■ Environment
HP aims for efficiency
Hewlett-Packard Co wants to become a global leader in improving corporate energy efficiency. The Palo Alto-based computer and printer maker said on Wednesday that it plans to reduce its global energy consumption 20 percent over the next three years, based on 2005 energy use levels. HP plans to cut energy use by as much as 30 percent for some printers and 50 percent for some computer servers. It pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from facilities. The initiative follows other high-profile efforts by large technology companies such as IBM.
■ Computers
Intel unveils new CPUs
Intel Corp has unveiled details of a new lineup of processors slated for production later this year that promise a performance boost and energy savings because of the transition to a new manufacturing technology. Intel plans to introduce six different types of processors, including processors with four computing cores boasting 820 million total transistors. Intel is also using new materials in the transistors that prevent electric current from leaking out, which in turn extends the battery life in laptops. Intel on Wednesday also disclosed some plans for its next-generation chip design, scheduled to go into production in next year.
■ Energy
EU sues Spain over E.ON
The European Commission decided on Wednesday to launch a second lawsuit against Spain for blocking a bid by German energy group E.ON for Spanish firm Endesa in a growing standoff between Brussels and Madrid. Spain has defied repeated requests by the EU's executive arm for it to lift conditions it has imposed on E.ON's takeover bid for electricity group Endesa. The Spanish energy regulator CNE has set a number of requirements for E.ON, including that it must conserve for five years the Endesa name of the biggest Spanish electricity generator. Other requirements are that Spanish coal be used in power stations and that certain assets cannot be sold.
■ Aviation
Boeing to unveil 787
Boeing Co said on Wednesday its new 787 Dreamliner aircraft would be unveiled on July 8, with its first test flight set for August and initial delivery on track for May next year. A spokesman for the US aerospace giant said a public presentation would be held at an assembly facility in Everett, Washington state. The plane is set to be Boeing's biggest commercial success, with 391 orders from 39 airlines since the launch announcement in April 2004. That would mean as much as US$75 billion in sales at list prices.
■ Alcohol
Sapporo fights takeover
Japanese brewer Sapporo Holdings won support from its shareholders yesterday for proposed anti-takeover defenses as it tries to fend off a buy-out attempt by US hedge fund Steel Partners. About two-thirds of the shareholders in Japan's third-largest brewer voted for the proposed "poison pill" measures at an annual meeting in Tokyo, the company said. The result was a blow to Steel Partners' Japan Strategic Fund, Sapporo's top shareholder, which had urged investors to vote down the proposal as it seeks a controlling stake in the brewer. The hedge fund, which hopes to raise its 18 percent stake in Sapporo to 66.6 percent, said it was "disappointed" by the outcome.
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