■ Forex
Exporters want won action
South Korean exporters called yesterday for swift government action to curb the rising won. Five business groups, led by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), warned that the won's strength against the greenback was hurting exports. "The government must take quick steps to prop up our global competitiveness. The pace of the won's appreciation is too steep," they said in a joint statement. The won rose 2.3 percent against the US dollar last year but has jumped more than 8 percent so far this year. "The government is ready to discuss an increase in the foreign exchange stabilization fund," Budget Minister Byeon Yang-kyoon told reporters.
■ Computers
HP unveils new notebooks
Hewlett-Packard Co unveiled laptops with spiffier designs as well as more powerful processors on Tuesday. Six of seven new HP notebooks will run on dual-core chips from either Intel Corp or Advanced Micro Devices Inc, and a business-targeted model allows users to swap the cellular broadband module if they switch carriers. The offerings include two consumer lines that come in a glossy, piano-black finish with inlaid patterns, a departure from plain black exteriors. Some models have a built-in Webcam or more powerful graphics cards. The new computers will be available later this month, HP said.
■ Health
DuPont sued over Teflon
A lawsuit representing millions of owners of Teflon coated cookware was filed in US District Court in Des Moines, Iowa, seeking to combine complaints from 16 US states into one master case. The suit, filed on Monday, claims that DuPont Co failed to disclose possible health risks from using the nonstick cookware. It also claims DuPont continued to tell the government and consumers for years that Teflon was safe even though its own studies showed the material could become toxic when heated at temperatures easily reached when a typical stovetop is set on high. It asks the court to require DuPont to create a fund for independent research into whether Teflon is harmful; to replace all existing Teflon cookware products or pay owners compensation; and to stop making, selling and distributing Teflon coated products.
■ Beverages
Coke Japan recalls bottles
The Japanese unit of US beverage giant Coca-Cola Co will expand a recall to withdraw 2.37 million bottles of soft drinks laced with iron powder, company officials said yesterday. Earlier this month the subsidiary had announced a withdrawal of 570,000 bottles of six soft drinks manufactured between March 26 and March 30 at a factory in central Japan. It said it will expand the recall to 27 beverages and include drinks manufactured before March 26. The company said that the bottles may contain a small amount of iron powder which would not be harmful if injested.
■ Automobiles
Toyota's profits rise 17.2%
Toyota Motor Corp yesterday reported a 17.2 percent jump in annual net profits to a record ¥1.37 trillion (US$12.35 billion) as it won more market share from struggling US rivals. Toyota said revenue rose 13.4 percent in the year to March to ¥21.04 trillion, also an all-time high. Operating profit increased by 12.3 percent to ¥1.88 trillion. In the current year, however, Toyota forecast a drop in net profits to ¥1.31 trillion.
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