■ Internet
Yahoo catches e-mail worm
Yahoo Inc said on Tuesday it had contained a malicious program aimed at the millions of people who use its e-mail service, which ranks as the world's largest. The worm, dubbed "Yamanner," infected a recipient's computer as soon as the toxic e-mail was opened. It then scanned contact lists for additional targets, according to security software maker Symantec Corp. Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo said "a very small fraction" of its more than 200 million e-mail accounts were infected on Monday when the problem was first identified. As a precaution against variations on the Yamanner worm, Yahoo advised its e-mail users to update their antivirus programs and block all incoming correspondence from av3@yahoo.com.
■ Economy
US inflation edging up
Consumer inflation registered another sizable increase last month, pushed higher by soaring gasoline prices. And most worrisome, there was further evidence that the jump in energy costs is beginning to cause more widespread inflation troubles. The US Labor Department reported yesterday that its Consumer Price Index posted a 0.4 percent increase in May after an even bigger 0.6 percent rise in April. Gasoline prices jumped by 4.9 percent and have been soaring this year at an annual rate of 69.4 percent so far this year as motorists contend with pump prices above $US3 per gallon in many parts of the country. Excluding energy and food, core inflation rose by a larger-than-expected 0.3 percent. That increase was certain to get the attention of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who called a recent uptick "unwelcome."
■ Software
Microsoft releases patches
Microsoft Corp released eight critical updates on Tuesday to patch security holes in its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, Windows Media Player and Office productivity software. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker also released three patches rated "important" and one that was rated "moderate." Users can go to www.microsoft.com/security to download the Microsoft patches.
■ Shipping
DPWorld plans terminal
Dubai's DPWorld, one of the world's largest container-port operators, said on Tuesday it plans to invest US$500 million in a new container terminal in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin. DPWorld said it met with a visiting delegation from Tianjin municipality and signed a letter of intent with the Tianjin Port Group to develop a terminal being built on a man-made island off the city's coast. The terminal will have a capacity of 2.2 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent container units) and is expected to be operational by 2011.
■ Electronics
More phones than Finns
Statistics on Tuesday suggested that Finland has more mobile telephones than inhabitants. At the end of March, Finland had 5,280,000 mobile telephone subscriptions, roughly 20,000 more than the number of people, the Finnish news agency STT said, quoting a report from the Communications Ministry. The report comes as little surprise considering that the country is home to global mobile telephone giant Nokia. During the first quarter, mobile phones were used to make some 1 billion telephone calls and send 727 million text messages in Finland, the report said.
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