■ Games similar to drugs
Computer games can be addictive, a new study claims. Such an addition is essentially comparable with alcohol or marijuana addiction, according to Charite Hospital in Berlin. "Excessive computer gaming probably activates the same structures in the brain as physical drugs," said Sabine Gruesser from the university clinic's interdisciplinary addiction research group. The study compared 15 casual gamers with 15 excessive gamers. Players who met at least three criteria of addiction such as insatiable craving, withdrawal symptoms or the neglect of other interests were described as excessive. The test subjects were shown images of computer games, alcohol bottles and neutral objects. For the excessive gamers, the computer game scenes set off a much stronger stimulus in the brain than for the other subjects.
■ Investment
HK Link REIT price set
The price for the world's largest property trust in Hong Kong has been set at the upper end of the range at HK$10.3 (US$1.32), a press report said yesterday. The price means the initial public offering (IPO) of the Link real estate investment trust (REIT) will raise HK$19.8 billion. Citing unnamed sources, the Ming Pao daily said the government is expected to exercise its overallotment option in full, selling an additional 211.6 million units. This would increase the IPO size to HK$22 billion. Higher interest rates have dampened investor enthusiasm with the retail tranche of the REIT receiving a much cooler response the second time around following a legal challenge that delayed the original plan last December.
■ Automakers
GM, Chery resolve dispute
General Motors Corp and its major South Korean subsidiary have reached an out-of-court settlement with China's Chery Automobile Co (奇瑞) in an intellectual property dispute over the design of a small vehicle, the automaker said on Saturday. "GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co [GMDAT], General Motors Corp and Chery Automobile Co have reached a settlement Agreement, which has resolved all disputes among GMDAT, GM and Chery. Hence all current lawsuits and related claims have been withdrawn," GM said in a statement. Malcom Bricklin, Chery's US partner, said the agreement clears the way for a smoother introduction of the newly designed, Chinese-made vehicles in the US, starting in 2007.
■ Electronics
Pioneer to restructure
Japan's struggling Pioneer Corp plans to scale down its DVD recorder business and cut 1,000 jobs or 10 percent of its domestic workforce as part of its restructuring, a report said yesterday. President Kaneo Ito and chairman Kanya Matsumoto, who is from the founder's family, will step down to take responsibility for the electronics manufacturer's dismal performance, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported. The package of retrenchment measures is likely to be officially approved at a board meeting today, the paper said, without naming its sources. Executive vice president Tamihiko Sudo is likely to be appointed as the firm's new president early next month, the report said. Under the restructuring plan, Pioneer will stop production of its current line of DVD recorders and procure them from low-cost manufacturer Funai Electric Co of Japan, the report said.
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
‘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)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite