■ Economy
Beijing raises gas standards
China will impose stricter standards on gas and diesel sold in Beijing, allowing the city to add yet more cars without harming the envi-ronment too much, state media said yesterday. Start-ing next month, gas stations in the city will be given 20 days to phase out all pro-ducts that do not meet the Euro 2 emission standard, Xinhua news agency reported. "That means more vehicles can be introduced without much damage to the environment," Miao Hongjun, a UN Develop-ment Program official, said according to the agency. Beijing has 2 million motor vehicles, but city officials have made clear they have no intention of limiting car ownership.
■ Economy
Singapore outsourcing jobs
Singapore's government is planning to speed up its outsourcing plans with 12 major services in line to be contracted out, press reports said yesterday. The Sunday Times said the services being considered for outsourcing include security, project manage-ment, finance and account-ing, legal work, information technology, training and call centers. The report did not give the number of jobs that could be potentially out-sourced. It separately quoted Finance Ministry figures showing that 220 government workers had been retrenched between February last year and this June through outsourcing, which had created S$24 million (US$14.2 million) worth of business for the private sector.
■ Automobiles
Porsche eyes Russia
Porsche AG plans to boost sales by 30 percent in the next four years, trade publication Automobil-woche reported, citing chief financial officer Holger Haerter. Porsche, which increased unit sales 15 percent last year to 76,827, will reach the 100,000 mark by 2008, Haerter said. Growth at the end of this decade will come from Russia and China, where consumers will be driving as many Porsches as the Italians and Japanese,he said. Porsche plans to open dealerships in St. Peters-burg and Yekaterinburg next year and may establish two or three more in Mos-cow, where it sold 280 units last year, Haerter said.
■ Energy
US inventories recovering
US oil inventories should quickly recovery to normal levels after Hurricane Ivan disrupted supply to the US Gulf of Mexico over the last two weeks, Qatar Oil Minis-ter Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. "There is plenty of oil supply -- there is no shortage," he said. Crude oil rose to a record closing price of US$48.88 a barrel on Friday amid con-cern that damage caused by Ivan will cause stockpiles to be insufficient when refi-neries boost production of heating oil. US crude-oil stockpiles fell 9.1 million barrels to 269.5 million in the week ended Sept. 17, the US Energy Department said.
■ Tobacco
US seeks to tax sales
US state and federal legislators are looking for ways to collect taxes on cigarettes sold via the Internet by American Indians, the New York Times said. Several states are mulling plans to tax the growing business, the paper said in an online story. States are usually barred from taxing American Indian tribes, the Times said. Taxes on cigarettes can be as much as US$3 a pack. Without those fees, online cigarettes cost less than US$25 a carton.
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