■ COMPUTERS
Laptops handed out in Niue
The tiny South Pacific nation of Niue on Thursday became the first country in the world to issue laptop computers to all its children, officials said. Every primary and secondary school student was this week given a rugged “relatively waterproof and breakproof” little green laptop, which has wireless connection to the Internet as part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. The computers have been specially designed by OLPC, a US-based charity, to help children’s learning and to be cheap, as well as difficult to break or damage. The donation of 500 computers to Niue — which has a total population of less than 1,500 — is part of an initiative to distribute 5,000 laptops in the Pacific region, OLPC said in a statement.
■ OIL
Prices continue to rally
Oil prices extended gains above US$121 yesterday, a day after their biggest jump in three months, as a renewed slump in the US dollar and mounting tension between the US and Russia rekindled investor appetite. US light crude for October delivery rose US$0.37 to US$121.55 a barrel, after surging nearly 5 percent on Thursday as part of a broader commodities rally. London Brent crude rose US$0.46 to US$120.62. Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, said on Thursday it would respond with more than just a diplomatic protest to a US deal with Poland to station parts of a US missile defense shield on Polish soil.
■ MEXICO
Growth accelerates slightly
Mexico’s economy expanded 2.8 percent in the second quarter, up slightly on 2.6 percent growth in the first three months of the year. A statement on Thursday from the National Statistics Institute said that the farming sector led gains, posting 4.4 percent growth from a year earlier amid rising food prices. Mexico expects growth to slow as the US economy cools, prompting the Finance Ministry to cut its growth estimate to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent this year. The US buys about 80 percent of Mexico’s exports. US woes also feed a dip in remittances, as Mexicans working abroad send less cash home.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Ford to axe 350 jobs
Ford Australia announced yesterday that it would cut up to 350 jobs, or 15 percent of its Australian manufacturing work force, because of a slump in sales of large cars. The cuts, expected in mid-November, follow an earlier announcement that 600 jobs would be lost when local six-cylinder engine production ends in 2010. Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said that changing consumer preferences, rising fuel prices and economic factors had caused a decline in the large-car segment. She said the job losses would be evenly split between two plants in the state of Victoria.
■ ENERGY
Settle dispute, judge says
An Indian judge has told India’s billionaire Ambani brothers to get their mother to settle their latest fight over natural gas supplies, telling them it is in the “national interest,” a report said yesterday. The two brothers, listed by Forbes magazine as among the world’s six richest men, have been at odds since 2005 over a supply agreement from the Krishna Godavari basin off India’s east coast. “Why don’t you go back to your mother? Both parties should settle. It’s not a family dispute,” Justice J.N. Patel was quoted as saying. “It’s a matter of national importance and a resolution will be in the public interest since natural gas is a national asset,” he told the brothers’ lawyers.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source