■ computers
Q2 sales rise 22%: IDC
Sales of personal computers in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan rose 22 percent to 14.3 million units in the second quarter, buoyed by strong demand for notebooks, an industry report said yesterday. Compared with the first quarter, growth came in at 11 percent, global research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said. Lenovo was the top vendor with a 20.7 percent market share during the quarter, up from 17.7 percent in the first, IDC said. Hewlett-Packard placed second with a 16 percent market share, while Dell was third with 8.5 percent and Acer fourth with 6.5 percent, the research firm said.
■ automobiles
Chrysler pulls SUV ad
Chrysler Group apologized on Thursday for an advertisement that showed a dog being electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle. The ad, created by BBDO Netherlands which supports Chrysler's sales in the Dutch market, shows a dog being electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro's wheels. The agency is part of Omnicom Group Inc's BBDO Worldwide. The ad, which ends with the dog going up in flames, has the tagline "charged with adrenaline." Chrysler said the ad was placed exclusively on the Internet. The firm had the ad pulled from YouTube.com. It was unclear if it was on other Web sites.
■ beverage
Starbucks tries chocolate
Starbucks Corp, which has a bittersweet history mixing its coffee with chocolate, is trying again, this time with Hershey Co. The world's largest specialty coffee retailer said on Thursday it would begin offering Starbucks-branded coffee-flavored chocolate products in the fall under a deal with Hershey, which has been struggling to revive flat sales. The first product slated to hit US grocery, drug store and department store shelves this fall, will be a premium hot chocolate, though Hershey executives would not say whether it will be sold in powder or drink form.
■ telecoms
Verizon switches IC source
Verizon Wireless said on Thursday it had struck a licensing deal with chipmaker Broadcom Corp, averting a ban on imports that would have threatened the introduction of new phones. Verizon Wireless had previously sided with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc in efforts to overturn a US International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on imports of high-end phones that contain Qualcomm chips. The ITC found that Qualcomm infringed on a Broadcom patent. The ban is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 6, posing a potentially big headache for carriers and handset makers because it may prevent them from introducing phones ahead of the Christmas buying season.
■ investment
Terra Firma extends offer
Private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners set one last deadline on its ?2.4 billion (US$4.9 billion) offer for EMI Group PLC yesterday after reporting that more than a fourth of the music company's shares now backed the offer. It was the first significant surge of support for the bid by Terra Firma, which reported last week that it had won acceptances from holders of less than 4 percent of EMI shares. Terra Firma, through its takeover vehicle Maltby Ltd, said it had acceptances for 26.2 percent of the shares and extended the deadline until July 29, which it said would not be extended.
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