■ 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.
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
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