■ Software
Sprint takes IBM to court
Sprint is suing IBM, saying Big Blue did not live up to its claims three years ago that it would save the telecommunications company money by taking over some of its computer programming. Instead, Sprint said the deal ended up costing the company. It claims IBM Corp now owes Sprint at least US$6.4 million for 119,000 hours of uncompleted work -- or 57 years for a single employee. In a lawsuit filed this week in US District Court in Kansas, Sprint/United Management Co -- a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corp -- said IBM did not provide "contractually promised productivity improvements for 2005." IBM, according to court documents, said Sprint is using an incomplete formula for measuring productivity and the amount of hours owed.
■ Entertainment
NBC to sell shows on iTunes
NBC said on Thursday it would become the first broadcast news organization to offer news programming for sale for viewing on computers and iPods through Apple Computer Inc's iTunes service. A variety of current, archival and specially-produced material will be available for US$1.99 a download through the iTunes store. "We're leading a trend to put our work and our journalism everywhere our viewers and users want it to be," said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media. Brian Williams will be host of some specially-created ``Time Capsule'' programs through the Web. They include interviews with former president John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, a tour of the White House offered by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and interviews with the rock band U2.
■ Internet
Livedoor scam trial opens
Japanese prosecutors yesterday accused a former Internet venture star of calling the shots in a complex scam to inflate stock prices and doctor company books in the opening of a trial against the company and its former executives. Disgraced Internet company Livedoor yesterday acknowledged it was guilty of violating securities regulations. Former Livedoor executive Ryoji Miyauchi, one of the defendants in the trial opening in Tokyo District Court, said on nationally televised news that he was pleading guilty. Livedoor Co's flamboyant former chief executive, Takafumi Horie, 33, will be tried separately. A date has not yet been set for his trial. Horie, released on bail in April, has repeatedly said he is innocent.
■ Real estate
Chinese banks to curb loans
Chinese regulators have told banks to curb real estate loans amid efforts to rein in soaring housing prices and lending, state media reported yesterday. Liu Mingkang (劉明康), chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said banks should promote loans to first-time home buyers and discourage lending to investors who want to buy expensive luxury properties, the China Daily newspaper reported. News reports didn't say whether regulators would impose formal limits, but banks are expected to follow such informal guidance. China's Cabinet ordered government agencies last week to take steps to rein in soaring housing prices that are widening a politically volatile gulf between rich and poor. The government says home prices rose 5.5 percent in the first three months of this year, compared with the same period last year.
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