■ Electronics
Wyse to expand in Asia
California-based Wyse Technology Inc wants its Asia-Pacific and Japan operations to contribute 30 percent to gross global revenues over the next two years, a published report said yesterday. The region currently accounts for 12 percent. Wyse is setting up its Southeast Asia regional headquarters in Singapore next month, The Business Times reported. "We now have about half of our 350 employees in Asia, as compared to about 20 percent previously," San-Jose-based president John Kish was quoted as saying. "The reason for this is to have engineers closer to the market for rapid turnaround and customization." Wyse is aiming to increase global revenues from US$200 million to US$1 billion in the next five years.
■ Internet
Yahoo, BlackBerry in deal
Yahoo Inc, the second-most used Internet search engine, signed an agreement to distribute the company's instant messenger software with the BlackBerry e-mail pager made by Research In Motion Ltd. Yahoo's instant messaging software will be distributed with the BlackBerry in the next two months, said Doug Garland, senior vice president of Yahoo mobile. Yahoo's agreement with Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion is for "multiple years," he said. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. The agreement is Yahoo's first with a mobile device manufacturer and illustrates the growing links between the Web and mobile devices. "People are increasingly living on their mobile devices," said Garland. "We believe there's a lot of room for growth," in mobile services. Yahoo and Research In Motion plan to release a version of Yahoo's e-mail service for the BlackBerry in the future, Garland said.
■ Entertainment
Casino project planned
US casino operator Las Vegas Sands will team up with Hong Kong's Regal Hotels International on a hotel-casino project in the booming southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, the Hong Kong company said yesterday. The first phase of the project in Macau's Cotai area will offer at least 1,500 rooms, a casino and a showroom for large performances, Regal Hotels said in a statement posted on the Web site of Hong Kong's stock exchange. The statement said Regal Hotels International Ltd will build the complex and Las Vegas Sands Inc will lease and run the casino and showroom. It said construction of the hotel-casino's initial phase is scheduled for completion by late 2007. The hotel and casino portions of the project will be expanded later, it said.
■ Aviation
Lufthansa talks with Swiss
German carrier Lufthansa announced it was negotiating with Swiss International Air Lines about a possible takeover of the money-losing carrier. In a statement on Sunday, Lufthansa described the talks as "constructive" and said the two companies had come up with a business plan to integrate Swiss into its operations. It said "pillars" of any deal would be keeping Switzerland's air connections and the Swiss brand. "The business plan that has been developed by the two companies must still be approved by the Lufthansa board of directors, the board of Swiss and Swiss shareholders," the statement said. Should the plan meet with board approval, Lufthansa said it would make an offer to buy out smaller investors based on Swiss stock's average price in recent weeks.
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