■ Entertainment
DVD request rejected
A Japanese court rejected a request by a US film company to halt sales of bargain-priced DVD releases of movie classics such as Roman Holiday, Kyodo News reported yesterday. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the copyrights to the movies in question had already expired and the company rereleasing them in DVD format was not required to stop their sales, the report said.
■ Wireless
Nokia probe launched
Wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc said on Monday the US International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into whether Finland's Nokia Corp and its US unit engaged in unfair trade practices and infringed upon six Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm said it seeks an exclusion order to bar importation of Nokia handsets that infringe Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm also seeks a cease and desist order to bar further sales of Nokia products that have already been imported, and to halt the marketing, advertising, demonstration and stocking of inventory for distribution in the US.
■ Internet
Google mulls storage move
Google Inc may release a virtual hard-drive service that lets computer users store their files on the Internet, a Bear Stearns & Co analyst said. The service, codenamed Platypus, would let users synchronize files on different computers and give other people access, Robert Peck, an analyst in New York, said on Monday in a note to clients. The strategy would challenge Microsoft Corp's historical approach of storing files and applications on users' own computers, he 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
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