■ Security
ADB sets up trust fund
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday that it has established a trust fund to help countries in the region combat terrorist financing and money laundering, as well as strengthen port security. The Cooperation Fund for Regional Trade and Finan-cial Security was set up through the initial contribu-tions of Australia, Japan and the US, the Manila-based bank said in a statement without giving figures. "The fund will support technical assistance to enhance port security, including airports, cargo ports and containers, and combat money laun-dering and terrorist financing in developing countries," it said. It would also establish "financial intelligence units and legal and supervisory regimes for anti-money laundering, and promoting the upgrade of customs security and modernization." The bank said it was seeking further contributions for the fund.
■ Trade
New US rules `a headache'
The head of Swiss-based drug giant Novartis says it's a "headache" to comply with new US corporate rules enacted in Washington in the wake of high-profile accounting scandals that shook investor confidence. "It's a real headache from the point of view of the sheer amount [of rules]," chief executive Daniel Vasella said. The latest rules come under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, passed by the US Congress after the scandals that embroiled Enron Corp, WorldCom Inc and other companies. They apply to companies listed in the US. The 66 pages of provisions require firms to document, test and certify their internal checks and balances governing all their business processes, such as payroll and accounts receivable. ``It is the nature of the beast that each time we have a scandal, regula-tion goes up. It is very tough to go down,'' he said, adding, ``I don't think we should push it further.''
■ Computers
Help for S Korea schools
Microsoft Corp plans to spend 10 billion won (US$8.7 million) over the next three years on compu-ter education at South Korean universities, the company says. The project will be implemented with the government-backed Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO), according to a statement released by Microsoft Korea. Microsoft Korea and KADO intend to supply schools with compu-ters and software in order to help standardize informa-tion technology education across the country. The company plans to spend 4 billion won this year to have computers and software in place by next June. That funding will also cover a youth volunteer team, envisioned as traveling overseas to help introduce information technology in developing countries.
■ Aviation
Cathay Pacific gearing up
Cathay Pacific Airways is building up its fleet in gearing up for the huge China market and also sees growth in Taiwan, Japan, the US and Australia, its chief operating officer said in remarks published yesterday. "The Hong Kong-China traffic is going to be really huge," Philip Chen told The Business Times. "This population base is much bigger than what European countries have," added Chen, recently named chief executive designate. Cathay Pacific is embarking on a fleet expansion to meet the growing demand for air travel within Asia, Chen said. Cathay's fleet size will reach 100 aircraft "very soon," Chen said.
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