■ RETAIL
Carrefour abandons bid
Carrefour SA, Europe's biggest retailer, will not bid for Turkish supermarket chain Migros Turk TAS, the Paris-based company's Turkish partner said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange yesterday. Carrefour and Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS, which together run supermarkets in Turkey, decided not to bid for Migros Turk, Sabanci said in the filing, without giving details. Sabanci had said in November that its joint venture with Carrefour made a "non-binding" bid for Migros Turk, Turkey's biggest retailer, which was put up for sale in June by its owner Koc Holding AS.
■ FAST FOOD
Brits No. 1 consumers
US fast-food giant McDonald's is selling more burgers in Britain than at any time in the 34 years since it opened its first outlet here, the Times said yesterday, quoting company figures. The newspaper said there were more than 88 million visits to the "golden arches" in Britain last month, up nearly 10 million on the previous 12 months and the equivalent of about 320,000 more each day. The findings followed a study by pollsters Synovate in conjunction with the BBC published on Jan. 2, which said Britons were now the world's biggest fans of fast food, just ahead of Americans.
■ BANKING
Credit Suisse shares drop
Credit Suisse Group dropped the most in three weeks in Zurich trading after a newspaper report said Switzerland's second-biggest bank may have further writedowns related to the US subprime collapse in the fourth quarter. Credit Suisse fell 1.7 Swiss Franc,or 2.6 percent, to SF64, valuing the company at SF74.4 billion (US$66.7 billion). The 63-member Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index declined 0.4 percent. The bank may have writedowns of at least SF2.5 billion in the fourth quarter because of its investments in US shopping centers and leveraged buyouts, the Sonntag newspaper reported yesterday.
■ OIL
Chavez tackles shortages
State oil company PDVSA is creating a subsidiary to produce and distribute food in the country, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday, following months of shortages of basic food products. After a stinging poll defeat last month, Chavez has promised to resolve the nagging shortages of groceries like beef, eggs and milk that have sparked long lines in recent months -- a problem business blame on government price controls. During his weekly Sunday broadcast, Chavez said the subsidiary, called PDVAL, would be a "new instrument for nutritional sovereignty." "They are going to belong to PDVSA, soon the PDVALs will start appearing," he said.
■ INVESTMENT
Westfield in WTC venture
Australian major shopping center owner Westfield will invest US$625 million in a retail project at the site of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, it said yesterday. The Westfield Group said it will set up a joint venture with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to develop and operate a US$1.45 billion retail project at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Westfield, Australia's largest shopping center owner, originally acquired an interest in the retail facilities at the WTC in July 2001 for about US$130 million. But two years after the towers were levelled by the attacks, Westfield sold its interest to the Port Authority.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2