■ Automakers
Ford denies `gay' ads pact
Ford Motor Co came under fire this week after it was reported to have pulled ads from gay publications in a "secret deal" with a conservative Christian group. The automaker denied that any deal had been made and insisted that the decision to cease advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications was part of a broad restructuring of the advertising budgets of the two struggling luxury brands. The Volvo brand will continue to advertise in gay publications while the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands have never advertised in such publications, Ford spokesman Mike Moran said. The American Family Association threatened to boycott Ford in May because the company sponsored Gay Pride parades, supported gay marriage and required managers to attend diversity training. The boycott was suspended last Friday.
■ Liability
`Dangerous' bikes slammed
Parents suing US retail giant Wal-Mart for their children's crashes on Chinese-built bicycles gathered on the steps of a San Francisco courthouse on Tuesday to state their case. The parents of 10 US children filed suit earlier this year, accusing Wal-Mart and California-based bicycle importer Dynacraft of fraud and negligence for supplying children with "dangerous bicycles." Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have vouched for the quality of the bicycles, saying the reason front tires popped off, sending children face-first over handlebars, was "rider error." The children or whoever was watching over them didn't set the quick-release mechanisms for the front wheels correctly, according to the companies. Parents say the releases were faulty and they weren't properly warned of the importance of securing the front wheels.
■ Copy protection
Patch released for Sony CDs
According to Sony BMG Music Entertainment, some 5.7 million of its CDs were shipped with anti-piracy technology that requires a new software patch to plug a potential security breach in computers used to play the CDs. The company said on Tuesday it brought the issue up with the MediaMax software maker, SunnComm Technologies Inc, which has developed a software patch to fix the problem. The flawed software was loaded on 27 Sony BMG titles, including Alicia Keys' Unplugged, and Cassidy's I'm a Hustla.
■ Software
Microsoft to expand in India
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said yesterday the US software giant plans to invest US$1.7 billion in India and nearly double its work force in the country over the next four years. Much of the money would go to improving the software giant's research and development capabilities, Gates said. The Microsoft chairman hinted earlier yesterday at bigger things to come when he said the company would add 3,000 jobs in India over the next three to four years.
■ Plasma displays
Samsung sues Matsushita
South Korea's Samsung SDI said yesterday it has filed a patent violation lawsuit in the US against Japan's Matsushita and its subsidiary Panasonic. The legal action came after a year of negotiations failed to resolve a dispute between Samsung SDI and Matsushita over plasma display panel (PDP) technologies. Samsung SDI is the world's largest maker of PDPs, which are flat screens used for thin televisions and other display monitors.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
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