■ Computers
Chip decision praised
Apple Computer Inc's decision to use Intel Corp chips in its computers will boost Apple's share of the home entertainment market by giving its customers access to Windows-based software and games, the New York Times said. The switch to Intel may also increase Apple's share of business PC and laptop buyers, the Times said. Macintosh computer owners have been blocked from using much of software created for business and entertainment use because Macs don't operate Windows programs, the Times said. Apple announced this week that it would stop buying chips from International Business Machines Corp. and turn to Intel, the Times said. Steven Jobs, Apple's chief executive, said the company ended the 14-year relationship because IBM didn't meet needs for a more powerful chip, while IBM said the relationship ended over costs, the Times said.
■ Marketing
Hong Kong takes on spam
Hong Kong plans to enact an anti-spam law next year to crack down on companies that send unsolicited e-mails or make automated telemarketing calls to consumers, an official has said. The government has consulted with industry groups to craft a law that would combat junk faxes, e-mails, text messages and telemarketing calls. Au Man-ho, director-general of the Telecommunications Authority, said in a statement yesterday that direct marketing companies using automated calling on an unsolicited basis "can be considered a spam problem." However, Au said the law -- to take effect at an unspecified date next year -- would not cover "manually made cold calls" to avoid interfering with normal business activities.
■ Banking
Unicredito to offer swap
Italian bank Unicredito plans to offer more than 15 billion euros (US$18 billion) in a stock swap for Germany's HypoVereinsbank (HVB), which would make it the biggest cross-border banking merger in Europe, sources close to the deal said yesterday. Unicredito has offered to swap five of its shares for each HVB share in an agreement reached between representatives of the two banks, sources said. Based on trading late Friday, HVB would be valued at around 20.50 euros per share, totalling about 15.1 billion euros.
■ Automobiles
`Flex-fuel' car developed
Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor has begun developing a "flex-fuel" vehicle powered by gasoline and lower-priced alcohol fuel, and aimed at the Brazilian and other Latin American markets, a newspaper reported yesterday. Toyota aims to launch the new vehicle in the second half of next year or later, with the demand for alcohol fuel made from sugarcane or other plants rising as alternative to gasoline in Latin America, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. A flex-fuel car runs with both gasoline and alcohol pumped into a single tank, allowing the driver to adjust the mixture between the two depending on their prices, the economic daily noted. In Brazil the prices of ethanol, a type of alcohol fuel, are only half those of gasoline and drivers are allowed to adjust the ratio between the two fuels, it said. Toyota, the pioneer of a hybrid car powered alternately by gasoline and electricity, did not develop flex-fuel cars before because alcohol fuel is not allowed to exceed three percent of the total in Japan, it said.
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
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
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
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