■ENERGY
OPEC head warns on prices
Oil prices, which reached a new record last week, will keep rising if the dollar continues to fall and if oil producer Iran is attacked, the president of the OPEC said. “It’s not the supply and demand that is influencing oil prices now, prices go up with the falling dollar and the growing threat of war on Iran,” Chakib Khelil, who is also Algeria’s oil minister, told reporters on Saturday in Algiers. “If there is war and the dollar continues to slump, prices will go higher and higher.” Oil jumped as high as US$147.27 a barrel on Friday. Crude oil for delivery next month rose US$3.43 or 2.4 percent, to settle at US$145.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
■ENERGY
Minister calls for cuts
Japan must take steps to cut energy consumption and promote alternative resources to cope with rising oil prices, as it can’t regulate speculation in the oil market, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Hiroko Ota said yesterday. “It’s hard to take measures that could alleviate the pain temporarily,” Ota said during a talk show on NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster. She gave no specific ideas on what Japan could do to combat the rise in oil prices. The climb in oil’s price is being sustained by growth in demand from emerging economies, Ota said. To curb the rise, it’s necessary to improve market fundamentals, such as investment in the infrastructure of oil-producing countries, she said.
■AGRICULTURE
Chinese trade deficit grows
China registered a US$7.57 billion trade deficit in agricultural products during the first five months of this year, up by more than 14-fold over the same period last year, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. China imported US$23.75 billion in agricultural products in that period, up 59 percent over last year, Xinhua said, citing the agriculture ministry. The nation exported US$16.18 billion in agricultural products during the period, up 12 percent over the first five months of last year, it said.
■TECHNOLOGY
Windows XP most common
Windows XP remains the most common computer operating system among Internet users, a survey conducted by a German marketing firm showed. The survey by Fittkau & Maass found that 75.8 percent of Internet surfers use Windows XP while only 13 percent use Vista Online, which has been on the market since early last year. Next in popularity come Windows 2000 (4.6 percent), Mac OS (3.8 percent) and Windows 98 and ME (both at 1.3 percent). Only 1.2 percent of surfers use Linux. The results were based on an Internet user survey of more than 100,000 German-speaking computer users.
■HOUSING
Broker urges rate hike end
Australia’s slowing home-lending market signals the central bank should avoid raising interest rates from a 12-year high, the nation’s largest mortgage broker said. Home-loan approvals fell 7.9 percent in May, the biggest drop in eight years, a report said yesterday. The decline suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia may not need to raise interest rates any further, said Paul Lahiff, managing director of Sydney-based Mortgage Choice Ltd. “Are we close to the top of the interest rate cycle? I think we are,” Lahiff told Sky News Australia yesterday. Traders have reduced bets on the Reserve Bank raising rates after the home-loan approvals report, and after a second measure showed consumer confidence fell to the lowest since 1992.
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
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