■ PETROLEUM
Mobil reports gear failure
Exxon Mobil Corp reported an equipment failure at its Joliet, Illinois, refinery and nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxide were released from the flare, according to a filing to the US Coast Guard’s National Response Center and posted on the center’s Web site. The incident happened at 3:11am on Friday, the report said. US refineries must notify the National Response Center if they release hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities, according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.
■ LABOR
Singapore to recruit workers
Singapore will recruit 45,000 Bangladeshi domestic workers in a boost for the country’s labor export sector after jobs dried up in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, an official said yesterday. Singaporean recruiting firms agreed on the number following talks in Dhaka last week, director of the government’s Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) Nurul Islam said. The global downturn affected jobs for Bangladeshi workers in the construction and manufacturing sectors in the Persian Gulf. According to the BMET, Bangladesh sent 202,000 workers abroad in the first half of this year — the lowest in four years.
■ECONOMY
Kuwait posts budget surplus
OPEC member Kuwait posted a budget surplus of US$22.4 billion in the past fiscal year on the back of strong oil revenues, an economic report said on yesterday, citing official figures. It is the third-largest windfall in the Gulf state’s history and its 11th consecutive year of budget surpluses, which have allowed Kuwait to accumulate US$145 billion in public revenues, according to calculations based on official figures. Kuwait’s oil income last year — which formed almost 94 percent of public revenues — reached US$57.6 billion, compared to US$68.1 billion the previous year, and up from US$24.1 billion estimated in the 2009-2010 budget.
■TECHNOLOGY
PR firm settles charges
US regulators on Friday said a public relations firm has agreed to settle charges that it had employees pose as unbiased video game buyers and post reviews at Apple’s online iTunes store. The deal requires Reverb Communications and its owner, Tracie Snitker, to remove such potentially deceptive reviews and refrain from the practice, according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). California-based Reverb provides marketing and public relations services to video game makers. Between November of 2008 and May last year, Reverb posted reviews at iTunes about clients’ games in ways that gave the impression the comments “were written by disinterested customers,” according to the FTC.
■ELECTRONICS
LG to unveil thinnest TV
LG Electronics Inc, the world’s second-biggest maker of LCD televisions, said it will unveil its thinnest flat-screen TV next month and expects such high-end products to boost sales next year. The 8.8mm thick LCD TV, which uses LEDs to illuminate the screen, will be shown during the annual IFA consumer-electronics show in Berlin next month, K.S. Lee, vice president of the global marketing strategy for LG’s home entertainment division, said in Seoul. The new LG model, known as the “Nano TV,” will go on sale in South Korea, Germany and France next month, according to the company.
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,
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
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
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