■ Electronics
Toshiba settles suit
Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp resolved a computer chip memory patent by a former employee yesterday, paying ¥87 million (US$750,000) in settling the lawsuit, officials said. In the deal reached at the Tokyo District Court, Toshiba agreed to pay the amount to Fujio Masuoka, a former Toshiba employee and now professor at prestigious Tohoku University, to settle the suit over a flash memory patent, the company said.
■ Electronics
Sony reverses losses
Sony Corp said yesterday strong sales of flat-panel televisions and the hit movie The Da Vinci Code helped it reverse a year-earlier loss in the June quarter to continue its turnaround. The Japanese electronics giant reported a net profit of ¥32.29 billion (US$278.3 million) for the fiscal first quarter, after a net loss of ¥7.26 billion a year earlier. Sales at the core electronics goods unit rose 13.5 percent while the pictures business saw a 41.8 percent jump in revenue. At the same time, however, the games segment suffered a 29.1 percent sales slump as demand for the company's PlayStation 2 video games console weakened in the face of increased competition from the Microsoft's new Xbox 360.
■ Automobiles
GM looks for silver lining
While it continues to struggle at home, US auto giant General Motors Corp claimed on Wednesday its operations in Asia are flourishing despite the end of its close alliance with Japan's Suzuki. Chief financial officer Fritz Henderson said that excluding special items, GM Asia-Pacific posted earnings of US$167 million in the second quarter to last month, off only slightly from the profit of US$183 million a year before. In contrast, GM overall recorded a second-quarter loss of US$3.2 billion on hefty restructuring charges, while stressing that its turnaround plan is gaining momentum.
■ Tax
Japan moots tax hike
Japan's finance minister said yesterday the country may need to hike its consumption tax to 10 percent by 2010, a news report said. Japan has been struggling to raise tax revenue to offset retirement and health care pay-outs for its rapidly aging population, and lawmakers have long been debating an increase in the consumption tax. Japan's Cabinet approved a plan to trim government spending over the next five years to achieve a budget surplus by fiscal 2011. The plan also acknowledged the need to raise the consumption tax -- which is similar to a sales tax -- from its current level of five percent, but stopped short of mentioning the timing and the size of a hike.
■ Banking
Visa, MasterCard settle suit
Visa and MasterCard agreed to pay a total of US$336 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the credit card firms shortchanged US consumers in foreign currency transactions, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday. MasterCard International said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its portion of the settlement was US$72.48 million and will be used to pay claims by eligible cardholders and other expenses. The agreement must be approved by a federal court in New York, the filing said. The law firm of Berger and Montague, which represents plaintiffs, said in a separate statement that the case stems from allegations that the companies added surcharges to credit and debit card transactions.
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
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
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
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