■ Television
HBO TV may axe `Sex'
The end could be in sight for hit TV comedy Sex in the City, according to the New York Daily News quoting a cast member. Actress Cynthia Nixon said that the upcoming episodes of the sexy HBO television series will be the last for the show. Production on the next season is scheduled to begin in February, but new episodes are not likely to surface until next summer. The paper quoted a source at the HBO channel which produces the show as saying that no decision had been made on the future of the program.
■ Interest rates
Fed likely to reduce rates
The Federal Reserve was likely to lower interest rates yesterday to shore up the economy, which is slumping at the start of the holiday shopping season. Rising US unemployment and declining consumer confidence since the last Fed policy meeting six weeks ago has changed perceptions about the recovery and given central bankers reason to lower the benchmark overnight bank lending rate for the first time this year, economists said. "Consumers have been holding this economy together and continued weakness on the employment side is making consumers more weary," said Amy Crews Cutts, an economist at Freddie Mac, the second largest buyer of US home mortgages. "If the Fed is looking for bad news, they've got that." The overnight rate has been at the current 41-year low of 1.75 percent since December 2001. The Fed's policy-setting Open Market Committee was to meet at 9am Washington time and was likely to announce a decision at about 2:15pm.
■ Internet
Amazon selling used goods
Amazon.com Inc, the world's No. 1 Internet retailer, began selling used books, compact music discs, video games and DVDs on its Japanese-language Web site. Sales began yesterday, the president of Amazon's Japan unit said. Used goods for sale are limited to the kinds of new products the company currently sells, or to those among Amazon's online catalog of about 5.5 million items. "The service is part of Amazon.com's strategy globally," said Jasper Cheung, president of Amazon Japan K.K. "Japan is the fastest growing country" in revenue growth among nations where Amazon runs operations, he said. The service, known as Amazon Marketplace, currently operates in the US, the UK and Germany, the company said. Payment is only available by credit cards. Amazon Japan will receive commission fees from sellers worth 15 percent of sales.
■ Internet services
Microsoft moving into China
Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software company, is in talks to acquire Sohu.com Inc, one of China's largest providers of Internet services, Taiwan's Commercial Times reported, citing unidentified industry sources. Microsoft plans to expand its Microsoft Network Web site into the world's most populous nation by acquiring Sohu, the report said. Microsoft wants to offer Internet services in China to compete with AOL Time Warner Inc, the world's largest media company, which has entered China through a venture with Legend Group Ltd, the report said. Sohu last month posted its first quarterly profit since the company listed on the US NASDAQ exchange in July 2000. The shares, which soared 60 cents, or 17.9 percent to US$3.95 yesterday, have almost doubled in value since the end of August.
Agencies
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
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