Taipei - Lenovo Group Ltd's Taiwan branch on Tuesday unveiled two new notebook computers as it ventures into the "mini- laptop" business started by Asustek Computer Inc in late 2007, a newspaper said Wednesday.

The two models - Ideapad S9, with a screen measuring 8.9 inches and Ideapad S10, with a 10.2-inch screen - both weigh less than 1 kilogramme and are powered by Atom processors and 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM, the Taipei Times reported.

Taipei  - Taiwan has launched a tourism campaign aimed at the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the island's Tourism Bureau said Tuesday.

Tourism officials have hosted seminars for Taiwan travel agents, attended the Arab Travel Fair in Dubai, printed brochures for Muslim travellers and are now inviting Muslim travel agents and travel reporters to visit.

Taipei  - Taiwan's inflation rate hit a 14-year high of 5.92 per cent in July, mainly because of increases in food and fuel prices, the island's statistical agency said Tuesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), which edged up 0.6 per cent from June, rose 5.92 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the biggest rise since September 1994, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement.

Taipei  - Taiwan's rice exports surged 20-fold in the first half of 2008 due to a global rice shortage caused by main rice exporting countries' cutting or banning exports, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.

In the first half of the year, Taiwan exported 6,634 tons of rice, up from 229 tons in 2007 during the period, earning 8.2 million US dollars as compared to the 230,000 US dollars earned in the first half of last year, the United Evening News said, quoting the Council of Agriculture (COA).

Taipei - Taiwan is helping establish 41 digital opportunity centres in seven developing nations under a regional initiative to bridge the digital divide, a newspaper said on Sunday.

Taipei  - Taiwan said Friday it will grant permanent residence to people who invest at least 30 million Taiwan dollars (1 million US dollars) in the island's economy and create jobs for a minimum of five Taiwan people for three years.

Under the revised immigration law, a foreigner can also achieve permanent residence if he or she invests the same minimum amount for at least five years in a fund set up to invest in Taiwan stocks and bonds.