■ Computers
Apple adds mouse buttons
Just weeks after announcing a switch to Intel-based chips, Apple Computer Inc on Tuesday unveiled another change that brings it closer to the mainstream -- a new computer mouse with four programmable buttons and a scroll ball. The introduction of the US$49 device came after decades in which Apple insisted that a single button mouse was adequate for managing computer tasks. The new Mighty Mouse doesn't actually feature separate buttons. Instead it has two touch sensors near the front that can be used like a two-button mouse, or as a single-button for Apple traditionalists. Pushing down the scroll ball can also act as a button while squeezing the mouse from both sides also can launch applications or bring up menus.
■ Piracy
Web rebels test `darknet'
Internet rebels on Tuesday began preliminary testing of a new weapon that threatens to scuttle efforts to stop illicit online music swapping. Internet privacy activists at Freenet Project posted word on their Web site that they were looking for kindred technology renegades to test a refined version "darknet" software designed to keep file swappers anonymous. The new software is being heralded as "scalable," which means it would enable large numbers of computer users to freely share files online without revealing their identities, said Doug Tygar, a computer professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "Even if this version of Freenet doesn't meet its goals, I can assure you they will continue to refine their software. It is just a matter of time before anonymous file sharing networks become available," Tygar said.
■ Oil industry
Indonesia asks for loan
Indonesia's cash-strapped government has asked China to provide a loan of up to US$1.5 billion to fund oil imports by state-owned oil firm Pertamina, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said yesterday. Indonesia submitted the request during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state visit to China last week as a means of supporting the rupiah, Bakrie told reporters. Pertamina is responsible for all of Indonesia's oil imports. Although Indonesia is the sole Southeast Asian member of OPEC, falling investment in oil exploration and extraction in the country has reduced output in recent years and made the country a net oil importer.
■ Fraud
Bank settles Enron claim
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has agreed to pay US$2.4 billion to settle investors' claims that it helped hide losses at the fallen energy trader Enron Corp through a massive accounting fraud. The settlement announced on Tuesday with the Toronto-based bank -- Canada's fifth-largest financial institution and the operator of the securities firm CIBC World Markets -- was the biggest individual payout so far in the long-running debacle. Combined with similar agreements with Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and others, the settlements have now reached more than US$7 billion, said lawyers for the investors who lost tens of billions in Enron's 2001 collapse. Some 50,000 Enron stock and bond holders led by the University of California's board of regents filed claims as part of the lawsuit. Investors claim a number of global banks and brokerages helped Enron continue to operate and raise money even as the company was imploding.
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