■ Internet
New Bagle bug hits Web
A new variant of the Bagle Internet worm, dubbed Bagle.B, was on Tuesday spreading quickly by e-mail throughout the world, Internet security experts said. "It was initially spread through spamming, which gave it a good start, and now it's picking up speed and spreading quite rapidly," Mikael Albrecht, with the Finnish Security firm F-Secure, said. The worm seemed to have appeared first in Germany, and was on Tuesday afternoon spreading quickly in Italy, Poland and the UK as well, he said. Few details of the new bug were yet available, as it was still being analyzed, but Bagle.B seemed to be installing a so-called backdoor function on infected computers, Albrecht said.
■ Entertainment
Disney to buy the Muppets
The Walt Disney Co said it will buy the "Muppets" characters, including Kermit, Miss Piggy and others, as well as the "Bear in the Big Blue House," franchise from the Jim Henson Co. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal, which is expected to close in about two months, culminates a decades-long pursuit of the Muppets by Disney, which came close to acquiring the characters in 1990. The deal fell apart shortly after the death of company founder Jim Henson. The company then was bought by German media company EM.TV, which sold it back to the Henson family last year. The deal does not include the Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who were sold earlier by EM.TV to the Sesame Workshop.
■ Banking
Loose talk hurts Saga Bank
A young woman's e-mails to friends with false information about a regional bank's financial difficulties caused the bank to lose ?50 billion (US$476 million) of its account deposits, Japanese police authorities said yesterday. According to authorities, the Japanese woman in her 20s in southwestern Saga prefecture was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sending the slanderous e-mails to her friends saying that Saga Bank would soon be bankrupt. The woman, whose name was withheld, sent the e-mail to 26 people in December who forwarded it on to others. Due to the false rumor, Saga Bank lost ?50 billion in its account deposits from customers in December, resulting in its total account deposits to fall by 4.2 percent from a year earlier. The woman admitted to the act, but said she did not expect to create such a big commotion.
■ Semiconductors
Wafer sales slow to 5.5%
Global growth in sales of silicon wafers that are used to make semiconductors such as computer chips slowed to 5.5 percent last year, an industry group said. Sales rose to US$5.8 billion last year from US$5.5 billion in 2002, when revenue grew 5.8 percent, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said in a press release. Shipments grew 10 percent to 5.15 billion square inches last year from 4.68 billion in 2002, when shipments rose 19 percent, SEMI said. In the fourth quarter, shipments rose 23 percent from the year-earlier period and 6.5 percent from the previous quarter, it said. Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, last month reported that last year's net income fell 15.5 percent to 6 trillion won (US$5.2 billion) after a glut drove down prices of computer memory chips.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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