■ INTERNET
Web ad spending rises
US Internet ad spending rose 27 percent last year to US$25.5 billion, research firm IDC said on Monday in a report that showed Google losing market share for the first time in two years. The survey showed a 28 percent gain in the fourth quarter alone to US$7.3 billion, IDC said. IDC also found that Google's net US market share declined for the first time in two years because of slower growth in domestic fourth-quarter sales. The market leader's net US Internet advertising market share was down 0.5 percentage points to 23.7 percent last quarter.
■ TRADE
Germany sets surplus record
Manufacturing powerhouse Germany posted a record trade surplus last year, as exports rose even faster than imports. The new high was achieved despite disappointing data for December. Both exports and imports reached their highest levels ever last year, the Federal Statistics Office said on Monday, although in December the trade surplus nearly halved. Last year, the trade surplus was 198.8 billion euros (US$288.5 billion), up from 159 billion euros in 2006. Exports last year rose 8.5 percent to 969.1 billion euros, while imports amounted to 770.4 billion euros, a 5 percent rise over 2006.
■ FOOD
Store drops Chinese goods
Trader Joe's will stop offering some Chinese-grown food products because of customer concerns about safety, the store chain announced on Monday. Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain. The company believes the foods are safe, but "we will continue to source products from other regions until our customers feel as confident as we do about the quality and safety of Chinese products," Trader Joe spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said in a statement.
■ INVESTMENT
Harbinger raises stake
A hedge fund seeking to name four directors to the board of the New York Times Co disclosed on Monday that it had increased its stake in the publishing company to nearly 10 percent from 5 percent. Harbinger Capital Partners and several related entities now own 9.96 percent of the Times' publicly traded Class A shares, up from the 4.9 percent stake it disclosed late last month. The company is working together with Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, to try and effect changes the publishing company.
■ CURRENCIES
Greenback loses steam
The US dollar slipped against most major currencies on Monday as traders awaited economic reports to be released in Europe this week. The euro was worth US$1.4518 in late New York trading, slightly more than the US$1.4506 the 15 nation currency was worth late on Friday. The ZEW investment survey, which measures German investor confidence, was expected to reflect pessimism about the German economic outlook as it was set for release yesterday. The pound rose to US$1.9502 from US$1.9455 ahead of two sets of national inflation data: the consumer price index out yesterday and Britain's quarterly inflation report released today.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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