■ RETAIL
Beijing street unveils brand
Beijing's Silk Street Market, famous for knock-off designer gear from North Face jackets to Louis Vuitton bags, has unveiled its own brand and -- apparently with a straight face -- warned counterfeiters not to copy it. The first items to bear the SILKSTREET name include "apparel such as neckties, shirts and scarves, as well as a few household items such as tablecloths," Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. "SILKSTREET products are sold exclusively in the market. Anyone using the brand outside will be held liable," the Beijing Evening News reported.
■ ENERGY
'Gas OPEC' in the pipeline
A group of gas-exporting states led by Iran and Russia is moving toward a formal body like the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Nations (OPEC), a Russian daily said yesterday. The charter for the proposed "gas OPEC" would be presented for approval at the seventh annual meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow in June, the Kommersant broadsheet said, citing Russian government sources. "The main issue being discussed by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum is the transformation of an informal club that has no centralized organization ... into a serious international organisation of gas suppliers," the paper said.
■ VIDEO GAMES
Nintendo profits double
Nintendo Co said yesterday its net profit nearly doubled in the nine months to last month and it lifted its full-year revenue forecast on strong sales of its game consoles including the Wii. Nintendo, which also makes the DS handheld machine, posted 96.3 percent growth in net profit to ¥258.93 billion (US$2.4 billion) in the first three quarters of the financial year. Its operating profit surged 135.1 percent to ¥394.04 billion and sales jumped 84.7 percent to ¥1.316 trillion, a statement said. Nintendo raised its sales forecast for the full year to March to ¥1.63 trillion and left its net-profit forecast unchanged at ¥275 billion.
■ INTERNET
Yahoo mulls MP3 service
Yahoo Inc is in early discussions with major record labels over offering unprotected MP3s either for sale or for free as part of an ad-supported service, two record company executives familiar with the talks said on Wednesday. The talks, held as recently as last month, were preliminary because Yahoo is still working out the details, said the executives, who requested anonymity because of discussions were confidential. Yahoo may launch the service this year, they said.
■ INTERNET
Google, DoCoMo team up
Japan's top mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo is partnering with search engine Google to provide Internet search and other services on the carrier's handsets, the two firms said yesterday. The companies are discussing offering Google's Map for Mobiles on Tokyo-based NTT DoCoMo's i-mode handsets and plan to explore ways to make it easier for users to access Google's e-mail, YouTube and other services, they said in a statement. NTT DoCoMo's i-mode technology is how its cellphones link to the Internet. Google search results will appear by default on the handsets' search portal page starting this spring, the statement said. Ads will also appear through Google's AdWords platform, it said.
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