■ 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.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
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