■ Reconstruction
China firm seals Iraq deal
China has won its first contract in post-war Iraq, sealing a deal with the Iraqi Ministry of Communication to supply the country with telecommunications equipment, state media said yesterday. The Zhongxing Telecom Co (ZTE) signed a contract worth US$5 million after six months of difficult negotiations, the Xinhua news agency said on its Web site. The deal was concluded in the face of what Xinhua said was "some resistance" on the part of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority. "On the one hand, the Iraqis themselves wished to continue working with China but on the other the Coalition Provisional Authority seemed to spare no effort in its desire to see all the contracts go to American companies," ZTE's project manager Dong Baoping was quoted as saying.
■ Copyright
Kazaa seeks court delay
International music provider Kazaa asked the Australian Federal Court yesterday to delay hearing alleged copyright breaches against it until a similar case in the US is finished. The hearing follows raids last week by five record labels on a dozen sites across the country to collect evidence against Kazaa, the world's largest file sharing network. Lawyers for Sharman Networks, which owns Kazaa, said the Australian case should not proceed until the Federal Court of Appeal in the US hands down its ruling on similar claims against Kazaa. Outside the court, a lawyer involved in the US case said the music companies were just looking for another opportunity to sue Kazaa after losing hearings in the US and the Netherlands. "Now that they're losing in the United States they seek to come here and fight the same battle on Australian soil," said lawyer David Casselman.
■ Software
PeopleSoft accuses Oracle
Software firm PeopleSoft urged shareholders Monday to reject an improved US$9.4 billion hostile takeover offer from rival Oracle Corp, saying the price was too low. PeopleSoft also accused Oracle of deliberately seeking to harm the firm through the hostile bid process. Oracle boosted its takeover offer by US$2 billion on Feb. 4, declaring it was the "final price" in its bitter struggle for control. "Oracle's offer does not begin to reflect the company's real value, including the value we are creating through our successful combination with J.D. Edwards," PeopleSoft president and chief executive Craig Conway said. "We believe Oracle is using the entire process ... in an attempt to damage our company," he told shareholders in a statement.
■ Software
Norwegian firm to float
A small Norwegian company is planning a stock market listing as part of its plans to go head to head with Microsoft. Oslo-based Opera Software is expected to be floated with a market capitalization of about US$140 million, which compares with mighty Microsoft's near US$300 billion valuation. But the competition in the market for Internet browsers that can be used with mobile phones is not as uneven as it looks, according to Opera's chief executive, Jon von Tetzchner. Microsoft dominates the global market for desktop browsers but von Tetzchner reckons that "in the new markets, like mobile, Microsoft is not as significant a player at this moment."
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