■ Electronis
Sony mulls land sale
Sony is considering selling part of the land from its Tokyo headquarters in continuing restructuring efforts, although details aren't finalized, spokesman Atsuo Omagari said yesterday. Sony officials went to the city ward office on Thursday to say the company was considering selling some of that Tokyo property, including buildings and land, but details of the sale, including land size, the buyer and value of the assets, aren't decided, Omagari said. Sony is constructing a new headquarters building in Tokyo, set to open later this year, he said. The company has already sold off ¥113 billion (US$980 million) of assets.
■ Automobiles
Toyota's net profits rise
Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday a 39.2 percent jump in net profit for the fiscal first quarter to a new record high as it won customers from struggling US rivals. The world's second largest automaker said its net profit reached ¥371.5 billion (US$3.23 billion) in the three months to June from a year earlier. "We posted substantial increases in both revenue and profits, achieving record levels," Toyota Motor senior managing director Takeshi Suzuki said. Operating profit increased by 26.5 percent to ¥512.4 billion, on revenue of ¥5.64 trillion, up 13.2 percent year-on-year. The profit surge was driven by a strong performance in North America where sales rose by 106,000 units to 747,000.
■ Software
Microsoft apologizes
Microsoft was trying to make amends on Thursday to bloggers irked by problems with a revamped social networking service the US computer software giant rolled out this week. Windows Live Spaces stumbled after being launched late on Tuesday, Microsoft wrote in a contrite Web log posting. "We know we disappointed a bunch of you," the Microsoft posting read. "We planned long and hard for this release and unfortunately it was one of those gotchas that only showed up once we were in production." Microsoft wrote that it scrambled this week to get Spaces Live "in much better shape," but there were still things in need of fixing.
■ IPR
Japan seeks beef patent
Japan plans to make its cattle intellectual property to protect its high-end beef industry by identifying pure Japanese animals against those of mixed origin, the agriculture ministry said yesterday. Japan will seek to patent the cattle's genes and put bar-codes on semen stocks in a bid to protect its beef, known as wagyu here and overseas often called Kobe beef. Kobe beef fetches high prices as it is marketed as being of elite quality. Ranchers sometimes massage the cows or feed them beer while they are being raised for slaughter.
■ Confectionary
M&Ms offers brand packs
The candy that "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" has a new message: this space for rent. As of next month M&Ms will be available for corporate logos and advertising under a plan called "My Branding" -- an escalation in a war with The Hershey Co and its "Kissables." Hershey's has encroached on M&M's turf with the kiss-shaped chocolates in a hard candy coating, packaged to be finished in one helping. Masterfoods USA, a unit of privately held Mars Inc and the maker of M&Ms, wants more people and companies to order M&Ms in bulk, for favors or corporate gifts.
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