■BEVERAGES
Pepsi’s Q2 income falls
PepsiCo Inc’s second-quarter net income fell 3 percent on charges related to the company’s buyout of its two biggest bottlers, but the same deal pushed up revenue 40 percent and showed signs of paying off for its US drinks business. Sales of beverages like Pepsi and snacks like Doritos continued gaining abroad, especially in emerging markets like India and even in Europe, which had been hurting in the weak economy. Foreign currency fluctuations weighed down results. About 40 percent of PepsiCo’s revenue comes from outside the US and Canada. A strengthening US dollar can dampen overseas revenue because sales convert back into fewer dollars. Overall for the quarter ending in June, PepsiCo earned US$1.6 billion, or US$0.98 per share, down from US$1.66 billion, or US$1.03 a share in the same quarter last year. Revenue climbed 40 percent to US$14.8 billion, benefiting from the US$7.8 billion buyout of PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group.
■TELECOMS
Telenor profits skyrocket
Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor yesterday announced net profits rose sevenfold for the second quarter, at 9.6 billion kroner (US$1.53 billion) against 1.4 billion kroner a year ago, on the strength of its activities in Asia. The figures include an exceptional 6.5 billion kroner profit from the merger of its shares in Russia’s Vimpelcom and Ukraine’s Kievstar into a new company jointly owned with Russia’s Alfa. The profits are higher than the 9.1 billion kroner predicted by analysts at Dow Jones Newswires. Turnover was up 2.7 percent to 25.2 billion kroner, the company said in its report. Telenor is 54 percent owned by the Norwegian state.
■VIDEO GAMES
Kinect to sell for US$150
Microsoft announced on Tuesday that its new gesture-sensing system for the Xbox 360 game console, Kinect, would cost US$150 and go on sale on Nov. 4. Kinect uses a 3D camera and motion recognition software to let people play video games using natural body movements and voice commands instead of hand-held controllers. Kinect was developed by Microsoft under the code name Project Natal and unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles last month. Microsoft said “Kinect for Xbox 360” will sell for US$149.99 and will include the Kinect Sensor and the video game Kinect Adventures, which features a river raft ride through an obstacle course. It said the Kinect Sensor would work with the 40 million Xbox 360s already sold worldwide.
■COMMUNICATIONS
S Korea consortium wins bid
A South Korean consortium has won a US$1 billion deal to lay fiber optic cables in Saudi Arabia, a state trade promotion agency said yesterday. Korean Middle East Engineering, a joint venture of four South Korean businesses in the kingdom, was named main project contractor by Saudi Arabia’s Integrated Telecom Company, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said. The project is to set up a national network in Saudi Arabia and also to connect the country with Sudan, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates by undersea cable by December 2013, the agency said in a statement. The agency said it believed the deal was expected to create new opportunities for South Korean businesses in Saudi Arabia, noting the cable contract was awarded despite fierce Chinese competition.
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