Jacques Rogge, a Belgian surgeon with a pristine reputation and consensus-building style was elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday. He won by a landslide in the second round of a secret ballot, defeating four other candidates.
He succeeds Juan Antonio Samaranch, who is stepping down after 21 years in office.
Rogge defeated Kim Un-yong of South Korea, Dick Pound of Canada, Pal Schmitt of Hungary and Anita DeFrantz of the US. DeFrantz was eliminated in the first round of balloting.
Rogge becomes the eighth president of the IOC and the second Belgian to head the committee. He was elected to an eight-year term. After that, he will be eligible to seek a second four-year mandate.
Rogge's victory reinforced the European-dominated nature of the IOC. Except for Avery Brundage, an American who served from 1952 to 1972, all IOC presidents have been Europeans.
His shortage of political enemies, linguistic skills -- he speaks five languages -- non-confrontational style and quiet charm, were other advantages, observers said.
The urbane Rogge enjoys a comparatively clean image, unscathed by the bribery scandal involving Salt Lake City's successful bid for next year's Winter Games. He boasted that he has never visited bid cities.
Kim's chances appeared to fizzle out for good on Sunday after he became caught up in an ethics investigation of alleged financial incentives offered to voting members.
Kim, among those reprimanded in the Salt Lake City scandal, denied promising that members would be given at least US$50,000 a year in Olympic-related expenses if he was elected.
Asked for an explanation by the IOC ethics commission, Kim said he never proposed any specific sum and had only recommended providing delegates with enough funds to maintain offices in their own countries.
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