■Internet
Microsoft issues warning
Microsoft issued two security warnings on Thursday of a critical flaw in its Internet Explorer browser, which would allow an attacker to create a Web page with malicious code that could take over the computer of any one who visits the page. Microsoft also said that a problems in Windows XP could allow a hacker to access files on a remote computer and in some cases run malicious code on the computer. The new flaws underscored the vulnerability of computers running the systems, despite the company's increased efforts to tighten the security of its products. Microsoft on Thursday published patches for both new flaws on its Web site at two separate Internet addresses (http://www.-microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-004.asp, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/se curity/bulletin/MS03-005.asp).
■ World Bank
China can exceed ceiling
The World Bank will allow China to exceed a US$13.5 billion limit on borrowing by any one nation, averting a cutoff of US$1.5 billion a year in aid. China, which has more than US$50 billion a year in foreign investment, will buy World Bank bonds with its US$286.4 billion in foreign reserves to offset the increased risk to the bank for loans above the cap, bank officials said. The bank's agreement with China, the first of its kind, allows Beijing to continue to borrow from the bank in order to keep access to its advice and expertise. Con-tinued access to bank aid is needed to build rural roads, clean up urban wastewater and fight tuberculosis, and "foreign investors don't fund the kinds of projects the bank does," said Yukon Huang, country director for China at the bank.
■ South Korea
Sales slump forecasted
South Korean companies expect sales and profita-bility to slow this month, with both local and overseas sales seen falling as a global economic slowdown takes hold, according to a survey by the nation's central bank. The central bank's index of manufacturers' expecta-tions for this month fell to 84 points from 91 for last month. A reading below 100 indicates more companies are pessimistic about the outlook for their business than opti-mistic. On Thursday, the Bank of Korea cut its 2003 economic growth forecast and left interest rates unchanged for a ninth month on concern that a possible US-led war on Iraq would hamper export growth.
■ Automotives
Hino to use hybrid batteries
Hino Motors Ltd, a truck-maker 50 percent owned by Toyota Motor Corp, said it plans to fit its Dutro hybrid trucks with the same batteries Toyota is using to cut costs. Tokyo-based Hino will equip the 2-tonnes Dutro with Panasonic EV Energy Co batteries, which Toyota uses for gasoline-electric hybrids such as the Prius, according to Hino spokesman Kenichi Ohno. Hino was the first Japanese truckmaker to release hybrid buses and trucks in 1991 and has sold about 280 in Japan so far, he said. Automakers are investing billions of dollars to develop autos that meet stricter environmental rules. Toyota, the first automaker to sell a hybrid car, wants to spread out the cost of developing hybrid engines and transform them from a niche product into a global standard.
Agencies
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2