■ Semiconductors
Intel ready to ship new chip
Intel Corp plans to begin shipping microprocessors that have four computing engines on a single chip -- products that analysts say will help it win back market share from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The first chip, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor, will be available in November. Intel says it will deliver a 70 percent performance improvement over Intel's current chips, which have one or two computing cores. For general consumers, Intel will ship a quad-core chip starting in the first quarter of next year. For businesses, Intel will begin shipping four-core server chips later this year. A low-energy, quad chip for servers will be launched early next year, the company said on Tuesday.
■ Beverages
Thirsty? Dial a Coke
US soft-drink giant Coca-Cola said yesterday that it will equip all its vending machines in Japan to accept payment through mobile telephones. Coca-Cola Japan said that all of its 200,000 machines by the end of 2008 will accept Felicia, the contactless credit cards on mobile phones developed by cellular industry leader NTT DoCoMo and Sony. The system will make it possible to buy any soft drink, coffee, tea or fruit drink in Coca-Cola machines in Japan by holding up a mobile to the machine, with the cost of the refreshment going on a monthly phone bill. At the end of last year there were 2.77 million vending machines across Japan, nearly half of them run by Coca-Cola Japan.
■ Automobile
Acura launched in China
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co launched sales of the Acura in China yesterday, targeting China's growing upper class in its first expansion of the model outside North America. Honda opened its first Acura dealership in Shenzhen. Its wholly owned subsidiary Honda Motor (China) Investment Co, plans to have 10 Acura dealerships within a year. The imported Acura RL flagship sedans are priced at 680,000 yuan (US$86,000), while Acura TLs will sell for 430,000 yuan, Honda said in a statement.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Merck wins lawsuit
US giant Merck said late on Tuesday that it had won a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky man who claimed four months of using the painkiller Vioxx had caused a heart attack. "The jury's decision confirms that Merck acted responsibly and that Vioxx was not the cause of [Robert Gary] Smith's heart attack," said Philip Beck, Merck's lead lawyer in the case, which was tried in federal court in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was the 10th Vioxx case that has gone to trial out of no fewer than 14,000 lawsuits filed against Merck over its drug. To date, the company has won five and lost four cases. The tenth case has been sent to retrial.
■ Entertainment
Universal eyes Singapore
Singapore will become host to a Universal Studios theme park with 20 attractions if Malaysian gaming company Genting International Ltd wins the bid for a second casino resort, the Straits Times reported yesterday. In an announcement made Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, Genting and Universal said at least 16 of the 20 rides and shows would be original or redesigned specifically for the Sentosa Island resort, the newspaper reported. Universal Parks and Resorts, which will be Genting's non-equity partner, estimates its theme park would draw more than 5 million visitors a year, the report 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