■BANKING
Lloyds agrees to pay penalty
British-based Lloyds TSB Bank agreed on Friday to pay a US$350 million penalty to settle a probe that it illegally handled financial transfers for Iran and Sudan in violation of US sanctions. A Justice Department statement said Lloyd’s “has accepted and acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct” in a criminal complain filed in US District Court in New York. “Lloyds agreed to forfeit the funds as part of deferred prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney’s Office,” the statement said. Prosecutors alleged that from 1995 until 2007, Lloyds agents in Britain and Dubai “falsified outgoing US wire transfers that involved countries or persons on US sanctions lists.”
■ECONOMY
Harper vows ‘big actions’
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed on Friday his government would initiate major measures in an upcoming budget and possibly over the next three to five years to stimulate the economy. “We’ll take big, comprehensive actions,” Harper told a press conference. “We’ll assume that we’re probably going to look at a period of three to five years of such actions,” he added. “It won’t necessarily be that long, but we’re not going to underestimate the situation.” Earlier, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said extra government spending or tax cuts or both to prop up the economy would mean this year “the deficit will be substantial.” The budget is to be unveiled on Jan. 27, marking the nation’s first budget deficit in more than a decade.
■REAL ESTATE
PRC property prices drop
Chinese property prices fell last month for the first time since 2005, state media reported yesterday, quoting official figures. The price of housing in 70 major cities fell 0.4 percent year-on-year, Xinhua reported, quoting from a statement issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency, and the National Bureau of Statistics. The southern boom town of Shenzhen saw the largest fall, with prices down 18.1 percent.
■PETROLEUM
PDVSA denies layoffs
Venezuela’s state oil company on Friday denied 4,000 contract workers have been laid off as the nation moves to comply with new OPEC production cuts. State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), dismissed reports that at least eight oil rigs have been halted and thousands of contract workers laid off. Vice President Eulogio Del Pino said in a statement that union leaders who made the allegations were lying for political reasons.
■ENGINEERING
IT flirting course on offer
Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new “flirting course” being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin. The 440 students enrolled in the master’s degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and e-mails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection. Philip von Senftleben, an author and radio presenter who will teach the course, summed up his job as teaching how to “get someone else’s heart beating fast while yours stays calm.” The course, which starts next Monday, is part of the social skills section of the IT course and is designed to ease entry into the world of work. Students also learn body language, public speaking, stress management and presentation skills.
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
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