■ 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.
BRIBERY CASE: President Tsai Ing-wen accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation as he said that he deeply regretted causing trouble for the president due to the investigation Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday resigned after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨). “I resigned from the post so that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would not be bothered by it anymore, and the prosecutors can investigate the case in a fair and just manner. I thank President Tsai once again for supporting me. May the country continue to prosper under her leadership,” Su Jia-chyuan said in a statement. The Presidential Office said that Tsai has accepted
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
‘CROSS-STRAIT CONSIDERATIONS’: Groups said that the Ministry of Education’s policies excluded Chinese and students should not be blocked over political issues The Taiwan International Student Movement yesterday said it would protest today outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei against a policy that excludes some Chinese students from returning to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June 17, the ministry has allowed foreign students from 19 “low risk” and “medium-low risk” countries and regions to enter Taiwan. On July 22, it announced that it was relaxing restrictions to include students from all countries and regions who are graduating this semester and on Wednesday it further expanded entry to students enrolled in degree programs. A letter sent by the ministry on Wednesday to universities did
The military last week sent “no small number” of Marine Corps officers to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) following reports of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill targeting the islands scheduled for this month. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Magazine published on Saturday last week, PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang (李大光) confirmed that the Chinese army was planning to stage a simulated invasion of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea this month. The islands comprise three atolls, with Pratas Island, at 1.74km2, being the largest. They lie southwest of Taiwan proper in the South
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