■ Worldcom
New company takes shape
WorldCom Inc, trying to escape both the largest-ever US bankruptcy and biggest accounting fraud, unveiled a reorganization plan that erases most of its debt, renames the company and moves its headquarters. WorldCom, whose plan announced Monday gives creditors control of the company, said it will take the name of its long-distance unit MCI, and shift its headquarters to MCI's base in the Washington suburb of Ashburn, Virginia, from Clinton, Mississippi, where it was founded by former CEO Bernard Ebbers. MCI is still the nation's second largest long distance carrier. WorldCom would shed about US$36 billion of its US$41 billion in debt. The reorganization plan has the backing of 90 percent of its creditors -- which should ensure that the plan wins court approval.
■ Investment
North Korea gets support
South Korean Finance Minister Kim Jin-pyo assured investors concern over North Korea shouldn't be a obstacle to investment in what he calls one of Asia's fastest growing economies. Minister Kim, on a six-day tour to London and New York, has met with about 550 money managers and analysts in an effort to shore up investor confidence at a time when South Korean consumer spending and exports show signs of flagging. Recent economic data show foreign investment in South Korea is at a five-year low. The South Korean economy will achieve the highest growth after China in the region this year, and diplomatic tensions with North Korea will be resolved peacefully, he said. "I have a strong conviction that this issue [North Korea's nuclear program] will be resolved based on diplomatic means and in a peaceful manner based on strong coordination between Korea and the US," Kim said in an interview.
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
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
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
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