■ DISPLAYS
Top makers to cooperate
South Korea's four leading makers of flat panel displays have agreed to work toward cross-licensing patents, buying products from each other and cooperating in research and development, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said yesterday. Samsung Electronics Co, Samsung SDI Co, LG Electronics Inc and LG.Philips LCD Co also agreed to buy more panel components and equipment from South Korean manufacturers, while reducing purchases from abroad, the ministry said in a statement. "[South] Korea's market leadership is being threatened by rival companies in Taiwan, Japan and China," the ministry said. "Korean companies see the need to cooperate more."
■ MOVIES
Anti-piracy trailer released
Hollywood stepped up its fight against what it says are a growing number of movie pirates in Asia with the release of an anti-piracy trailer in Singapore yesterday. The US-based Motion Picture Association's (MPA) executive vice president Fritz Attaway said more than 30 cases of pirated movies, filmed with handheld video cameras in theaters, were traced to the Asia-Pacific region in the past two years. In the past week alone, the MPA discovered 14 recordings of the recently released Spider-Man 3 in Malaysia, a senior MPA executive said.
■ TELECOMS
Union warns of wider strike
A leading German trade union on Sunday said it would deepen a strike at Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest telecoms operator, by calling on 14,000 workers to join the protest against a cost-cutting plan. The strike could widen from 11,000 workers to 14,000, said Ado Wilhelm, an official from the services trade union Verdi because of the "intolerable stance" of the management. About 11,000 of the 30,000 Telekom workers eligible to strike took part in the action which began on Friday, the union said.
■ LIQUOR
UB to buy whisky maker
India's UB Group, the world's third-largest maker of spirits, is close to signing a US$1.3 billion deal to acquire Scottish whisky maker Whyte & Mackay Ltd., a news report said yesterday. A framework for the deal is already in place and a formal announcement is imminent, most likely tomorrow, the Economic Times said, quoting unnamed persons associated with the deal.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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