■ Computers
Dell sales expected to rise
Dell Inc backed its guidance for the fiscal first quarter on Wednesday and said it expects annual sales to reach US$80 billion in the next few years. The computer maker said it continues to expect earnings of US$0.37 per share on sales of US$13.4 billion in the February-April period, matching current estimates in a survey of analysts by Thomson Financial. Dell predicted that revenue will grow from US$49 billion to US$80 billion over the next three to four years.
■ Computer crime
Spammer's office raided
The Australian government's communications regulator yesterday raided the office of a company accused of bombarding computers with tens of millions of spam e-mails. Investigators seized computer hard disks and other material during the raid of the company in the Western Australia state capital, Perth, the Australian Communications Authority said in a statement. The authority did not name the company involved or its director, who was not arrested or charged with any offense. Australia outlawed spamming last year. Offenders face fines of up to 1.1 million Australian dollars (US$845,400).
■ Economy
Recovery may be delayed
South Korea's central bank said yesterday the country's economic recovery may come later than previously hoped, citing weak industrial output and construction investment. Bank of Korea Governor Park Seung stepped back from his earlier estimate that the economic recovery was proceeding at a faster than expected rate. "The economy will recover only in the second half of this year. Yet, we may not see a full rebound," said Park.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)