■ TELECOMS
BlackBerry monitor needed
India, which has threatened to block some BlackBerry services over security worries, has formally asked mobile operators to ensure a monitoring system for the smartphone’s services by Aug. 31. New Delhi said it would shut Blackberry services if Research in Motion does not allow access to its messaging or secured e-mail services, threatening its future in the world’s fastest-growing telecoms market. A shutdown would affect about 1 million users in India out of a total 41 million BlackBerry users worldwide.
■ MINING
S Korea, Bolivia talk lithium
South Korea and Bolivia are close to a deal to develop a coveted lithium resource in the South American country, which has nearly half the world’s known reserves, the Chosun Ilbo said yesterday. The report quoted an unidentified senior government official as saying that the two countries were working on a final draft of the deal to be signed when Bolivian President Evo Morales visits Seoul late this month. However, a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said it was too early to say whether the deal could be sealed.
■ INTERNET
More watching Facebook
Industry tracker comScore on Monday reported that Facebook last month became the third most popular spot for US Internet users to watch online videos. Approximately 46.6 million people watched videos at the social networking Web site, compared with slightly more than 55 million at Yahoo properties and 143.2 million at Google venues, primarily YouTube, according to comScore. Facebook viewers watched videos for an average of 18 minutes, while Google served up 4.7 hours of video per visitor. Yahoo viewers watched just shy of 27 minutes of video each during the month, comScore said.
■ INTERNET
Google buys Jambool
Virtual currency manager Jambool announced on Monday its purchase by Google for an undisclosed sum. Jambool is the company that launched Social Gold virtual transactions technology that processes virtual currencies — make-believe money for online transactions such as games and social networks, including Facebook and MySpace. The technology allows makers of online games and social networks to mine “real money from virtual goods” — allowing genuine cash to be converted into virtual currency and vice versa.
■ COMPUTERS
Dell buying 3Par
Dell Inc said on Monday it was buying 3Par Inc, a maker of enterprise data storage equipment, for US$1.13 billion cash. Dell is offering US$18 per share for 3Par, an 87 percent premium over the company’s Friday closing price of US$9.65. The deal is expected to close this year. Dell expects the 3Par acquisition to add to its adjusted profit in fiscal 2012. It said it would also invest in added engineering and sales resources at 3Par.
■ INSURANCE
Aegon, EU agree on deal
Insurer Aegon NV said yesterday it had reached a deal with EU regulators on repaying 2 billion euros (US$2.56 billion) in support it received from the Dutch government at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Aegon said it would repay the money — “market conditions permitting” — by the end of next year, including a payment of 500 million euros this month. As part of the deal it will keep its dividends frozen and not pursue any acquisitions until the money is paid back.
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