■ Toys
Australia bans China beads
Australia announced a nationwide ban yesterday on a Chinese-made toy that investigations showed contained a chemical that metabolizes into a "date rape" style drug when swallowed. The ban across Australia's six states and two territories came after three children became severely ill after they swallowed the toy beads called "Bindeez." Toy importer Moose Enterprise issued a voluntary recall of "Bindeez," named Australia's 2007 Toy of the Year, saying some batches of the beads did not match the approved formula.
■ mining
Norway pulls out of Vedanta
Norway said on Tuesday it had withdrawn its investments from UK mining giant Vedanta Resources as it had caused grave environmental and human-rights violations in India. "The ethical council [of the government] has concluded that Vedanta has caused serious damage to people and to the environment as a result of its economic activities," Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said in a statement. Norway's pension fund, into which the state pours nearly all of its oil revenues, "cannot be part of the capital of such a company," Halvorsen said. In September, India's top court ordered a study on the impact to people and the environment of Vedanta's plans to mine bauxite in the country's thickly forested region.
■ internet
Google for help at the pump
Lost drivers in the US soon will be able to Google for help at the pump. As part of a partnership scheduled for announcement yesterday, the online search leader will dispense driving directions at thousands of gasoline pumps across the country beginning early next month. The pumps, made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root, include an Internet connection and will display Google's mapping service in color on a small screen. Motorists will be able to scroll through several categories to find local landmarks, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station's owner. After the driver selects a destination, the pump will print out directions.
■ semiconductors
Sony may drop R&D plan
Sony Corp may withdraw from joint research and development (R&D) of next-generation computer chips after agreeing to sell its production operations for the brains inside the PlayStation 3, a spokesman said yesterday. Sony has been working with IBM Corp and Toshiba Corp to develop manufacturing technologies for next-generation semiconductors. But the group "is in talks with IBM and Toshiba to review the project," Sony spokesman Tomio Takizawa said. Instead, Sony's chip business would focus mainly on manufacturing sensors used in high-vision handycams and digital cameras, he said.
■ oil
Shell forms Chinese JV
Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell plans to operate 100 gas stations in north China in a joint venture with the nation's No. 4 oil producer, Beijing Times said yesterday. Royal Dutch Shell has signed a framework agreement with Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group for the 4 billion yuan (US$530 million) gasoline retail joint venture, the report said. It did not say when the agreement was inked. The gas stations operated by the joint venture will be located in Shaanxi Province, the paper said, citing Xue Junmin, director of planning and development at the Chinese firm.
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