■ Consuming
iPod index unveiled
An Australian investment bank has developed a new indicator for tracking international currency values using the cost of an Apple iPod as a benchmark. Commonwealth Securities Ltd last week announced its iPod Index to assess the value of global currencies by comparing the cost of a 2-gigabyte iPod Nano music player in US dollars across different countries. The index is based on the economic principle that one US dollar should buy the same quantity of goods across all countries and that currencies will fluctuate to close any gaps in purchasing power.
■ Aviation
No offer for Alitalia
Air France-KLM has decided not to make an offer to buy Italy's cash-strapped Alitalia because of the high asking price and conditions set by the Italian government, the French daily La Tribune reported. "The decision was taken on Wednesday by the board the day that Jean-Cyril Spinetta, France-KLM chairman, announced his resignation from the board of Alitalia," the paper said in an article that appeared yesterday, without saying where it got its information. "The terms and conditions set by Rome is judged by France-KLM to be unreason-able," the business daily said.
■ Electronics
Philips' Q4 profit doubles
Royal Philips NV yesterday reported its fourth-quarter net profit doubled due mostly to lower tax costs, even as sales slipped due to weakness at the company's consumer electronics division. Net profit was 680 million euros (US$882 million), up from 332 million euros a year earlier, when Philips paid a one-time tax charge of 240 million euros on shares it holds in Taiwan chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). Fourth-quarter sales fell by less than 1 percent to 8.13 billion euros from 8.19 billion euros as sales dropped 6 percent at the company's consumer electronics division.
■ Automobiles
Toyota plans low-cost car
Toyota Motor Corp plans to build a low-cost car undercutting Renault's emerging-market Logan through a "radical" rethink in design and production, the president of the fast-growing Japanese automaker said. "The focus is on low-cost technology," Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told Britain's Financial Times in an interview published yesterday. He declined to set a price for a low-cost car but said it would be "at least" less than the Logan. Renault has started production of the Logan, which will cost from 5,000 euros (US$6,200) on up, touted as a budget model for consumers in emerging economies.
■ Computers
Sun to use Intel chips
Server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc has agreed to use chips from Intel Corp in some of its servers and for Intel to endorse Sun's Solaris operating system, a person close to the deal said. Specifics of the deal were not disclosed. The deal marks a major design win for Intel, the world's largest computer chip maker, which has been fighting to reverse plunging profits and regain market share lost to archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Intel began losing ground to AMD several years ago as customers began migrating to AMD-designed chips that were seen as more energy-efficient. Since 2003, Sun had relied exclusively on AMD.
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