Every Wednesday you will find links and top-line summaries to current events around the globe.
Toyota recalls new Prius in latest safety fix [Reuters]
- The spiraling crisis at Toyota Motor Corp deepened on Tuesday as the automaker said it would recall thousands of Camry sedans as well as nearly half a million new Prius and other hybrid cars to fix steering and braking problems.
- News of the recalls, the latest in a string of embarrassing Toyota product problems that have affected more than 8.5 million vehicles globally, came as a U.S. congressional committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday to examine the recalls and Toyota’s response to reports of safety problems with top-selling cars
- Toyota also faces potential litigation over 19 deaths and numerous injuries in crashes linked to the acceleration problems as well as class-action lawsuits over the brake problems with the Prius. Shares of Toyota, which lost about a fifth of their value since late January, is likely to lose more than 10,000 sales for both January and February
Super Bowl XLIV breaks ratings record [BBC]
- The New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts has become the most-watched programme in US TV history, early figures show. A record 106.5 million people, watched the game last weekend, according to Nielsen media
- The figure tops the 1983 finale of medical drama M*A*S*H which drew 105.97 million viewers. The previous Super Bowl record was last year’s game between Pittsburgh and Arizona, watched by 98.7 million
- Sunday’s Super Bowl was viewed by more than double the 48 million Americans who watched President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last year. An average 26.8 million people have tuned in to the latest series of American Idol, which is currently the most-watched series on US television
Philippine campaign starts as race tightens [Reuters]
- Philippine politicians begin campaigning on Tuesday in a wide open race for the presidency, with voters looking for a clean face after the scandal-plagued administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In office since 2001, Arroyo is barred from running again. Allegations that she stole the 2004 presidential elections, and that her husband profited from a multi-million-dollar telecoms contract and other deals have marred her nine-year rule
- Party affiliations have historically counted for little in the Philippines, and policies have mattered less than personalities. Presidential campaigns are expensive and rely on rich families and companies — who would expect quid pro quos. But the start of the official poll campaign on Tuesday may level the playing field for rich and not-so-well-oiled candidates alike due to an election law putting a campaign spending cap of about 500 million pesos ($11 million) for presidential candidates, or 10 pesos per voter
- More than 50 million Filipinos are choosing a new president, vice president, about 300 lawmakers in the two-chamber Congress and more than 17,600 local government positions in the country’s first nationwide automated elections on May 10
Healthy Jump in Chinese Exports Points to Recovery in World Trade [New York Times]
- China said Wednesday that its exports climbed 21% in January from a year earlier, while imports surged 85.5%, the latest sign that world trade is starting to recover from the global financial crisis. The healthy jump last month could fuel further calls from the United States and the European Union for China to break the peg of its currency, the renminbi, to the U.S. dollar and allow the renminbi to appreciate
- The China trade surplus was $14.17 billion last month, compared with $18.43 billion in December and $39.1 billion in January of last year, according to figures released Wednesday by China’s General Administration of Customs. The trade statistics are the latest sign of China’s robust economic health, even as most of the rest of the world struggles to recover from the financial crisis
- The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced Tuesday that auto sales in China had surged 143% from the level of a year earlier and production had leaped 124%. China’s snapshot of its January trade data Wednesday came the morning after Germany released official data confirming that it had lost its status as the world’s leading exporter, as China overtook it. Chinese exports amounted to $1.2 trillion in 2009, while German exports totaled $1.1 trillion
With Buzz, Google Plunges Into Social Networking [New York Times]
- Google and Facebook are on a collision course in the increasingly competitive market for social networking services. On Tuesday, Google introduced a new service called Google Buzz, a way for users of its Gmail service to share updates, photos and videos. The service will compete with sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are capturing an increasing percentage of the time people spend online
- The links shared on those social networks are also sending a growing amount of traffic to sites across the Web, potentially weakening Google’s position as the prime navigation tool on the Internet. Buzz is Google’s boldest attempt to build a social network that can compete with Facebook and Twitter. The service is built into Gmail, which already has 176 million users
- Still, Buzz faces a struggle against Facebook, which recently announced, on the occasion of its sixth birthday, that it had 400 million users. Buzz also risks further overwhelming people who are struggling with Web services that generate ever-increasing amounts of information
Study toasts beer as being good for your bones [Reuters]
- Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, have found beer is a rich source of silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis, as dietary silicon is a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density
- The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found the beers’ silicon content ranged from 6.4 milligrams per liter to 56.5 mg per liter. The average person’s silicon intake each day is between 20 and 50 mgs
- The researchers found there was little change in the silicon content of barley during the malting process as most of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting. They found pale ales showed the highest silicon content while non-alcoholic beers, light lagers and wheat beers had the least silicon
- Haiti quake death toll rises to 230,000 [BBC]
- Inside Toyota’s epic breakdown [Reuters]
- Somali rebels ‘pour into Mogadishu’ [BBC]
- Asia-Pacific airlines wobble over fuel hedging [Reuters]
- Global mobile broadband spending seen up to $72 billion [Reuters]
- Honda Adds 437, 000 Cars to Recall [New York Times]
- Afghanistan avalanches kill 150 in Salang Pass [BBC]
- Ukraine election: Yanukovych urges Tymoshenko to quit [BBC]
Photograph by REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
Models pose in their underwear to celebrate the fourth edition of “Brazilian Underwear Day” at a bus station in Brasilia, February 9, 2010 (REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)
via Reuters Editor’s Choice Slideshow
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