■ OIL
OPEC crude price picks up
The price for OPEC-produced crude picked up toward the end of the week after a downward trend following revised demand forecasts. One barrel of crude produced by one of OPEC's 12 members stood at US$87.01 on Thursday, up from US$86.57 the previous day, the OPEC Secretariat said yesterday. OPEC crudes peaked above US$90 last week. In its monthly oil market report released on Thursday, revised down demand for the fourth quarter by 70,000 barrels a day owing to a late onset of the US winter and the impact of higher consumer prices. Growth for this year was lowered to 1.7 million barrels per day, down 100,000 barrels from previous estimates.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Chery delays US entry
China's Chery Automobile (奇瑞汽車) may delay its planned entry into the US and European markets because of problems meeting tougher regulations on safety and emissions standards, Lin Zhang, general manager of the firm's international operations, said at seminar in Detroit on Thursday. He said Chery would likely enter the European market well after it delivers cars to its US-based partner, Chrysler LLC.
■ FINANCE
US eases accounting rule
A top EU regulator on Thursday welcomed a move by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to abolish rules that had obliged publicly listed European companies to comply with US accounting standards. SEC regulators approved new rules which will no longer oblige publicly traded EU companies with operations in the US to file accounting reports that comply with the US' Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The SEC's move will also make it cheaper for EU companies to do business in the world's biggest economy, as they will no longer have to hire accountants to file accounting statements under GAAP.
■ FOOD
Police raid Senba Kitcho
One of Japan's classiest restaurant groups was raided by police yesterday on suspicion of falsely labeling its products in the latest scare about food safety in the country. TV footage showed more than a dozen police officers clad in dark suits entering the Osaka headquarters of Senba Kitcho, which runs high-end Japanese-style restaurants across the nation. The firm has already admitted that it sold confectionery and delicatessen items with false expiry-date labels after parttime workers told reporters about the practice. The raid was on suspicion that the company also marked ordinary beef as being expensive Kobe beef, media reports said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Volkswagen recalls Passat
Volkswagen AG's (VW) Shanghai venture announced a recall of 2,440 of its Passat model cars this week because of problems with the locking system, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The recalled cars were produced by Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co between Aug. 11 and Aug. 24, it said. Shanghai Volkswagen is a 50-50 joint venture between the German automaker and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. It was China's third biggest passenger-car maker by sales last year, reporting sales of 340,600 vehicles, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
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