■CHINA
More funds missing
More than US$34.4 billion went missing from public funds in China in the first 11 months of the year, state media said yesterday, with national auditors highlighting embezzlement, waste and fraud. More than 230 people, including 67 government officials, have been handed over to disciplinary or judicial authorities for their roles in the missing funds, the China Daily said, citing the National Audit Office. The audit covered 99,000 companies, government agencies and public institutions across the nation, Liu Jiayi (劉家義), China’s top auditor, told a national auditing conference.
■FRANCE
Economy grows 0.3 percent
The French economy grew 0.3 percent in the third quarter, the national statistics agency INSEE said yesterday, confirming estimates made last month. However, the government maintains that the economy will shrink by 2.25 percent for the year because of the deep recession that set in from late last year, even though France emerged from the slowdown in the second quarter of this year.
■HONG KONG
Donald Tsang pessimistic
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) yesterday sounded a pessimistic note on the city’s economic recovery, warning it may experience a “double dip in the middle of next year.” Tsang said from Beijing that Hong Kong’s economic recovery “would not proceed smoothly, and I am prepared,” Dow Jones said. “I am a bit pessimistic about the pace of recovery and we may experience a double dip in the middle of next year,” Tsang said. However, he said the city’s government had a reserve of HK$500 billion (US$64 billion), which was “enough for two years worth of expenses,” RTHK reported.
■FINANCE
Banker sentenced to prison
A court in Spain sentenced the chief executive of the country’s biggest bank, Santander, to six months in prison on Monday for making false accusations against clients 15 years ago. The court found Alfredo Saenz carried out the deception when he was head of Santander subsidiary Banesto. Banesto has said it will appeal the sentence. Saenz is not however expected to serve any time in prison as he has no prior convictions.
■SOUTH KOREA
Account surplus continues
South Korea recorded an account surplus for the 10th straight month last month thanks partly to brisk exports, the central bank said yesterday. The surplus was US$4.28 billion last month, down from a revised US$4.76 billion in October, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. In the first 11 months of this year the accumulated surplus amounted to a record high of US$41.2 billion. The current account, the broadest measure of trade with the world, has remained in surplus since February as imports have fallen faster than exports amid the global downturn.
■SOUTH KOREA
Court clears ex-officials
An appeals court yesterday cleared two former South Korean officials of charges they helped private equity firm Lone Star buy a shaky local bank on the cheap in 2003, clearing the way for the buyout group to sell the lender. The court upheld a ruling last year that cleared former finance ministry official Byeon Yang-ho and former Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) chief Lee Kang-won of breach of trust charges. It was alleged they conspired to understate KEB’s value.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
Taiwan pineapples are to be exported to the US for the first time later this year, after the US yesterday announced importation requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture said today. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday published a draft of requirements to import Taiwanese pineapples, with a 62-day comment period, the ministry said in a news release. The US maintains strict requirements for imported fresh fruit, it said. The ministry’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency applied to export pineapples to the US in 2020 and has since cooperated with the US to provide all the necessary information and reports, it
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