US President George W. Bush unveiled a new economic lineup yesterday, bringing CSX Corp chairman John Snow in as Treasury secretary in a drive to pump up the economy before his 2004 re-election bid.
Bush is expected to name Stephen Friedman, who served as co-chairman of Goldman Sachs with former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin, to head the White House National Economic Council, rounding out a team to champion a new round of tax cuts aimed at boosting business investment and increasing job growth.
Friedman's appointment is expected today at the earliest as the White House scrambles to complete extensive background checks, sources familiar with the decision said.
Bush abruptly forced out top White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill only days earlier in what one Republican insider dubbed "the Friday morning massacre."
Snow, 63, is chairman, president and chief executive of CSX, the biggest rail operator in the eastern US.
An economist and lawyer, Snow brings Washington experience dating back to the Gerald Ford administration, when he served stints as assistant secretary and general counsel at the Transportation Department.
At the helm of CSX, Snow was heavily involved in the US$10 billion deal that saw CSX and rival Norfolk Southern Corp carve up Conrail, once the dominant force in the Northeast, in a long and bitter contest.
Snow taught economics at the University of Virginia and served as chairman of the influential Business Roundtable, which represents many of the nation's largest corporations in Washington.
Snow has been particularly outspoken on the hot-button issue of corporate responsibility following scandals at Enron Corp and other major US companies. As co-chairman of a Conference Board commission on corporate governance, Snow has argued for widespread reforms in the way executive compensation is determined.
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