increasing economic aid to the Palestinian Authority and for the first time providing it directly, rather than through international groups that bypass the authority. "The circum-stances of who we are dealing with in the Palestinian Authority have changed from night to day," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Bush is also seeking a Middle East free trade agreement. Bush spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah. "I urged them to continue to stay involved in the process," he said. "We must condemn terror at all instances, we must cut off money to terrorist organizations in order to keep this progress moving."
■ Internet
Softbank offers games
Softbank Corp, Japan's second-largest provider of high-speed Internet services, plans to start a Web-based game service this month, with the aim of offering 100 game titles by the year ending next March. Billionaire Masayoshi Son's Tokyo-based company will open the Web site to its "BB Games" service on July 25. To bolster content, Softbank will tie up with 80 South Korean game makers. The company will eventually expand the number of game titles to 300, Softbank said in a news release distributed to reporters.
■ Electronics
Airwaves go toward WiFi
More of the world's airwaves will be allocated to wireless Internet users under an agreement reached by negotiators at the World Radiocom-munication Conference, the Associated Press said, citing US and EU officials. A conference committee and one plenary session have cleared the way to expand the space available for wireless local-area networks. The move is likely to be approved before the meeting ends, the wire service said. Wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, enables a broadband Internet connection to be shared by different computers within a short range. Cable-free access points have appeared in offices, cafes, airports and hotels. The 180-nation conference sets standards on the use of airwaves in different countries. The meeting is being held in Geneva.
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