■ Energy
China plans nuclear plants
Two new nuclear power plants are planned for southern China's Guangdong and Fujian provinces, state media reported yesterday, as the country steps up construction to meet surging demand. China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co signed an agreement on Wednesday with the city government in Shaoguan, north of the provincial capital, for a 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) nuclear plant, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Meanwhile, China National Nuclear Power Corp is teaming up with a major electricity producer, China Huadian Group, to build a nuclear power plant near Quanzhou, in Fujian Province, the state-run newspaper China Daily said.
■ Automobiles
Hybrids planned for Canada
Detroit-based Ford Motor Co announced on Wednesday that it will be the first automaker to assemble hybrid vehicles in Canada by the end of this decade. Its Oakville plant west of Toronto, which is undergoing a massive billion-dollar upgrade, will add fuel efficient and near-zero emission versions of its new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossover utility vehicles to its assembly line by 2010. Gas guzzling versions of these vehicles will be rolled out later this year. "Hybrids will put Ford at the forefront of vehicle assembly innovation in Canada, forever changing the landscape by producing vehicles that significantly reduce smog-forming emissions and are extremely fuel efficient," said Bill Osborne, president and chief executive of Ford of Canada.
■ Computers
HP's Q1 profit up 30 percent
Printer and computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co said on Wednesday first-quarter profit rose 30 percent to US$1.23 billion, or US$0.42 a share, exceeding analysts' estimates. Income in the same quarter last year was US$943 million, or US$0.32, the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a statement. Sales were boosted by holiday demand, rising 5.6 percent to US$22.7 billion in the period ended Jan. 31. Earnings in the PC business almost doubled and profit margins in printers held up better than expected after Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd sliced prices to win customers for more profitable printing supplies. The company also won orders away from market leader Dell Inc after building less-expensive computers using low-priced chips, Bloomberg financial news service reported.
■ Space travel
Singapore to host space port
Singapore has been picked as the site of an integrated port which will offer space flights as well as astronaut training, the Straits Times reported yesterday. Space Adventures, the US-based company behind the voyages of the world's first three space tourists, selected the city-state ahead of several US states, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Dubai. When ready, the space port will be used to stage commercial sub-orbital flights in which the space vehicle exits the Earth's atmosphere at about 100km above ground. Passengers can expect to pay about US$102,000 for about five minutes of weightlessness, a view of the curvature of the Earth and the darkness of space. The company told the newspaper it will train travelers at the astronaut training center. Space Adventures was set up in 1998. The company was behind the voyages of the first three space tourists: American Dennis Tito, South African Mark Shuttleworth and American Greg Olsen.
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