■ Internet
Search firms eye TV market
Yahoo Inc and Google Inc, the two largest Internet search companies, probably will expand their ad networks to television and mobile phones as the two media converge, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Analysts, including UBS Securities' Benjamin Schachter and AccuStream iMedia Research's Paul Palumbo, told the paper that testing and recent product introductions from the two companies suggest they are extending online advertising beyond its traditional boundaries. Google's video service that it introduced last week, which lets users download video files, might be accompanied by ads, the paper said. Yahoo already has TV-like ads that may be a prelude to ads on music videos downloaded from Yahoo's music site. More ads may be on the way as the companies offer advanced online services in conjunction with mobile phones, wireless Internet and TV, the Chronicle said.
■ Airlines
Cathay pilots accept offer
Cathay Pacific's pilots' union has agreed to stop funding lawsuits against the airline over 49 fired pilots, accepting a management offer to pay the pilots 10 months severance pay, the company said yesterday. The agreement also permits the pilots to reapply for jobs at the airline, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd spokeswoman Carolyn Leung said. The union had rejected the offer in an earlier vote in February. Despite the union voting to end funding for the lawsuits, it wasn't immediately clear if that would put at end to the legal action. Most of the fired pilots opposed the deal and some are expected to continue to fund the lawsuits themselves, the South China Morning Post reported.
■ Electronics
Microsoft plans tablet PC
Microsoft plans to bring its own tablet PC to the market. Up to now, the software giant has merely delivered the software necessary to run tablet PCs. Other firms have supplied the hardware. Microsoft's tablet PC will be developed in conjunction with a computer manufacturer and is expected to be introduced at under US$1,200, Microsoft's Armin Cremerius-Guenther said. Microsoft's entry into the hardware side of the tablet PC arena is expected to energize the market for these machines. Many tablet PCs have been introduced at a price point that was too high, Cremerius-Guenther said. The selling point for those who did purchase the machines though was that they are flat and light, making them good for businesspeople who travel frequently.
■ China's economy
Investment to drive growth
China's economy is expected to grow 8.9 percent this year, driven by investment, the Shenzhen-based Securities Times reported, citing a quarterly research note by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-affiliated agency. Investment will account for 54 percent of the economy this year, the newspaper said. That's up from 51 percent last year, according to figures derived from National Statistics Bureau data. China's GDP grew at a five-year high of 9.5 percent last year and in the first quarter of this year. The research note suggested the government may have to raise interest rates or take other measures to ensure stability in the economy. Exports are expected to rise 29.4 percent this year, with a 28.6 percent surge in imports, said the paper, an official publication affiliated with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
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