■ technology
"HP's profit beats estimates
PHOTO: CNA
Hewlett-Packard Co's fourth-quarter profit easily exceeded Wall Street's expectations, bolstered by surging laptop sales and continued strong demand for highly profitable printer ink. The board of the Palo Alto-based computer and printer maker also authorized an additional US$8 billion for stock buybacks, a sign the company believes its shares are undervalued. Net income leaped 28 percent in the three months ended Oct. 31 to US$2.16 billion or US$0.81 per share. Excluding one-time charges, HP's profit was US$0.86 per share, US$0.04 higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
■ beverages
Beer sales plummeting
Sales of beer in Britain have dropped to the lowest levels since the 1930s, brewers said yesterday, as the country turns increasingly to wine and spirits. The number of pints per day sold in British pubs peaked in 1979, but has slumped by 22 percent -- or 7 million pints -- since then, the British Beer and Pub Association said. The group claims that from 1997 to last year beer duties grew by 27 percent, against 16 percent for wine, 11 percent for cider and 3 percent for spirits, cutting brewers' profits by 78 percent between 2004 and last year alone.
■ automobiles
Ssangyong may drop SUV
South Korea's Chinese-owned automaker Ssangyong Motor said yesterday it was considering shutting down production lines for sport utility vehicles (SUV) amid sluggish sales. Ssangyong Motor has suffered from slow demand for its flagship SUV models Rexton and Actyon at home and abroad, company officials said. "Talks are now under way between management and union representatives to suspend the SUV lines," spokesman Kim Bum-suk said. Schedules had yet to be agreed on, he said. The Seoul Economic Daily newspaper quoted an unidentified union leader as saying the automaker would suspend the SUV lines by the end of February.
■ aviation
Madrid airport to rank third
Madrid's international airport will become Europe's third busiest in terms of departures in 2010, surpassing London's Heathrow and Amsterdam's Schipol, a study by Eurocontrol, Europe's air navigation agency, said on Monday. The number of takeoffs from Madrid-Barajas is expected to rise to 255,442 in 2010, a 17.4 percent jump over last year and the biggest increase among Europe's 10 busiest airports, the study showed. Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport will remain Europe's busiest airport with more than 297,000 departures in 2010, while Frankfurt's Main airport will continue in second place with over 265,000 takeoffs, the study said.
■ china
Wen warns of asset bubble
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said that the nation needed to prevent an equity bubble from forming and to curb real estate speculation, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, quoting Wen's speech during a visit to Singapore. The report made no mention of specific new measures to regulate stock and real estate prices following a boom in both markets. "At a time when stock prices are high, there are voices that want to stop an asset bubble, and in addition saying that if the bubble bursts, it will hurt China's economy," Wen was quoted as saying in a speech on Monday. "I feel both views are correct.
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