■ Oil
OPEC agrees to raise ceiling
In a largely symbolic decision, OPEC agreed on Wednesday to increase its formal production ceiling, underlining the group's resolve to bring down high oil prices. But the move will not add any oil to the market as most of OPEC's members are already producing well above their quotas and near their maximum capacity. The organization will increase its nominal production ceiling to 27 million barrels a day, up from 26 million barrels a day, starting Nov. 1. The new ceiling is still lower than OPEC's actual production, which stands around 28 million barrels a day, excluding Iraqi output, which is not limited by quotas. For months now, OPEC, which accounts for half the world's oil exports, has been unsuccessfully trying to stem this year's 40 percent increase in crude oil prices, a result of an unforeseen spike in demand and heightened fears of disruptions in supplies.
■ Stock scandal
Stewart ready for jail
Millionaire executive Martha Stewart announced on Wednesday that she had decided to begin her prison sentence for lying about a stock trade as soon as possible. "I must reclaim my good life," she said, adding she hoped to be home in time to plant a spring garden. Stewart, 63, said she'd made the decision in order to "put this nightmare behind me and get on with my life." She said she hoped to start her sentence right away -- those close to her said that meant within weeks, not days -- and be out by early next year to begin her five months of house arrest. ``I would like to be back as early in March as possible to plant a spring garden and to truly get things growing again,'' she said. Stewart was convicted of lying about why she sold ImClone Systems Inc stock in 2001.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues