■ Property trusts
Retiree loses listing lawsuit
Hong Kong's highest court yesterday approved the listing of what could be the world's biggest property trust, rejecting a legal challenge filed by an elderly woman living in public housing. The judgment from the Court of Final Appeal ended an eight-month legal wrangle that delayed the government's sale of the LINK real-estate investment trust. The US$3 billion property trust includes 151 government-owned shopping centers and 79,000 parking spaces. The government was forced to shelve the deal on the eve of the listing in December because it was challenged by Lo Siu-lan (盧少蘭), a 67-year-old retiree living in public housing. Lo argued that the listing -- set up by the Housing Authority -- violated the housing code. The tenacious Lo has became a celebrity and a rallying figure for activists who believe business is too powerful in this global financial capital.
■ Piracy
Schools ink download deal
The University of California and California State University systems have struck deals to offer their students legal music and movie downloading services to curb rampant piracy. The agreement with Cdigix Inc covers roughly 600,000 students at 13 University of California and 23 Cal State campuses, making it among the largest such deals to date, the company announced on Monday. The company, based in Englewood, Colorado, charges US$3 a month for the music service and US$5.99 a month for the video service. More than 50 colleges and universities in the US offer licensed music services to their students, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
■ Internet
Google boosts Yahoo figures
Yahoo, the rapidly growing Internet site, may be struggling to keep up with the even faster growth of its rival Google, but it owns a substantial consolation prize: a large number of Google shares. On Tuesday, Yahoo said it earned US$755 million in the second quarter and US$563 million of that came from gains in selling about US$1 billion in Google shares that it received in an earlier business deal and the settlement of a patent suit last year. Excluding the stock gain, Yahoo earned US$192 million, an increase of 66 percent. That was US$0.13 a share, matching analysts' expectations. Overall, Yahoo had revenue of US$1.25 billion, up 51 percent from the period a year ago.
■ Data theft
Firms reject CardSystems
Visa USA Inc and American Express Co are cutting ties with the payment-processing company that left 40 million credit and debit card accounts vulnerable to hackers in one of the biggest breaches of consumer data security. CardSystems Solutions Inc "has not corrected, and cannot at this point correct, the failure to provide proper data security for Visa accounts," Rosetta Jones, a vice president at Visa, said in a statement. Atlanta-based CardSystems released a statement saying it was "disappointed and very surprised," and hoped Visa would reconsider. The company did not address American Express' decision. MasterCard International Inc is taking a different tack with CardSystems. The credit-card company expects CardSystems to develop a plan for improving its security by Aug. 31, "and as of today, we are not aware of any deficiencies in its systems that are incapable of being remediated," spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin 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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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