■ Energy
Oil prices to stay high
Several of the world's oil producers that are not members of OPEC might not be able to immediately ramp up their output to help bring down current high oil prices, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday. He did not men-tion any of the non-member countries by name, but said they would need to increase investments before boosting output. "We realize that some non-OPEC members can't increase production in the short term, but we believe they can over the longer term," said Purnomo, who is also Indonesia's energy minister. OPEC, which accounts for 40 percent of the world's oil supply, decided to increase its output ceiling to 25.5 million barrels a day starting July 1, and to 26 million in August from 23.5 million currently. Non-member Russia has already said it can't increase its output anytime soon.
■ Software
Microsoft sells anti-virus fix
Microsoft Corp will sell an anti-virus product that can detect mutating computer bugs, which existing software fails to do, said Scott Charney, the com-pany's chief security strategist. Microsoft has been trying to block computer viruses from clients' machines after worms such as "Blaster" and "Beagle" escaped detection by existing software, slowing traffic and crashing customers' computers in the past year. The company said more of these viruses are expected. "There's a lot of room for innovation," Charney said. "We need to get the com-puter to a point where people would use it without a sense of fear or that some-thing will go wrong -- it's not like the telephone, where people will just pick it up when they use it," he said. The anti-virus software will be a standalone product and will ride on the brand recognition of its operating system and software to push sales.
■ Banking
Singapore opens market
Monetary officials are opening up Singapore's banking sector further to foreign banks by giving them more access to the domestic market starting Jan. 1. The three local banks -- DBS Group Holdings, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank -- can expect to face intensifying competition both in Singa-pore and abroad, warned Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday. He urged them to look further into Asia. Six qualifying foreign banks can have up to 25 branches or offsite automatic teller machines (ATM) under the plan. They are currently restricted to 15 service locations, of which not more than five can be branches. ABN Amro Bank, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Maybank and BNP Paribas can now negotiate with the local banks on a commer-cial basis to let their credit-card members obtain cash through the Singapore banks' ATM networks.
■ Banking
Online usage rising in US
Some 22 million people use online banking at the top 10 US financial institutions, up 29 percent from a year ago, a survey showed Thursday. The survey by market research firm comScore Networks, measuring the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, said usage of online bank bill payment services grew by 37 percent. The survey found some 4.6 million consumers, or about 20 percent of the online banking population, used online bill payment services offered by the top 10 banks.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from