■US economy
Consumer confidence up
Consumer confidence rose in November for the first time in half a year, but industrial production fell for a third consecutive month in October, new data showed on Friday. The University of Michigan's preliminary sentiment index measuring consumer confidence, based on a survey of 500 households, rose to a higher-than-expected level of 85 from 80.6 in October. Consumers, whose spending makes up two thirds of US economic activity, may feel better because of rising stocks, interest rate reductions and potential tax cuts next year, said analysts. However, industrial production dropped in October, said the Federal Reserve. Output at factories, mines and utilities fell by 0.8 percent last month.
■ Agriculture
Australia hit by drought
The damage caused by a record drought now ravaging most of Australia is likely to get worse, and the relief bill may exceed the A$200 million (US$112 million) budgeted by the government, a Cabinet minister said yesterday. "There is potential for the numbers to even get worse," Agriculture Minister Warren Truss told Network 10 television, pointing to anecdotal evidence suggesting that this year's wheat crop will be "small" and that animal husbandry industries were suffering. Some agricultural areas of Australia have been gripped by drought for almost 18 months, with some regions hit by the driest conditions in more than a century. In recent weeks, authorities have declared 70 percent of the country to be affected. Australia's central bank warned two weeks ago that the drought could cut economic growth by up to one percentage point.
■ Retailers
Thailand nixes regulations
Thailand's government has dumped controversial legislation which would have regulated foreign-owned retailers to protect the country's struggling "mom and pop" stores, a report said yesterday. The Nation newspaper said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told a provincial chamber of commerce meeting that the Retail Business Act would have sent the wrong signal to foreign investors. The law could have compromised the government's policy on free trade, he said, adding however that the interior ministry could still issue regulations on zoning and closing hours for large retail outlets.
■ Auction
JFK's car sold in New York
The Lincoln Continental that President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963 sold for US$225,000 at an auction in New York on Saturday. The buyer, who was not at the auction, gave his price in advance of the event. The Lincoln convertible, which is now in Connecticut, has been partially restored although its interior remains entirely original, said Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's auction house. Other items related to America's 35th president also sold for substantial sums, such as a wooden rocking chair he received as a gift that sold for US$80,000 and a watercolor he painted two years before his death that went for US$30,000. The auction of US presidential memorabilia was held at the New York Historical Society. In other items, a fountain pen owned by former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sold for US$7,000 while his silver cigarette lighter brought in US$2,000.
Agencies
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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