■ TRANSPORTATION
Eurostar breaks record
The Eurostar high-speed train set another new record on Thursday, racing from Brussels to London in less than two hours only weeks after shattering its fastest time from Paris. The train made the trip from Brussels in one hour and 43 minutes, shaving at least 20 minutes off previous best times for the 371km to London, the company announced. The reduction in travel time has been made possible by the completion of a new 109km section of high-speed track in England.
■ RETAIL
Dip in spending expected
The housing crisis and credit crunch will crimp US holiday spending this year, a retailers' association warned on Thursday. The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted sales will rise 4.0 percent this year to US$474.5 billion. That would be well below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent growth and represent the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales rose 1.3 percent. "Retailers are in for a somewhat challenging holiday season as consumers are faced with numerous economic obstacles," NRF chief economist Rosalind Wells said. The group said the trend will vary among income groups, with well-heeled consumers able to maintain spending.
■ PRIVATE EQUITY
Carlyle sells stake
Private-equity firm Carlyle Group said on Thursday it sold a 7.5 percent stake in its management operations for US$1.35 billion to an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, setting up a potential initial public offering. The sale price represents a 10 percent discount, based on the Carlyle Group's US$20 billion valuation. Mubadala, one of two investment arms of the Abu Dhabi government, received a nonvoting stake in the company for the US$1.35 billion purchase. Mubadala also committed US$500 million to an investment fund managed by Carlyle as part of the deal. It is the first investment in a private-equity firm for Mubadala, a Carlyle spokesman said.
■ CHEMICALS
Sinopec, DuPont team up
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (中國石油化工), or Sinopec, has formed a chemicals joint venture with a unit of US company DuPont Co, it said yesterday. Production of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) resins is due to begin late next year at a new plant to be built by the venture in Beijing, Sinopec said. "The new facility will help meet fast-growing demand for EVA products in China," Sinopec said in a statement on its Web site. Sinopec will own 55 percent of the joint venture, which will have an annual capacity of around 60,000 tonnes. The remaining 45 percent will be owned by DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers.
■ INTEREST RATES
IMF supports US rate cut
The IMF voiced support on Thursday for the US Federal Reserve's interest rate cut two days ago, saying it should help ease a credit crunch that has roiled financial markets. "The cut ... should help to forestall the adverse macroeconomic effects of the tightening in credit conditions," IMF spokesman Masood Ahmed said at a news briefing. The Fed on Tuesday aggressively cut its key federal funds rate by a half point to 4.75 percent. "The Fed and other central banks have rightly been emphasizing that they would be prepared to act as needed to mitigate the adverse effects on the economy arising from the disruptions in financial markets," Ahmed said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
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