■ Textiles
EU official cautions China
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called on China to restrain its textile exports with "moderation and caution" and take stock of the effect its economic strength has on the rest of the world. China began taxing some of its textile shipments and limiting expansion of its clothing industry in December, after the US and EU threatened to raise border barriers to stem an expected flood of exports from China when quotas ended on Jan. 1 under a 1994 World Trade Organization accord. "Six weeks ago China reaped a remarkable down payment from WTO membership," Mandelson said, according to a copy of a speech given today in Beijing. "This liberalization is a major prize for you. Already its effects are beginning to be felt" in the EU and poor textile-exporting nations, and "there is much concern" that China's own efforts to stem its exports won't be enough.
■ Oil
Cold causes fuel worries
Crude oil rose to a four-month high on concern that a longer-than-expected cold spell will drain stockpiles of heating fuels. Freezing temperatures across Northwest Europe and the US are boosting consumption of heating oil and diesel. US inventories of such fuels probably dropped by 1.75 million barrels last week, a survey showed. "It's mainly the cold snap that's added US$4 or US$5 to prices, particularly with Europe having a freeze from Siberia," said Jason Kenney, an analyst at ING Financial Markets in Edinburgh. Crude for April delivery jumped as much as US$0.58 to US$51.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Nov. 1. It was up US$0.38 at US$51.55 at 9:06am London time, up 49 percent from a year ago.
■ Internet
Google adds film service
Google Inc, the most-used Internet search engine, added a feature for searching movie showtimes and reviews, matching existing services provided by Yahoo Inc and Microsoft Corp's MSN. The movie feature allows users to search for showtimes by entering a zip code and the name of the movie, the Mountain View, California-based company said on its Web log. Google, Yahoo, MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s America Online are offering competing features to attract more users and the advertisers trying to reach them. Google added a test version of online maps on Feb. 8 and in March last year started a free e- mail service, matching earlier Yahoo offerings. They've more than doubled since the company's initial public offering in August. The service also provides movie recommendations.
■ Computers
New, better iPods released
Apple Computer Inc released new versions of its popular iPod digital music player Wednesday, cutting prices and expanding memory capacities. The price of the 4-gigabyte iPod mini was cut US$50 to US$199. A new 6-gigabyte version will sell for US$249. The battery life of the second-generation mini models has also been improved. The playback time on a single charge is now 18 hours, up from 8 hours of previous models. The slim and colorful line of minis, first introduced in January last year, played a key role last year in doubling Apple's share in the portable music player market from 30 percent to 60 percent, said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware product marketing.
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