■FINANCE
Data spat resolved
Switzerland and France have resolved a spat over data stolen from the Geneva branch of banking giant HSBC, Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said on Wednesday. “We have found an accord concerning the stolen data,” Merz told Swiss news agency ATS after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. France assured Switzerland that the data would not be transmitted to other countries.
■AUTOMOBILES
Ford reports earnings
Ford Motor Co reported yesterday net earnings of US$868 million in the fourth quarter, enabling the struggling automaker to show a US$2.7 billion profit for all of last year. The No. 2 US automaker, which posted its first full year of positive net income since 2005, said it expected to remain profitable this year, marking a faster-than-expected turnaround after years of steep losses.
■ENERGY
Peak oil ‘behind us’
The head of Saudi oil giant Aramco, Khalid al Falih, said at the Davos forum yesterday that worries about oil production reaching a peak are now over. “We feel that the whole issue that came to the surface and created a lot of concern about peak oil is behind us,” he told a World Economic Forum session on the global energy outlook. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev also sought to ease concerns about supplies. “Today’s level of oil price is I think acceptable for companies, for consumers and for the countries. This level of price allows us to invest more to find more oil and gas,” he told the meeting. Oil is currently trading at about US$73 a barrel.
■RETAIL
Profits rise for Hennes chain
Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz AB yesterday reported a 21 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, as new store openings helped it defy the weak market. Europe’s No. 2 fashion retailer said net profit in the three months to Nov. 30, its fiscal fourth quarter, increased to 6.2 billion kronor (US$851 million) from 5.1 billion kronor in the same period a year ago. Sales, excluding VAT, rose 6.5 percent to 28 billion kronor from 26.3 billion kronor and the gross margin was 66.3 percent, up from 62.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Full year net profit rose by 7 percent to 16.4 billion kronor, while full year sales climbed 15 percent to 101.4 billion kronor.
■AVIATION
Boeing swings to profit
US aerospace giant Boeing reported on Wednesday a swing into profit in the fourth quarter on soaring sales, but said it faces “significant” challenges that could impact results this year. Boeing posted fourth-quarter earnings of US$1.268 billion, lifted by a surge in revenues. For all of last year, Boeing said it had a net profit of US$1.312 billion, less than half of what it made in the previous year.
■ENERGY
PetroChina signs Iraq deal
A consortium led by oil giant PetroChina (中石油) has formally signed a 20-year deal with Iraq to develop the Halfaya oil field, as China boosts its presence in the crude-rich region. PetroChina, France’s Total, Malaysia’s Petronas and Iraq’s South Oil will develop the field in southern Iraq, which has proven reserves of about 4.1 billion barrels, the Chinese company said in a statement late on Wednesday.
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