The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

BEIJING—Police in central China have shut down a hacker training company that taught thousands of people how to launch cyberattacks and provided them with spy software, media reports said Monday.

The reports come amid growing accusations of organized computer hacking originating from China that has chilled ties with the United States, and follow Google’s threat last month to quit the Chinese market over cyberattacks.

Police in Hubei province shut down Black Hawk Safety Net and arrested three people, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, calling the operation China’s “biggest hacker training website.”

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SINGAPORE — The Philippines was tapped by leaders of Southeast Asia and the United States to prepare a new five-year cooperation plan covering trade, labor mobility, cultural exchange and others following their first-ever meeting yesterday.

The move reflected Washington’s policy shift toward a more active involvement in the region, marked by a decision to engage members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) without treating countries like Myanmar as outcasts.

A statement was issued following the first meeting between a US president and heads of all 10 ASEAN countries, calling for “broader and deeper” cooperation and enhanced economic cooperation, particularly in easing customs procedures. They agreed to hold a second meeting next year.

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Foreign exchange remittances from Filipino expatriates surged in 2008 despite the global economic crisis.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that remittances through banks and other official channels reached $16.43 billion last year, up 13.7 percent from $14.45 billion in 2007, when they grew 13.2 percent from the 2006 level.

The major sources of remittances in 2008 were the United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, UK, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In December, remittances scaled to $1.40 billion, compared with $1.30 billion in November and with $1.397 billion in December 2007. [Read full article...]

President Gloria Arroyo said the United States must take the lead role in reversing the global recession and developed nations must give developing countries more voice in running the world economy.

“What we want is for America to do something because the last thing we want is for America to do nothing. It may be vague on what should be done, but the worst thing is for [America] not to do anything,” President Arroyo said during a plenary session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday.

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