20120430 10am

10AM EZ News Intro

Good morning ... It's 10 o'clock and I'm Gavin Phipps w/ EZ news .....

10AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The Tai-Ex opened down this morning from Friday's close - opening at 36.5 points at 7,444 on turnover of 3.104-billion N-T dollars. ------------- Labor unions and civic groups plan to take to the streets of Taipei tomorrow - International Labor Day - in protest over higher living costs, low wages and long working hours. The rally will be held in front of the Presidential Office. According to the head of the Taiwan Labor Front .... the protest has been organized in order to push the government into responding to various issues of concern to the island's blue collar labor force. Concerns include pushing for tax reforms, eliminating the national debt, raising minimum wages, lowering housing prices, setting up long-term care systems and improving public child care policies. -------- The Ministry of Justice says it plans to amend laws in order to stop convicted felons from leaving the country prior to their beginning their sentences. The move comes amid controversy surrounding two convicted former lawmakers - both of whom failed to appear to begin serving their prison terms. Former K-M-T lawmaker Jiang Lien-fu and former independent lawmaker Luo Fu-chu - were convicted in separate cases, but both failed to report to prosecutors for prison last week. According to Deputy Minister of Justice - Chen Shou-huang - his office will allow prosecutors to issue immediate arrest warrants for individuals found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of more than two years.

Nigeria ...

In international news ... At least 16 people have been killed in a gun and bomb attack at a university in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. According to the Nigerian Red Cross ... six others remain in a serious condition following the attack at at a university campus -- where Christian worshippers were holding a service. Police are searching for the gunmen. No group has claimed responsibility for attack -- but the Islamist Boko Haram group is active in the Kano area.

Syria ...

The Lebanese navy is holding a Sierra Leone-registered ship -- and says it has confiscated a large consignment of arms and ammunition it was carrying. The 11 crew members were detained after three shipping containers full of heavy and light weapons were found. It is believed the consignment was destined for anti-government forces in Syria. The Head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Syria - Major General Robert Mood - said yesterday that while the monitors will help the situation in the country, it is important that both the rebels and the government forces observe the cease-fire. That was Major General Robert Mood

France .....

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is rejecting claims by Dominique Strauss-Kahn --- that his party was behind the former International Monetary Fund chief's downfall. Sarkozy told reporters Strauss-Kahn should keep quiet and --- "spare the French his remarks." Strauss-Kahn told Britain's Guardian newspaper that sex allegations against him were orchestrated by opponents - and claimed events were --- "shaped by those with a political agenda". Strauss-Kahn was forced to stand down as head of the I-M-F in May last year when he was arrested in New York and accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.

Sudan ...

Sudan has declared a state of emergency along its border with South Sudan after weeks of clashes. Sudanese local authorities have ordered a group of 12-thousand ethnic South Sudanese people to leave Sudan within a week. South Sudan has said it is willing to pull its police forces out of one disputed border region. The current clashes began earlier this month when South Sudan occupied the Heglig oilfield area for 10 days.

UK ....

Residents of a London apartment complex have been told that their rooftop could be host to some surface-to-air missiles during the Olympic Games. Shanshan Dong has more from London...

WEATHER AM .....

Looking at the weather across Taiwan ... We can expect ..... partly cloudy skies and possible thunder showers islandwide -- w/ a high of 31 in the Taipei and Taichong areas and a high of 32 in Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- Taichung -- Gaoxiong --

10AM EZ News Outro

That was the E-Z News at 10 ... w/ me Gavin Phipps ...