■Auto industry
Suzuki to sell mini cars
Japanese mini-auto maker Suzuki Motor will resume domestic sales of a vehicle made by General Motors for the first time in about 10 years, a report said yesterday. Suzuki, a GM affiliate, wants to expand its product line-up beyond minicars, while the US auto giant is seeking to boost sales in Japan, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, citing company sources. In November 1992, Suzuki stopped marketing cars imported from GM, due to poor sales in Japan, the newspaper said. Suzuki will start selling GM's Trailblazer sport-utility vehicle from next month which will initially be sold at 300 of its 1,000 domestic dealerships handling vehicles larger than minicars. In November 2001, Suzuki released in Japan the Chevrolet Cruze car jointly developed with GM.
■ Finance
Mizuho expects loses
Mizuho Holdings Inc, which is forecasting a Japanese Yen 220 billion (US$1.87 billion) net loss in the business year ending March, may again raise its forecast for bad-loan costs for this year, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. Japan's biggest bank by assets may raise its estimate for bad loan-related costs by more than Japanese Yen 50 billion, or 4.8 percent, to above Japanese Yen 1.5 trillion, the paper said, citing no one. The bank will also likely announce this week that it expects its net loss will widen this year, the paper said. Mizuho needs to increase bad-loan reserves because Japan's financial regulators have called for tougher loan and collateral assessments to clean up the nation's bad loans. Also, Mizuho's decision to give Japanese Yen 230 billion in financial aid to ailing Seibu Department Stores Ltd will force the bank to increase its loan- loss reserves, the paper said. In November, Mizuho raised its estimate for bad-loan related costs for the year by Japanese Yen 440 billion.
■ Retailers
Gap CFO to be replaced
Gap Inc, the largest US clothing retailer, said Chief Financial Officer Heidi Kunz resigned and will be replaced by Byron Pollitt, who like the company's new chief executive officer, comes from Walt Disney Co. Gap, the owner of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy stores, didn't give a reason for the departure of Kunz, who had been with the company since July 1999. Pollitt, 51, was CFO and executive vice president for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, which was led by Paul Pressler until he left to join as Gap President and CEO. Pollitt, who will be responsible for corporate finance, strategy and information technology, spent 12 years at Disney, and worked with Pressler for eight. Gap, based in San Francisco, in 2001 posted its first loss since at least 1987.
■ Pharmacies
Boots advised to sell units
Boots Plc, Britain's largest pharmacy chain, may sell factories and close its optician chain on the advice of management consultant McKinsey & Co, the Mail reported yesterday, without citing anyone. Following a review of corporate strategy by McKinsey that was delivered to board members last month, Boots is expected to fire its brokers Deutsche Bank AG and auditors KPMG International, the newspaper said. Company spokesman Francis Thomas said Boots is reviewing its "roster" of advisers, though won't necessarily make any changes. He declined to comment further on the newspaper report. Boots is seeking to hire Safeway Plc CEO Carlos Criado-Perez as its new chief executive, the Mail said.
Agencies
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique