■ Internet
MS plans software service
Microsoft Corp, whose MSN Internet service is losing money and customers, will sell subscriptions to use a new version of its software to bring in clients. The service, called MSN Premium, will cost US$9.95 a month or US$80 a year for a set of e-mail, security, calendar and digital-photo programs, said Lisa Gurry, MSN Group product manager. A version without some of the programs will cost less, she said. Sales will begin between December and February. Microsoft, which primarily sells access over dial-up phone lines, has forecast a decline in MSN sales this year as clients switch to faster connections. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is avoiding selling high-speed access and is trying to collect a fee for MSN software from customers who get fast access from another company.
■ Automoblies
Ford shuffles management
The Ford Motor Co said Tuesday night that it had named Lewis Booth, Mazda's chief executive, to run Ford's struggling European division. Booth, 54, succeeds Martin Leach, who resigned earlier this month and is said to be in talks to take a top job at Fiat Auto, the Italian automaker. The departure of Leach, a longtime Ford executive, set off a wave of management reshuffling. Mazda Motor, which is one-third owned by Ford, elevated its executive vice president, Hisakazu Imaki, as its president and chief executive to succeed Booth. Another executive, John Parker, president of Ford's Southeast Asian operations and based in Bangkok, was named executive vice president of Mazda. The division reported a pretax loss of US$525 million in the second quarter compared with a US$18 million loss a year earlier.
■ Finance
Singapore's problems grow
Bankruptcies in Singapore are heading for an 18-year high as the city-state grapples with rising unemployment and a struggling economy, Ministry of Law statistics showed on yesterday. In the first seven months of this year, 2,529 individuals were made bankrupt, a 22 percent rise compared to the same period last year. For all of last year, 3,588 people were made bankrupt, the highest figure since 1986, according to the data. Analysts noted this year's total is likely to reach levels not seen even during the last major recession of 1985 and 1986. "Bankruptcy numbers are a function of the labor market," Standard Chartered economist Joseph Tan told The Straits Times. "When people lose their jobs, they are unable to service their home and car loans, and it is quite easy for creditors to file a petition against them," he was quoted as saying.
■ Macroeonomics
Arroyo wants stable peso
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on yesterday asked the central bank to take bolder steps to stabilize the country's sliding currency amid security and political jitters. "I have asked the central bank to crack the whip on speculators and to use feasible monetary tools to stabilize the currency exchange market," Arroyo said. The peso has slid to 55.45 to a dollar on Tuesday amid concerns about the stability of Arroyo's government which survived a failed power grab last month. But the currency slightly recovered in the early transactions on yesterday, trading to as high as 55.35 to a dollar, on expectations of tighter monetary policy.
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