■ Gaming
Nintendo recalls Wii straps
Nintendo said yesterday it would replace 3.2 million straps for its popular Wii computer game controllers after the Japanese gamemaker received a rash of reports that the device flew out of the hands of enthusiastic players. The wand-like remote controller is used to mimic the motions of a tennis racket, golf club or sword, depending on the game. But soon after the Wii went on sale last month, people started reporting cases of the controller's strap breaking as they waved it about vigorously. The worldwide recall is expected to cost the company several hundred million dollars.
■ Internet
Microsoft, Baidu team up
US software giant Microsoft Corp and Chinese Internet search portal Baidu.com Inc (百度) said on Thursday that they were joining forces in China. In a "strategic alliance" that begins this month, Microsoft will display Baidu search advertising on its MSN, Live and other Web sites in China, the companies said in a US regulatory filing. "China is one of our most important markets and the strategic alliance with Baidu will help us provide new opportunities for advertisers which will further enhance our search business in China," Microsoft general manager Erik Johnson said in the filing. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
■ Energy
BP, CNOOC drill for gas
British energy giant BP and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC, 中國海洋石油), have invested US$100 million in a gas drilling deal in the South China Sea, a press report said yesterday. The Yacheng 13-1 gas field off Hainan Island, codeveloped by CNOOC and BP, pipes natural gas to Hong Kong's Black Point Power Station, the China Business News said, citing sources. The two firms will work on five natural gas wells and are also in talks to provide about 250 million cubic meters per day to the power station until 2015, it said.
■ Telecoms
Pantech gets credit lifeline
Creditors of the Pantech group yesterday agreed to throw a lifeline to the country's third-largest mobile phone maker teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, main creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) said. "Ten creditor banks, including KDB, held a meeting today [yesterday] and unanimously agreed on a debt workout program," KDB said in a statement. KDB said creditors also agreed to suspend collection of debts for up to three months while they work on a rescue plan following a due diligence study. But the bailout program would still collapse should any of the second-tier financial institutions holding Pantech's bonds or notes refuse to join the rescheduling, a KDB spokesman said.
■ Energy
Russia affirms project cost
Russia's Energy and Industry Ministry reaffirmed the total cost of an oil and gas project led by ExxonMobil Corp off the coast of Russia's Far Eastern island of Sakhalin, the ministry said on Thursday. The total budget of the project is US$12.8 billion, including US$6.5 billion in costs for developing the Chayovo oil field, the largest field in the area under development, the ministry said. The wording of the original statement on the ministry's Web site had suggested that the US$6.5 billion had been approved in addition to the total cost of the project. A spokesman for the ministry later explained, however, that the cost was included in the total amount.
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