■SEMICONDUCTORS
Intel chief cautious
Intel Corp chairman Craig Barrett said yesterday that global stimulus packages would probably have some impact in the next six to 18 months. Barrett, who spoke at a briefing in Beijing, was responding to a question about when demand would recover. But he said Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, was uncertain when demand for semiconductors will revive. Demand for semiconductors is likely to remain well below last year’s levels for the next few quarters before a gradual recovery takes hold as the global economy regains strength, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.
■BONDS
S Korea to complete sale
Buoyed by strong demand, South Korea hopes to complete by today the sale of its first dollar-denominated sovereign bond issue since November 2006, a minister said. “The sale of foreign currency stabilization bonds is expected to be completed today or tomorrow,” Minister of Strategy and Finance Yoon Jeung-hyun told parliament yesterday. His ministry declined to give the size of the issue. Dow Jones Newswires quoted sources as saying the government wants to raise up to US$3 billion in a two-part global offering of five and 10-year bonds and demand had now reached about US$5.8 billion.
■INVESTMENT
Move on short-selling mulled
US Federal regulators were floating several options for reining in the practice of short-selling stocks, as investors, corporations and lawmakers clamor for restrictions on moves they say gutted vulnerable companies and worsened the market’s downward spiral. Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission were meeting yesterday to vote on new rules restricting short-selling.
■CRIME
Ex-Qwest chief jail-bound
A judge on Tuesday ordered former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio to report to prison by noon next Tuesday to start a six-year sentence on his insider trading conviction. Nacchio had asked for bail while he appeals his 2007 conviction to the US Supreme Court. But US District Judge Marcia Krieger said Nacchio hadn’t shown he would likely win a reversal of his conviction or be granted a new trial. Nacchio was convicted on 19 insider trading counts but acquitted on 23 counts.
■BANKING
RBS discusses job cuts
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS) said on Tuesday it had begun talks with unions over cutting up to 9,000 jobs globally over two years in a restructuring of its back-office operations. RBS — which is majority-owned by the British government after accepting a £20 billion (US$29.35 billion) state bailout — said that around half the positions that could be affected are in Britain. The restructuring is part of RBS’ plan to reduce annual costs by £2.5 billion over the next three years.
■COMPUTERS
New pricing on iTunes
Apple on Tuesday changed its trademark standard of charging US$0.99 per song at online shop iTunes in a deal with recording studios that strips anti-piracy software from digital downloads. Songs now sell for US$0.69, US$0.99 or US$1.29 with studios deciding pricing. Music studios have long lobbied Apple to charge more for songs at iTunes. Apple ostensibly made the pricing concession in exchange for studios backing off demands for digital rights management software that prevents music from being copied.
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
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
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