■ Cosmetics
China becomes No. 8
China has become the world's eighth-largest and Asia's second-biggest cosmetics market as disposable incomes jump in an increasingly wealthy society, state press reported yesterday. Beauty products worth about 46 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion) were sold in the world's most populous country last year, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing figures from the China Association of Fragrance, Flavor and Cosmetics Industry. "However, considering China's huge population, the market is far less tapped compared with Japan and other European countries," said association chairman Zhang Dianyi. "The China market has been growing by about 25 percent every year over the past 10 years and the trend is going to continue." More than 3,000 companies currently sell a massive range of cosmetics in China, he added. The US is the world's biggest beauty market, followed by Japan.
■ Antitrust
Microsoft to pay millions
Microsoft Corp will provide vouchers of up to US$89 million for North Carolina consumers to settle that state's class-action antitrust lawsuit against the software company. Microsoft announced the settlement last month, but had not disclosed its details until Thursday. North Carolina's class-action lawsuit, and others filed by additional states on behalf of consumers, alleged that Microsoft violated the states' antitrust and unfair competition laws. The settlement, approved last week by the North Carolina Business Court, covers North Carolina residents who bought Microsoft's Windows operating system, Office business software or its spreadsheet or word processing software from Dec. 9, 1995, to Dec. 31 last year.
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