■ TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft not raising offer
Microsoft is not planning to raise its US$44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The newspaper cited people close to Microsoft's hostile Feb. 1 offer for Yahoo as insisting that no higher bid to its original price of US$31 a share would be forthcoming. "Such pronouncements are standard in deal negotiations, but people close to Microsoft insist the stance isn't posturing," the Journal said. Yahoo has rejected the bid from the outset and board members have maintained that Yahoo is worth at least US$40 per share. "There's no reason to bid against ourselves," a source on the Microsoft side told the Journal.
■ COMPUTERS
Dell to close Texas facility
Dell says it will save as much as US$3 billion over the next three years as it cuts costs and lays off workers. The world's No. 2 computer maker said on Monday it will close its desktop manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. Dell Inc is also reaffirming its plan -- announced last year -- to cut at least 8,800 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force. In the last nine months of this fiscal year, the Round Rock, Texas-based company cut 3,200 jobs. Dell is also reviewing alternatives for its financial services business, especially its consumer and small to medium business revolving credit financing receivables.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Sony to offer phone movies
Sony Pictures Television says it will become the first Hollywood studio to offer full-length movies by cellphone. The unit of Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp says it will offer a range of popular titles on special AT&T Inc phones next month. The movies, such as Bugsy, Ghostbusters and Karate Kid, will be among those that have made their theatrical and DVD runs and have been broadcast on TV already. The movies will be streamed with looped advertisements and not be available on demand. AT&T says that it has not yet determined a price on the new subscriber package.
■ technology
IBM suspended by feds
Technology giant IBM said on Monday it had been temporarily suspended from seeking new business with US federal agencies, amid an investigation into possible procurement irregularities. The suspension was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is probing "possible violations" of federal procurement rules in a bid for EPA business originally submitted in March 2006, IBM said in a statement. The move applies to all federal agencies and IBM business units, although existing contracts may continue unless a particular agency says otherwise.
■ STEEL
POSCO unveils plans
South Korea's steel giant POSCO yesterday unveiled plans to triple its total revenues in a decade by strengthening flagship steel operations and seeking new growth engines. By 2018, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker aims to achieve 70 trillion won (US$71.1 billion) in annual revenue from steel operations. POSCO in January set a revenue target of 34.3 trillion won for this year on a consolidated basis. POSCO said it would boost annual steel production to more than 50 million tonnes -- 40 million tonnes at home and the rest overseas -- from this year's targeted output of 35 million tonnes.
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