■ RUSSIA
Growth forecast raised
Russia raised its forecasts on Monday for economic growth and inflation this year, saying the economy was now expected to expand by 7.1 percent, news agencies reported. The economic development ministry, whose previous forecast for growth had been 6.7 percent, said inflation this year was now seen at 9.5 percent instead of 8.5 percent. "The inflation forecast has been raised because of the rise in food prices and wheat," the director of macroeconomic forecasting in the ministry told Interfax agency.
■ TELECOM
Icahn suing Motorola
Billionaire investor and corporate raider Carl Icahn said on Monday he had filed a lawsuit in the State of Delaware to obtain access to certain documents for his battle with the management of telecom equipment maker Motorola. "Over the past 12 months the statements and predictions of Motorola's management and the Board about Mobile Devices business have too often proven to be wrong," the statement said. Motorola earlier this year said it was studying a possible breakup of the company in an effort "to recapture global market leadership" in the mobile phone market and to enhance shareholder value. Icahn has been pressing for actions to boost shareholder value at Motorola.
■ EUROPE
OECD chief calls for reform
Europe faces "peril" if it does not reform its labor and product markets, Angel Gurria, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned in an interview published yesterday. "Reform is indispensable," Gurria told the Financial Times business daily. "People have to be aware of the costs of inaction -- the costs of action are short-term, but the benefits are long-term. Europe has it in its own control to close the gap and if they don't do it, it will be at their own peril." Living standards in Europe are one-third lower than in the US, a similar gap to the 1970s, the paper reported. Gurria reportedly urged politicians to present the case for reform to voters to build up support for proposals that are often unpopular.
■ INTERNET
Netflix Web site down
Online DVD rental leader Netflix Inc suffered a technology breakdown on Monday that knocked out its Web site for about 11 hours, inconveniencing many of its 7.5 million subscribers. The outage could mean some customers will have to wait longer than usual for their next rentals. The trouble blocked access to Netflix's Web site about from about 7am to 6pm US Pacific time on Monday, Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said. It marked the second-longest disruption since Netflix launched its service nine years ago.
■ TRADE
Doha talks near deal
The Doha round of global trade talks is close to reaching an accord in principle on industrial tariffs and farm subsidies and quotas, Brazil's chief trade negotiator, Robert Azevedo, said on Monday. He cited an increased sense of urgency among negotiators to reach an accord before the US presidential election in November and particularly more willingness by the EU and the US in recent weeks. The key players had moved to seeking solutions and bridging differences, he said. There was no certainty of success and a likely ministerial-level meeting would be decisive, he said.
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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