■SOFTWARE
Ballmer sees weak growth
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer yesterday said that corporate spending on information technology would not recover to levels seen in recent years before the global economic slowdown. “The economy went through a set of changes on a global basis over the course of the last year which are, I think is fair to say, once in a lifetime,” Ballmer told a meeting of South Korean executives in Seoul. Spending on information technology, which accounted for about half of capital expenditures in developed countries before the crisis, was unlikely to rebound fully because capital was more scarce these days, he said. “While we will see growth, we will not see recovery,” he said. Ballmer was in Seoul to tout Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system. He said company purchases of PCs and servers were down about 15 percent globally. “It reflects the fact that CEOs have much more tightly constrained IT budgets,” he said.
■AVIATION
Ryanair warns of losses
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair yesterday reported that its net profit nearly quadrupled in the first half of the year, but warned a fall in fares would make for losses in the second half. “Ryanair’s ability to grow both traffic and profits during the half year is a testament to the strength of Ryanair’s lowest fare model, and our relentless cost discipline,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “However, these results are heavily distorted by a 42 percent fall in fuel costs, which has masked a significant 17 percent decline in average fares,” he said. “We expect average fares to decline by up to 20 percent during quarters 3 and 4, which will result in both these quarters being loss making,” he added.
■FINANCE
Firm offers bags for loans
A Hong Kong firm has launched a series of TV commercials offering personal loans in exchange for ladies’ luxury handbags, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. Yes Lady Finance will pay cash-strapped socialites up to 70 percent of the bag’s value with 28 percent annualized interest, the report said. A Louis Vuitton handbag valued at US$2,600 in the second-hand market would fetch a US$1,800 three-month loan, the paper said, adding that owners would lose the bags if they failed to settle the debt on time. “It is a good fund-raising option for some tai tais,” company cofounder Wallace Tung was quoted as saying, referring to the wives of wealthy Hong Kong businessmen. “They may not want to sell their handbags, which may be a gift from husbands and mean a lot to them.”
■TIRES
No more F-1 for Bridgestone
Bridgestone Corp, the world’s largest tiremaker, will stop supplying tires for the Formula One racing championship series as it aims to cut costs and streamline research and development efforts. The company won’t renew its current contract, set to expire at the end of the 2010 season, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement yesterday. The company is the sole supplier of tires to F-1 racing teams. Bridgestone spends as much as US$100 million a year on Formula One-related costs, the company said. Honda Motor Co, Japan’s second-largest carmaker, and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG have also announced their withdrawal from the championship in the past year as the global recession cuts automobile sales. Bridgestone forecasts net income will drop 42 percent to ¥6 billion (US$67 million) this year.
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