■ Cellphones
Degradable case developed
Scientists at Britain's University of Warwick have designed a high-tech solution to a growing junk problem: a cellphone case made of biodegradable polymer. It looks smart, it feels cool, and it breaks down on the compost heap into a pile of soil nutrients. What is more, it flowers. That is because engineers have put a tiny transparent window in the case or cover in which they embed a dwarf sunflower seed. This lies dormant in its plastic sheath until the phone cover lands in the soil. In Europe alone, more than 100 million old phones are thrown away each year. Their electronic innards can be taken apart to extract precious metals, but the composite cases are not much use to anyone. In Britain, new laws may soon require cellphone makers to take their products back and separate the plastic parts.
■ Currencies
Mahathir down on the dollar
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad urged countries and companies yesterday to curb their reliance on the US dollar and increase their holdings in the euro and the yen. "Euros, pounds and yen would be safer to keep than [the] US dollar," Mahathir said in a speech given to an East Asian conference of government officials and business leaders. "I would urge countries and businesses to switch to euro and yen [holdings] or buy gold." Mahathir said the move would help countries from being hurt too much by oil price increases, which were considerably higher when measured in US dollars compared to the other currencies. "The US dollar no longer reflects the true value or wealth of nations," he said. Mahathir, who retired in October last year, did not say whether he believed his country should alter its currency peg, which was imposed in 1998 amid the Asian economic crisis.
■ Networking
Fujitsu, Cisco join forces
Electronics maker Fujitsu and Internet technology giant Cisco have agreed to work together on developing high-end routers used for advanced Internet networks in Japan, the two companies announced yesterday. The alliance will take advantage of California-based Cisco Systems Inc's leadership in Internet protocol technology and Tokyo-based Fujitsu Ltd's edge in networking products. The companies will work together to develop router operating systems for Japanese providers, and Fujitsu will offer routing products under a joint Fujitsu and Cisco brand, with the first product expected in the spring.
■ Digital Cameras
Sanyo chooses China
Sanyo plans to buy nearly all parts for its digital cameras from China by the end of next year to help offset falling retail prices for the finished product, a company official was quoted as saying yesterday. Japan's third-largest consumer electronics maker currently secures about 50 percent of digital-camera parts in China with the rest coming from Japan or South Korea. However, it intends to shift by the end of next year to nearly 100 percent procurement from China, where costs are lower, Sanyo Electric managing director Hiroshi Ono said in a report in the Tokyo Shimbun. Sanyo will also send on components bought in China to other parts of Asia for assembly, Ono said. As digital cameras go mainstream, prices have dropped sharply, spelling trouble for electronics makers. Both Sanyo and Olympus saw profits plunge in their last six-month earnings.
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