■ Banking
First Financial to expand
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) plans to raise its share of the banking market to 12 percent by buying smaller lenders, A Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing chairman Steve Shieh (謝壽夫). The company, whose main banking unit First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) has a 6 percent market share, is seeking targets with a strong niche in the credit card and consumer loans business, Shieh was quoted as saying. First Financial is more likely to buy a bigger lender such as Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新銀行), which has 3 percent of the banking market, than a company such as SinoPac Holdings Co (建華金控), which has 1 percent, as it seeks to meet its initial target of a 10 percent market share, Shieh told the newspaper. First Commercial Bank is Taiwan's fourth-largest by assets. Shieh was president of Taishin Financial before being named chairman of state-controlled First Financial in August.
■ Computers
Imaging software advocated
When disaster strikes in the form of a system meltdown, many computer users these days are turning to imaging software. With imaging software, within minutes, users can restore an entire computer system to the exact state it was then when the image was taken, according to the computer magazine c't, which recently tested imaging software as a compliment to backup software. While traditional backup software is usually used to back up personal data files, imaging software secures the operating system, files, and all programs installed on a computer. Imaging software takes a "snapshot" of the system, and when used to restore a personal computer that has failed, can recover the system byte for byte.
■ Automobiles
Renault to buy Ssangyong
Renault SA, France's No. 2 carmaker, plans to buy Ssangyong Motor Co, according to a spokesman for the European manufacturer's South Korean venture, Renault Samsung Motor Co. "Renault Group, which is our largest shareholder, submitted a letter of interest for Ssangyong last week," said Ha Tae Eung, a Renault Samsung spokesman. Renault owns 70 percent of the Korean venture, which makes SM5 and SM3 sedans. Chohung Bank and other creditors of Ssangyong want to pick a buyer for their 55.4 percent stake in the country's fourth-largest automaker by next month as part of a debt-recovery plan. The automaker, based in Pyongtaek city south of Seoul, makes Chairman cars as well as Rexton and Kora-ndo sport-utility vehicles.
■ Electronics
DirecTV sale audited
Hughes Electronics Corp told US agencies it will address concerns about foreign ownership of US communications systems if its proposed sale of DirecTV to News Corp is approved, the Washington Post said. News Corp, based in Australia and controlled by Rupert Murdoch, agreed in April to pay US$6.6 billion for a controlling 34 percent stake in DirecTV, the largest US satellite-television provider. The transaction is subject to clearance by the Justice Department and the FCC. Hughes, a division of General Motors Corp, said the audit committee of Fox Entertainment Group, the News Corp unit that would control DirecTV, would be composed solely of US citizens and would have "exclusive jurisdiction" over policies related to national security.
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