■ OIL
US urges OPEC increase
US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman told Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi on Saturday that OPEC should increase oil output. Bodman told reporters before his meeting with Naimi that oil production should be increased in order to meet growing demands. His visit to Saudi Arabia come just before an OPEC meeting on Feb. 1 in Austria. Last Tuesday, Naimi said that Saudi Arabia would raise production levels only when the market justifies it, and that the current inventory seemed normal. OPEC oil accounts for about 40 percent of the world's needs, and OPEC ministers often follow the lead of the Saudis when discussing whether to increase production to take the pressure off rising prices.
■ BANKING
Auditors crack down
Auditors found misconduct at Chinese banks involving about 860 billion yuan (US$118 billion) last year and 177 bank managers have been fired, news reports said on Saturday. A total of 445 cases of irregularities were found, down 58.4 percent from 2006, Xinhua news agency and the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported, citing the China Banking Regulatory Commission. They gave no details or and did not say whether anyone would be prosecuted. Auditors have stepped up oversight of Chinese state-owned banks in recent years as they try to become more competitive and as some sell shares to foreign investors.
■ ENERGY
EC wants greener Finland
The European Commission will ask Finland to increase its renewable energy output by about one-third to 38 percent in draft proposals to be unveiled this week, Finnish public broadcaster YLE said on Saturday. The commission is due to spell out on Wednesday how it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change, share out the burden of cuts in carbon dioxide and increase the use of renewable energy sources. "According to information obtained by YLE from sources at the negotiations, Finland should produce 38 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2020," YLE said.
■ MINING
Myanmar auctions off lots
Myanmar's military government sold 600 lots of gems and jade at a recent auction, state media said yesterday, earning much-needed foreign income for the junta as it faces stiff economic sanctions. Despite calls from the US and human-rights groups for a boycott of the sale after a bloody crackdown on protests last year, about 280 foreigners attended the sale, the New Light of Myanmar paper said. The government newspaper did not reveal how much the five-day auction earned, but a similar sale in November generated US$150 million.
■ AUTOMOBILES
GM eyes consolidated sales
General Motors' CEO said its sales network was not shrinking fast enough and the automaker wants to step up dealer consolidations. Rick Wagoner said efforts would be specific to combining Pontiac, Buick and GMC dealerships into one channel, the Detroit News reported on Saturday. "It's time to do that and the payoff is significant," Wagoner said during a recent presentation to Wall Street analysts. General Motors Corp reduced its dealer network by about 7 percent between 2005 and last year, to 14,118, the News reported. In some cases Hummer and Saab have merged.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
Suspected Chinese spies posing as Taiwanese tourists have been arrested for allegedly taking photographs of Philippine Coast Guard ships, local media reported. The suspected spies stayed at a resort in Palawan, where from a secluded location they used their phones to record coast guard ships entering and leaving a base, Philippine TV network GMA said on Wednesday. Palawan is near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and other disputed areas of the South China Sea, where tensions have been on the rise between China and the Philippines. The suspects allegedly also used drones without permission and installed cameras on coconut trees in the
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