20120510 7pm

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7PM EZ News Intro

Good evening. It's 7 o'clock. I'm _____ and time for EZ News on ICRT.

U.K. Transport Minister Visiting Taiwan

Britain's transport minister is visiting Taiwan in a trip meant to boost Taiwan-U.K. bilateral links in transport and infrastructure. The British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei said U.K. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning is scheduled to stay until May 13, marking the highest-level visit to the country by a British transport official in recent years. The office said the stay will include visits in Taipei and Gaoxiong, where Penning is scheduled to meet Taiwan's officials and businessmen investing in the U.K. Among those on the agenda for meetings with Penn are Transport Minister Mao Zhi-guo, Taipei Mayor Hao Long-bin and Evergreen Group Chairman Zhang Yung-fa. On Saturday, he will visit the Gaoxiong-based Taiwan International Ports Cooperation and Gaoxiong Port, and will meet local officials and business contacts. The last time a high-ranking British official came to Taiwan was in November 2011, when Trade and Investment Minister Lord Stephen Green made a visit to further bilateral trade and investment links. (jm)

Hon Hai's China Subsidary Breaks Ground on Shanghai Headquarter

The Chinese subsidiary of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision ... Foxconn Technology Group, began work today on a Shanghai headquarters that it says will help spearhead its efforts to sell more in the China market. Hon Hai chairman Terry Guo ... Taiwan's richest man ... was on hand for the ceremony. Guo said the groundbreaking by Foxconn for its new, 80,000 square meter ``crystal box'' center in Shanghai's prime Lujiazui financial district reflects the company's shift toward sales and services. Guo said the company is turning its export factories to be more domestic market oriented. He said Chinese leaders had urged him to use Foxconn's technology, scale and quality to make better, more affordable products for ordinary consumers. The Foxconn factories in China assemble about 40 percent of the world's electronics, and are a key producer of iPads and iPhones for Apple. Foxconn employs about 1.2 million workers at low-wage factories in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and elsewhere in the country. (jm)

Syria

Two strong explosions ripped through the Syrian capital today, killing more than 40 people and leaving scenes of carnage in the streets in an assault against a center of government power Syria's state-run TV said 170 people were wounded in what one official said may have been the most powerful of a series of blasts that have hit the capital this year. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack on a military intelligence headquarters. But an al-Qaida-inspired group has claimed responsibility for several large explosions targeting mostly security facilities since December, raising fears that extremist groups are entering Syria's conflict and exploiting the chaos. The regime has used the bombings to support its claims that terrorists rather than a popular uprising are behind Syria's violence. The relentless violence by both sides of the conflict has brought a U.N.-brokered ceasefire plan to the brink of collapse.

Medicare

US government investigators have found that Medicare paid $5.6 billion dollars to 2,600 pharmacies with questionable billings, including a Kansas drugstore that submitted more than 1,000 prescriptions each for two patients in just one year. The new report by the inspector general of the Health and Human Services department finds the corner drugstore is vulnerable to fraud, partly because Medicare does not require the private insurers that deliver prescription benefits to seniors to report suspicious billing patterns. The analysis broke new ground by scrutinizing every claim submitted by the nation's 59,000 retail pharmacies during 2009 _ more than 1 billion prescriptions. Using statistical analysis, investigators were able to reveal contrasts between normal business practices and potential criminal behavior.

Olympics

The Olympic flame is beginning its journey to the London 2012 Games after a lighting ceremony in Olympia. Olly Barratt reports it will then travel for a week around Greece before being flown to Britain for a 70 day relay around the UK.

Weather

Central Weather Bureau forecasters say it's going to be cloudy islandwide tonight, with occasional showers in the north and possible thundershowers over the rest of the country. Lows tonight will be 21 in the north, 24 in the center, and 25 or 26 in the south. Tomorrow, more of the same, with highs of 26 up north, 29 midisland, and 30 in southern Taiwan. Right now, it's 21 in Taipei, 26 in Taizhong, and 29 in Gaoxiong.

7PM EZ News Outro

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