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World Business Quick Take

■ Oil Industry
Shell settles lawsuit
The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies said yesterday that it has agreed to pay US$90 million to settle a US lawsuit related to its writedown of its oil and gas reserves last year. Shell said about US$25 million of the class-action settlement, brought by employees participating in some retirement savings plans, will be covered by insurance. The Anglo-Dutch oil company shocked investors last year when it confessed that its oil and gas reserves -- its most precious asset -- were around 25 percent lower than previously stated. The scandal cost the company almost US$150 million in fines imposed by US and British regulators and led to the sacking of three senior executives.

■ Stock markets
Nikkei hits 13-week high
Japanese stocks rose yesterday to a fresh 13-week high as traders bought semiconductor-related and other blue-chip issues, helped by solid gains overnight on Wall Street. The dollar was lower against the yen. The Nikkei 225 index rose 17.35 points, or 0.15 percent, to 11,692.14, its highest close since the April 11 finish of 11,745.64 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. The broader TOPIX index rose 0.99 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,186.01. Stocks rose moderately as investors welcomed US stock gains overnight. Semiconductor issues such as Fujitsu Ltd and Toshiba finished higher.

■ Development
UN official investigated
The Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, has begun a criminal investigation of the UN official who headed the US$67 billion Iraq oil-for-food program, a spokesman said on Monday. No details were given of the investigation of the official, Benon Sevan, but Barbara Thompson, spokeswoman for Morgenthau confirmed it was taking place. Sevan, a Cypriot and veteran UN senior staff member, is also the subject of an intensive investigation by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, for allegedly steering allocations of Iraq oil to a trading company while he was in charge of the program. Sevan has denied the charges.

■ Beverage market
Are China's beers safe?
Japan's health ministry has asked importers of Chinese beers, which are increasingly popular here, to confirm the drinks are safe after reports they contain a cancer-causing agent, officials said yesterday. "We have told quarantine offices to ask the importers to check the ingredients" with all manufacturers of Chinese beer, a health ministry official said. Japan's 31 quarantine offices will make the move after a report in the South Korean daily Joong-Ang Ilbo that Chinese beers contain large amounts of formaldehyde, a potentially cancer-causing chemical which Japan bans in food.

■ Real estate
China's market cooling
China's overheated property market is showing signs of cooling in 35 cities as government curbs on the sector bite. Urban housing prices rose 8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, 1.8 percentage points less than in the January to March period, the Shanghai Morning Post cited the National Development and Reform Commission as saying. Government measures announced in April aimed at cooling unrestrained growth in the sector were proving effective in deflating what is widely believed to be a major bubble, the commission said.

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