■ 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.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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