■ENERGY
Entergy optimistic on spinoff
Entergy Corp’s plans to spin off six nuclear reactors including Indian Point in New York should be able to proceed because credit markets have eased, chief executive officer Wayne Leonard said. Entergy, the second-biggest US operator of nuclear power plants, is focused on getting approval from New York regulators, Leonard said. “Now the market is greatly improved,” Leonard said in an interview in Washington on Friday. “We had some investors this week that were making the point, ‘I don’t think you’d have any trouble raising US$4.5 billion for these kind of assets.’” New Orleans-based Entergy announced in November 2007 plans to create a company, Enexus Energy Corp, which would have almost 5,000 megawatts of nuclear generation.
■GERMANY
Recession may bottom out
The country’s recession may bottom out in the second half of the year as industrial production, private consumption and construction orders begin to stabilize, the Finance Ministry said. Europe’s largest economy is likely to contract less severely in the second quarter ending on June 30, the ministry said yesterday in its monthly report. Economic stimulus programs worth 82 billion euros (US$115 billion) have spurred municipal construction and supported consumption, notably boosting auto purchases, it said. Improved business and consumption sentiment “are a sign that the recession may bottom out in the second half of the year.” The country’s economy is forecast to contract 6 percent this year as the global recession curbs foreign demand for exports.
■OIL
PetroChina acquires SPC
Chinese oil giant PetroChina (中石油) announced yesterday that it had completed the acquisition of nearly half of refiner Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) in a deal worth more than US$1 billion. PetroChina, the listed unit of the nation’s biggest oil and gas producer, has bought 45.51 percent of SPC’s issued share capital, the Chinese company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange. PetroChina said last month it had agreed to buy the stake for US$1.02 billion from Keppel Oil and Gas Services, part of Singapore-based conglomerate Keppel Corp (吉寶企業). It will make a mandatory cash offer for the rest of the Singaporean refiner next month, it added. SPC, a regional energy company with interests in petroleum refining and marketing, owns a 50 percent stake in one of Singapore’s three major petroleum refiners. The deal is the latest high-profile overseas bid by China, which sits on US$1.9 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, to fuel its economy, now the world’s third-largest.
■NIGERIA
Takeovers may be allowed
Central bank governor Lamido Sanusi was prepared to break with a decades-old ban on foreign takeovers of its banks, he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “What we have today is that the central bank is not likely to support a foreign bank owning more than 10 percent of a top tier Nigerian bank. That is something that in my view needs to be looked at again,” Sanusi said. He said the ban was not a legal requirement but policy of the previous leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria. “If as governor of central bank I am okay to have a bank owned by nominees and I don’t know who owns them, why wouldn’t I be comfortable with a bank owned by Barclays, or HSBC or China Construction Bank, who I know?” he added. “For me it’s a no-brainer.”
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS