■ Japan
S&P widens ratings scope
International credit ratings service Standard & Poor's will begin rating Japan's small and midsize businesses in late October, a news report said yesterday. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' decision came as demands for smaller business ratings increased with more companies beginning to issue corporate bonds to raise funds, Japan's national daily Asahi Shimbun said. S&P has never before rated small and medium-sized businesses anywhere in the world, it said. S&P will rate unlisted Japanese companies with annual sales worth between ¥1 billion (US$8.8 million) and ¥10 billion on its seven-scale system from "ccc" to "aaa," according to the daily.
■ Singapore
Cheap permits boost sales
Kia Motors Corp and other automakers are reporting higher sales in Singapore after the value of vehicle permits dropped, making cars cheaper, the Sunday Times reported, citing the retailers' sales managers. Kia Motors said it sold 30 percent more cars last Saturday than the previous Saturday, the report said. Honda Motor Co said the number of people visiting its showroom without appointments more than doubled from the previous Saturday, while Komoco Motors, which distributes Hyundai Motor Co's vehicles in the city, said its visitors tripled, the newspaper said. Singapore controls pollution and congestion on its roads by selling a limited number of permits every year for each category of vehicles. The value of permits for cars with engines of more than 1.6 liters fell to S$11,002 (US$6,537) from S$15,309 last month.
■ Auto industry
Chrysler to fix defects
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group said on Friday that it would voluntarily recall about 300,000 vehicles with a potential defect that could prevent the driver from placing the transmission in "park." The recall involves some 2005 model Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum, Dodge Dakota/Mitsubishi Raider pickups and Dodge Durango vehicles equipped with some six-cylinder engines and automatic transmissions. Chrysler spokesman Max Gates said that a plug inside the transmission may be missing or improperly staked, potentially preventing the driver from placing the shifter in the "park" position.
■ Investment
KPMG settlement nixed
A US federal judge on Friday dealt a setback to a proposed US$195 million settlement between the accounting firm KPMG and hundreds of investors who bought certain tax shelters from the firm, declining to give preliminary approval to the deal. Instead, the judge, Dennis Cavanaugh of the US District Court in Newark, ordered lawyers at Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, the law firm that brokered the settlement, to provide documents and testimony on how the deal was reached with KPMG. Cavanaugh scheduled a hearing for Oct. 28 to review the new documents and testimony. At Friday's hearing, lawyers who object to the settlement argued that Milberg Weiss colluded with KPMG by brokering the deal in secret over 14 months, at the same time that it represented individual investors suing the accounting firm in separate civil cases. The lawyers argued that such a dual role represented a conflict of interest and a breach of ethics by Milberg Weiss.
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
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
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
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