■ COMMODITIES
Thailand drops cartel idea
Thailand’s foreign minister says the country is dropping plans to create a Southeast Asian rice cartel. The proposal was first floated last week by Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to give rice producers greater control over rice prices, which have tripled since December. But the idea was heavily criticized by the Philippines, a major importer, as well as some Thai rice exporters. “We are not talking about setting up a rice cartel,” Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday after a meeting with ambassadors from rice exporting countries. “If Thailand sets up an rice cartel and fixes a price, that will make matters worse and worsen food security.”
■ ELECTRONICS
Tokyo proposes iPod fee
The Japanese government will propose this week a plan to charge copyright royalties on sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, as well as on digital hard disk recorders, a major daily newspaper reported yesterday. The Agency of Cultural Affairs has not yet decided the amount of the fee, but it would likely be around ¥100 (US$0.95) per device for an annual total of about ¥1 billion, the Asahi Shimbun reported. The proceeds would go to recording companies, songwriters and artists. Older devices, such as minidisk and DVD recorders, are already subject to a copyright fee.
■ ELECTRONICS
iPhone network expands
British mobile phone giant Vodafone announced yesterday that it will distribute Apple’s iPhone in 10 new countries including Australia, India and South Africa. Vodafone said in a statement that under its accord with Apple, it will also have the right to sell iPhones in the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey. The phones that it sells will be intended to work on the Vodafone network. Launched one year ago, officially the iPhone is only available in the US, UK, France, Germany, Ireland and Austria.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai forges deal
US software giant Microsoft and South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor have forged a deal to develop a new in-vehicle music and entertainment system, officials said yesterday. “These new systems will redefine consumer experiences in the car,” Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft’s automotive business unit, said in a statement released by Hyundai. “We’re now aligned to develop the next generation of in-car infotainment systems,” he said. Hyundai said the system would be controlled by the driver’s voice and linked with other handheld digital devices such as mobile phones and MP3 music players.
■ FINANCE
Foreclosures on the rise
Some 1.5 million US homes entered into the foreclosure process last year, up 53 percent from 2006, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said. This rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the US economy, he said, urging Congress to take additional steps to alleviate the problems. “High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy,” Bernanke said in a dinner speech at the Columbia Business School in New York. “Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It’s in everybody’s interest,” he said. The rate of new foreclosures looks likely to be even higher this year, he 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