■ Fast Food
Chicken boosts McDonald's
McDonald's Corp, the world's largest chain of hamburger restaurants, had a fourth-quarter net income of US$125.7 million after new menu offerings such as white-meat Chicken McNuggets spurred the biggest sales gain in more than eight years. Net income of 10 cents a share compares with a loss in the year-earlier quarter, the company's first ever, of US$343.8 million, or 27 cents, McDonald's said in a statement. Revenue surged 17 percent to US$4.56 billion from US$3.9 billion.
■ Fraud
Credit card warning issued
The Bank of New Zealand yesterday issued a warning to companies about shipping goods to foreign countries -- especially Indonesia and in Africa -- that are paid for on the Internet by credit cards. It said stolen credit cards drawn on American banks were being used in "standard textbook scams" and warned merchants should be particularly wary if they received an order requesting goods to be shipped to a country where they would normally be readily available in the local market. Hugh Kavanagh, the bank's head of sales for domestic and international payments, said Indonesia and African countries were "the hot locations for this type of credit card fraud."
■ Banking
China to get more cash
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private-sector arm, said yesterday it plans to double its annual investment in China to about US$500 million within two years. The new investment level represents a sharp increase from the US$250 million IFC pumped into the country last year, said Karin Finkelston, an official for the IFC in Beijing. "We're looking in the financial sector where the state is allowing the private sector in," said Finkelston, adding there was no official investment quota and all decisions were market driven. IFC already holds shares in five Chinese retail banks -- Industrial Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Nanjing City Commercial Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corp and Xian City Commercial Bank.
■ Rogue Trades
Bank loses millions
Four rogue foreign currency traders have cost Australia's biggest bank A$360 million (US$270 million), National Australia Bank Ltd announced yesterday. The amount is double the estimate given last week and increases pressure on senior managers to resign over the scandal. "The total pre-tax loss includes A$185 million announced last week and an additional A$175 million from revaluation of the trading book," NAB said in a statement. "This will result in a post-tax loss of A$252 million."
■ Currencies
Call for stability of euro
Irish Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy said on Monday that the euro must keep its value over the medium to long term, and reiterated concerns over "excessive exchange rate moves." McCreevy, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, also said members of the 12-nation eurozone must respect the Stability and Growth Pact which underpins Europe's single currency. "The euro must keep its value over the medium- and long-run, in line with economic fundamentals. In the present circumstances we particularly stress stability and we are concerned about excessive exchange rate moves," he said.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the