■ INTERNET
Google shares hit US$700
Shares in Internet search behemoth Google surpassed US$700 for the first time on Wednesday, cementing the technology firm's position as one of the US' most valuable companies. Google's shares closed up 1.7 percent at US$707.00 amid wider market gains as investors continued to snap up its shares. Its share price has multiplied by eight since its stock market debut in August 2004. The shares, which have rocketed US$100 in the past three weeks, were boosted by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and news reports that Google was holding talks with Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel to market mobile phones packed with Google software.
PHOTO: REUTERS
■ GAMING
Game over for Famicom
It could soon be game over for the Famicom, the vintage family computer that two decades ago set Japan's Nintendo on a path to become a global video game icon. Nintendo has decided to stop repairing the Famicom, the console that wowed the world with Super Mario Brothers and Dragon Quest, because stocks of spare parts are running out, company spokesman Ken Toyoda said. The family computer, which was sold as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US and Europe, made its world debut in Japan in 1983. It went on to sell almost 62 million units worldwide and was followed by the Super Famicom, repairs of which will also be halted.
■ NETWORKING
Cisco expanding in China
Network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc yesterday announced a multi-year, US$16 billion series of initiatives to expand in China with investments in manufacturing, venture capital and education efforts. "We're going to the next chapter for Cisco in China," Cisco CEO John Chambers said at a news conference. The ventures include a partnership with Alibaba Group (阿里巴巴), China's biggest online commerce firm, to develop business services for small and medium-sized firms, he said.
■ ENERGY
LG to set up consultancy
LG Electronics Inc said yesterday it would start a new business to help customers improve energy efficiency, a move it sees protecting the environment and boosting sales of its commercial air conditioners. LG said in a statement that the energy consultancy, to be launched next year, "will work with customers through the entire process of establishing an energy system for public buildings, from suggestion to planning, ordering, operational supervision and maintenance of the energy system."
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