■FOOD
Kellogg fears contamination
Kellogg Co is recalling 16 products containing peanut butter, citing possible salmonella contamination. David Mackay, president and CEO of Kellogg, announced the voluntary recall in a statement late on Friday. He says the company apologizes for the unfortunate situation but says it is needed as part of its commitment to keep consumers safe. The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, as well as snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.
■SINGAPORE
GDP forecast lowered
Recession-hit Singapore will further scale down its economic forecast for this year because the global situation has worsened, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said in remarks published yesterday. This means that the GDP forecast would likely be worse than the government’s projection for a contraction of up to 2 percent made just two weeks ago. Lee said in remarks published in the Straits Times the move to revise the forecast for the second time in a month was prompted by unexpected developments such as the sharper-than-expected 21 percent fall in key exports for last month.
■ECONOMY
Circuit City calls it quits
Bankrupt Circuit City Stores Inc, unable to work out a sale of the company, said on Friday it would go out of business — closing its 567 US stores and cutting 30,000 jobs. “This is the only possible path for our company,” Circuit City acting chief executive James Marcum said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed by this outcome.” The company had been seeking a buyer or a deal to refinance its debt, but the hobbled credit market and consumer worries proved insurmountable. Two buyers — Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who controls a chain of electronics stores in Latin America, and the Golden Gate Capital private equity firm — had been looking to buy the company in a shrunken form. But the company couldn’t secure the necessary financing or support from vendors.
■BANKING
Small banks shut down
US regulators on Friday shut down two small banks, National Bank of Commerce in Illinois and Bank of Clark County in Washington State. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp was appointed receiver of the banks. They were the first two federally insured banks to fail and be shuttered by regulators this year amid the pressures of tumbling home prices, rising mortgage foreclosures and tighter credit. National Bank of Commerce, in Berkeley, Illinois, had US$430.9 million in assets and US$402.1 million in deposits as of Jan. 7. Bank of Clark County, in Vancouver, Washington, had US$446.5 million in assets and US$366.5 million in deposits as of Tuesday.
■ECONOMY
IMF approves loan to Serbia
The IMF’s executive board on Friday approved a US$530 million loan for Serbia to help it cope with the global financial crisis, it said in a statement. The board “approved a 15-month ... stand-by arrangement [about US$530.3 million] to support the authorities’ program aimed at maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability,” the IMF said. The approval makes US$353.3 million “immediately available. However, the Serbian authorities intend to treat the arrangement as precautionary, and not to draw on fund resources unless the need arises,” it said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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