■Tourism
Arrivals in Singapore fall
Singapore expects the number of tourists to fall between 30 percent and 40 percent this year because of an outbreak of SARS that has infected 206 people on the island, said Gerald Lee, a director at Singapore Tourism Board. That would be the worst-ever decline in tourism, he said. The disease, which has killed 28 in Singapore -- the fourth-highest after China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- has prompted national carrier Singapore Airlines Ltd to cut a third of its capacity since March. Last month, the city said tourist arrivals fell 67 percent.
■ Disease
Anti-SARS pact in the works
Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will form a pact to highlight that the Southeast Asian neighbors are free from the deadly SARS in a bid to boost tourism, it was reported yesterday. "We want to stress that there is no local transmission of SARS in these countries," said chairman of the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Marketing Taskforce, Syed Mohamad Aidid Syed. "We encourage people to travel within this sub-region but they should take health precautions, exercise a high standard of hygiene and frequent food outlets and places with a high quality of cleanliness," he was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.
■ Enron
Ex-CFO faces new charges
Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer accused of fueling Enron Corp's downfall, was to be arraigned yesterday regarding new charges released against him earlier this month. Fastow, 41, was indicted in October on 78 counts of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Yesterday he was to be arraigned on new charges of insider trading, filing false tax forms and conspiracy to falsify books and records in an expanded indictment unveiled May 1. Fastow, who pleaded innocent to the first round of charges last year, was allowed to postpone his arraignment on the new charges because a status hearing in his case already had been slated for yesterday, according to prosecutors. He won't appear in court under a new federal rule allowing defendants to waive appearances when new charges are added to existing indictments.
■ Trade
Talks raise fears in Australia
Fresh concerns arose yesterday about the impact of a free-trade deal with the US on Australian agriculture and drug prices as negotiations on the accord resumed in Hawaii. A private think-tank, the Australia Group, warned that pensioners and the chronically ill could be forced to pay double for medicines if Canberra gives in to US demands for changes to its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Under the PBS, the government subsidizes certain medicines, often significantly cutting the price of new drugs. "US drug companies claim that Australia's world-leading PBS is costing them around A$1 billion (US$666 million) a year," said Clive Hamilton, the institute's executive director. Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile tried to alleviate those concerns yesterday, saying the US had already given up trying to change the PBS. The negotiations began in March in Canberra and a third round of talks is scheduled for July.
Agencies
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