■ Internet
Microsoft tops site visits
Google overtook Yahoo as the second-most popular Internet destination for Web surfers worldwide last month, while Microsoft held on to the top spot, ComScore reported on Thursday. Slightly more than 736 million people around the world traveled the Internet last month, with 475,262 going to Yahoo online properties, industry tracker ComScore reported. Microsoft Web sites were visited by 501,720 people, the rating tally said.
■ Airlines
Mesa, Shenzhen team up
US regional airline Mesa Air Group Inc and a Chinese carrier yesterday signed a deal to create the first joint-venture airline catering to the booming local travel market. The new carrier will start service ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, flying to 11 Chinese cities with 50-seat regional jets, Mesa and its partner, Shenzhen Airlines Ltd, said in a joint statement. Shenzhen Airlines will have majority control of the new carrier, the airlines said. They did not disclose financial details, adding that they have not decided on a name for the venture.
■ Metals
Deal struck on ore prices
Brazilian and Chinese firms have agreed to a 9.5 percent increase in iron ore prices for next year in a surprisingly swift deal that analysts said yesterday would set the benchmark for global contracts. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron ore producer, announced on its Web site overnight on Thursday that it had secured a 9.5 percent price hike from China's biggest steelmaker Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp. The price rise will come into effect for the fiscal year starting April 1.
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