■OIL
Prices hit new record high
World oil prices hit a fresh record high point close to US$125 per barrel yesterday, extending this week’s record run after OPEC insisted the market was well-supplied and driven by speculators. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month, spiked to a historic US$124.73 per barrel at 0600 GMT in European deals. But it eased later to US$124.24, a rise of US$0.55 from the closing price in New York on Thursday. “The oil market is so overwhelmingly bullish at this point ... it is looking at the US$125 mark as its next target,” said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
■FOOD
China bans drink, chips
China said yesterday it had banned sales of a soft drink made by Coca-Cola and two flavors of Procter and Gamble’s Pringles potato chips due to fears they contained harmful substances. China’s quality control watchdog reported on its Web site that 593 food items imported in January and February were unfit for consumption after traces of harmful substances were found. Two batches of Pringles “spicy salad sauce” and “crispy baked” flavors, imported from the US by Zhuhai-based Kangrui Trade Company were found to contain potassium bromate, a chemical which may cause cancer. Coca-Cola’s berry-flavored Fanta soft-drink imported by Shanghai Xiaolong Information Trade Company was also banned for containing too much benzoic acid, which can attack the liver and the kidneys.
■OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Konica Minolta to pay up
Japanese office equipment maker Konica Minolta said yesterday that it was ordered to pay a penalty for failing to declare income of some US$17 million. Konica Minolta Holdings Inc said it and its subsidiaries inadvertently concealed ¥1.8 billion (US$17.4 million) in income for two years to March last year. It was ordered to pay some ¥1.2 billion in additional taxes as a penalty, a company spokesman said. The total income that the company failed to declare during the two years, including other cases of accounting errors, amounted to more than ¥2 billion, he said.
■INTERNET
MySpace to allow sharing
Social networking site MySpace said on Thursday it will soon enable users to quickly share profile data with Web sites operated by Yahoo Inc, eBay Inc and others. MySpace aims to save its users keystrokes and allow them to export their photos, videos and lists of friends. “There’s this concept that social networks are walled gardens,” said Amit Kapur, MySpace’s chief operating officer. “We’re taking those walls down.” Other sites that can receive the MySpace data include Twitter and Photobucket.
■INTERNET
Facebook to boost safety
Officials from several US states say Facebook has agreed to implement more than 40 safeguards to protect younger users. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says the changes are designed to thwart sexual predators, fraud and online bullies at the popular online hangout. He is one of the attorneys general who announced the agreement on Thursday. Facebook has agreed to ban convicted sex offenders from using the service and will make it harder for older users to search online for subscribers who are under age 18. Facebook will also join a task force seeking better ways to verify the ages of users.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
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