■ Currencies
Samsung turns to euro
Samsung Electronics Co, South Korea's biggest exporter, is planning to reduce dollar transactions after the US currency fell 11 percent against the won in the past year, said public relations manager Cho Sung-in. "With the weakening dollar and strengthening euro, we are currently examining ways to conduct more of our transactions in euros," Cho, Seoul-based manager of overseas public relations at Samsung Electronics, said in an e-mail. Cho didn't elaborate. The dollar's decline exceeded the 9.4 percent drop in the euro against the South Korean currency in the past 12 months.
■ Brands
Adidas sues over stripes
Adidas-Salomon AG, the world's second biggest athletic apparel maker, filed a lawsuit accusing clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch Co of improperly using the three stripes that are associated with Adidas products. The German shoemaker began selling sneakers with three stripes along the side more than 50 years ago, and expanded into clothing around 1967. The lawsuit, filed in Portland, Oregon, claims that Abercrombie is selling pants and jackets with three side stripes and is "passing off its goods as those of Adidas." Adidas has been aggressive in protecting what it contends is its ownership of stripes on athletic wear, with about three-dozen lawsuits since 1999. The Abercrombie suit, filed Dec. 23 in US federal court, seeks an order that blocks sales of any clothing with stripes, forces the destruction of existing merchandise and makes Abercrombie pay damages.
■ Telecoms
KDDI gaining on rival
KDDI Corp, Japan's No. 2 mobile-phone company, signed up more subscribers last year than its bigger rival, NTT DoCoMo Inc, and the local unit of Vodafone Group Plc. Tokyo-based KDDI signed up a net 2.7 million subscribers last year, and now offers mobile services to 22.4 million users. DoCoMo added 2.2 million subscribers last year for a total of 47.9 million, while Vodafone KK gained 437,000, bringing its total to 15.2 million. KDDI is catching up with bigger rival DoCoMo by getting more customers to transfer to high-speed, or third-generation, services that allow faster downloading of music, video and other data than on older networks. In December, KDDI signed up a net 257,100 subscribers, beating DoCoMo, which added 247,500. Vodafone KK gained 900.
■ Infrastructure
Dubai to build new airport
Dubai, the base of Emirates, the largest Arab airline, will start building a second airport next month that can handle 120 million pass-engers a year to help it become a global center for world transport, Gulf News reported. The new airport will cover 140km2 adjacent to Jebel Ali seaport, the Middle East's largest shipping terminal, west of the main city of Dubai, the newspaper reported, citing the official state news agency. The sheikhdom already plans to invest US$5.3 billion in the next five years expanding its existing airport, boosting capacity to 70 million passengers a year by 2010 from 22 million now, accord-ing to a prospectus for bonds to finance the airport. The target capacity for both airports would exceed last year's total for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Internat-ional Airport, the world's busiest, and London's Heath-row, according to data from the Airports Council Inter-national industry group.
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