■OIL
Prices hit new record high
World oil prices hit a fresh record high point close to US$125 per barrel yesterday, extending this week’s record run after OPEC insisted the market was well-supplied and driven by speculators. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month, spiked to a historic US$124.73 per barrel at 0600 GMT in European deals. But it eased later to US$124.24, a rise of US$0.55 from the closing price in New York on Thursday. “The oil market is so overwhelmingly bullish at this point ... it is looking at the US$125 mark as its next target,” said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
■FOOD
China bans drink, chips
China said yesterday it had banned sales of a soft drink made by Coca-Cola and two flavors of Procter and Gamble’s Pringles potato chips due to fears they contained harmful substances. China’s quality control watchdog reported on its Web site that 593 food items imported in January and February were unfit for consumption after traces of harmful substances were found. Two batches of Pringles “spicy salad sauce” and “crispy baked” flavors, imported from the US by Zhuhai-based Kangrui Trade Company were found to contain potassium bromate, a chemical which may cause cancer. Coca-Cola’s berry-flavored Fanta soft-drink imported by Shanghai Xiaolong Information Trade Company was also banned for containing too much benzoic acid, which can attack the liver and the kidneys.
■OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Konica Minolta to pay up
Japanese office equipment maker Konica Minolta said yesterday that it was ordered to pay a penalty for failing to declare income of some US$17 million. Konica Minolta Holdings Inc said it and its subsidiaries inadvertently concealed ¥1.8 billion (US$17.4 million) in income for two years to March last year. It was ordered to pay some ¥1.2 billion in additional taxes as a penalty, a company spokesman said. The total income that the company failed to declare during the two years, including other cases of accounting errors, amounted to more than ¥2 billion, he said.
■INTERNET
MySpace to allow sharing
Social networking site MySpace said on Thursday it will soon enable users to quickly share profile data with Web sites operated by Yahoo Inc, eBay Inc and others. MySpace aims to save its users keystrokes and allow them to export their photos, videos and lists of friends. “There’s this concept that social networks are walled gardens,” said Amit Kapur, MySpace’s chief operating officer. “We’re taking those walls down.” Other sites that can receive the MySpace data include Twitter and Photobucket.
■INTERNET
Facebook to boost safety
Officials from several US states say Facebook has agreed to implement more than 40 safeguards to protect younger users. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says the changes are designed to thwart sexual predators, fraud and online bullies at the popular online hangout. He is one of the attorneys general who announced the agreement on Thursday. Facebook has agreed to ban convicted sex offenders from using the service and will make it harder for older users to search online for subscribers who are under age 18. Facebook will also join a task force seeking better ways to verify the ages of users.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to