■ OIL
Prices weaken in Asia
Oil prices weakened in Asian trade yesterday after initially spiking sharply in reaction to a fire that struck a pipeline linking the US to key energy supplier Canada, dealers said. With the pipeline partially resuming shipments after the blaze, traders are focusing on next week's OPEC output meeting in Abu Dhabi, they said. In afternoon trade New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month fell US$0.13 to US$90.88 a barrel from US$91.01 in late US trading on Thursday. Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month fell US$0.27 to US$89.95 a barrel.
■ FINANCE
Samsung Securities raided
State prosecutors raided the offices of a Samsung Group financial company on Friday, a company spokesman and media report said, amid a probe into allegations the conglomerate created a slush fund to bribe influential figures. Kim Jin-ho, a spokesman for Samsung Securities Co, said six prosecutors led the raid of the company's Seoul office and were backed by 40 other officials. The raid came after prosecutors earlier this month launched an investigation into allegations that Samsung, South Korea's biggest conglomerate, bribed prosecutors, judges and lawmakers using a 200 billion won (US$215 million) slush fund.
■ WTO
China-US spat resolved
China has agreed to eliminate a dozen tax breaks and other subsidies the US challenged this year at the WTO, resolving one of the series of trade spats between the countries. "This outcome represents a victory for US manufacturers and their workers," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Thursday. "The agreement also demonstrates that two great trading nations can work together to settle disputes to their mutual benefit," she said. China's decision will abolish tax breaks and other subsidies that benefit the broad spectrum of Chinese industries, including steel, wood products and information technology, Schwab said.
■ FINANCE
Morgan Stanley loses Cruz
Morgan Stanley said on Thursday that co-president Zoe Cruz, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, will leave in the latest investment bank management shakeup since the summer's credit turmoil. Robert Scully, who was named co-president along with Cruz last year, will remain at the firm in a new capacity. He will join a newly created office of the chairman, and will focus on Morgan Stanley's sovereign investors. Cruz had been with Morgan Stanley for the past 25 years, and rose to her current title after former chief executive Philip Purcell promoted her in a move to consolidate power.
■ RETAIL
Sears profits drop 99%
Sears Holdings Corp reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday on weak sales at Sears and Kmart stores and investment losses under hedge-fund manager chairman Eddie Lampert. It was the worst quarter since Lampert formed the company by combining Sears and Kmart in March 2005, heightening questions among investors about Lampert's strategy for reviving two faded chains. Sears shares tumbled US$16.09, or 13.8 percent, to US$100.25 in morning trading. Net income fell to US$2 million from US$196 million a year ago.
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
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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