■ Internet
MS plans software service
Microsoft Corp, whose MSN Internet service is losing money and customers, will sell subscriptions to use a new version of its software to bring in clients. The service, called MSN Premium, will cost US$9.95 a month or US$80 a year for a set of e-mail, security, calendar and digital-photo programs, said Lisa Gurry, MSN Group product manager. A version without some of the programs will cost less, she said. Sales will begin between December and February. Microsoft, which primarily sells access over dial-up phone lines, has forecast a decline in MSN sales this year as clients switch to faster connections. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is avoiding selling high-speed access and is trying to collect a fee for MSN software from customers who get fast access from another company.
■ Automoblies
Ford shuffles management
The Ford Motor Co said Tuesday night that it had named Lewis Booth, Mazda's chief executive, to run Ford's struggling European division. Booth, 54, succeeds Martin Leach, who resigned earlier this month and is said to be in talks to take a top job at Fiat Auto, the Italian automaker. The departure of Leach, a longtime Ford executive, set off a wave of management reshuffling. Mazda Motor, which is one-third owned by Ford, elevated its executive vice president, Hisakazu Imaki, as its president and chief executive to succeed Booth. Another executive, John Parker, president of Ford's Southeast Asian operations and based in Bangkok, was named executive vice president of Mazda. The division reported a pretax loss of US$525 million in the second quarter compared with a US$18 million loss a year earlier.
■ Finance
Singapore's problems grow
Bankruptcies in Singapore are heading for an 18-year high as the city-state grapples with rising unemployment and a struggling economy, Ministry of Law statistics showed on yesterday. In the first seven months of this year, 2,529 individuals were made bankrupt, a 22 percent rise compared to the same period last year. For all of last year, 3,588 people were made bankrupt, the highest figure since 1986, according to the data. Analysts noted this year's total is likely to reach levels not seen even during the last major recession of 1985 and 1986. "Bankruptcy numbers are a function of the labor market," Standard Chartered economist Joseph Tan told The Straits Times. "When people lose their jobs, they are unable to service their home and car loans, and it is quite easy for creditors to file a petition against them," he was quoted as saying.
■ Macroeonomics
Arroyo wants stable peso
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on yesterday asked the central bank to take bolder steps to stabilize the country's sliding currency amid security and political jitters. "I have asked the central bank to crack the whip on speculators and to use feasible monetary tools to stabilize the currency exchange market," Arroyo said. The peso has slid to 55.45 to a dollar on Tuesday amid concerns about the stability of Arroyo's government which survived a failed power grab last month. But the currency slightly recovered in the early transactions on yesterday, trading to as high as 55.35 to a dollar, on expectations of tighter monetary policy.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
Heavy rain is expected to affect parts of Taiwan this week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday as a meteorologist said the active part of the annual plum rain season has started. A stationary plum rain front and southwesterly winds would bring unstable weather and abundant moisture to Taiwan from today for about a week, with the heaviest rainfall forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday, the CWA said. The agency said western and northeastern Taiwan, and mountainous areas in the east and southeast, could expect showers or thunderstorms on those two days, with localized heavy rain possible. Other parts of
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