■ 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.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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