20120514 10am

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10AM EZ News Intro

Good morning. It's 10 o'clock. I'm _______ and time for EZ News on ICRT.

10AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The Tai-Ex opened down 2.38-points from Friday's close at 7,399 on turnover of 1.241-billion N-T dollars. ------------ Former D-P-P chairwoman - Cai Ying-wen - has said she has not ruled out the possibility of running for the presidency again in 2016. Speaking in a television interview last night .. Cai slammed President Ma Ying-jeou - saying he should stop believing the governance of Taiwan is what she called "a one-man show." She also questioned Ma's decision-making - saying it remains in the same framework of the former authoritarian K-M-T regimes. ------------ Macau formally opened a representative office in Taipei yesterday. According to officials, the office will give Macau a greater presence in Taiwan and allow the former Portuguese colony to deepen trade, tourism, cultural and education ties with the island. The head of the cabinet in the Office of the Chief Executive in Macau said the opening was an important milestone in the development of closer, mutually beneficial and peaceful relations between the two sides. He added the representative office will promote economic, cultural, travel, education, sports and health cooperation between Macau and Taiwan and provide services for Macau citizens.

yemen

A pair of drone air strikes is seen as part of the increasing pressure on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The AP's Tim Maguire reports.

afghan

A gunman in a car assassinated a former high-ranking Taliban official working to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan, dealing a powerful blow yesterday to the fragile, U.S.-backed effort to bring peace to the country. Arsala Rahmani, a top member of the Afghan peace council and a senator in Parliament, was killed a week before a key NATO summit. The attack also came just hours before President Hamid Karzai announced the third stage of a five-part transition that is supposed to put Afghan security forces in control of their country by the end of 2014.

mexico

Forty-nine decapitated and mutilated bodies were found yesterday dumped on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border. Mexico's organized crime groups often leave multiple bodies in public places as warnings to their rivals. Authorities said a banner left at the site bore a message by the Zetas drug cartel claiming responsibility for the massacre. Mexican drug cartels have been waging an increasingly bloody war to control smuggling routes, the local drug market and extortion rackets, including shakedowns of migrants seeking to reach the United States.

germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have suffered heavy losses in an election in Germany's most populous state. Exit polls suggest that support for the Christian Democrats dropped from 35 to 26-per cent in North Rhine-Westphalia -- with the Social Democrats set to return to power with the Greens. Analysts say many voters rejected Merkel's tough line on fiscal discipline as a cure for state debt.

plane

Indonesian special forces and professional climbers scaled down a steep ravine on a volcano face yesterday in search of the missing flight recorder that could explain the deadly crash of a Russian-made jetliner. The Sukhoi Superjet-100 had 45 people aboard when it crashed into Mount Salak on Wednesday during a flight intended to woo potential Indonesian airline buyers. All aboard are presumed dead. It's unclear what caused the crash about halfway through a planned 50-minute flight, making finding the "black box" recorder a priority.

cruise

A Panamanian man who watched his two companions die while surviving at sea for 28 days in their small disabled boat is suing a U.S. cruise line ... because one of its ships failed to help. The man is alleging negligence by Prince Cruise Lines. Princess Cruises has said passengers never told the ship's captain they saw a boat. However, the lawsuit includes testimony from two cruise ship passengers who have said they saw the disabled boat and reported it to a cruise representative on the Star Princess liner. The passengers even say they put a ship employee on a spotting scopes so he could see the small boat for himself.

WEATHER AM .....

clear skies in the morning, but possible afternoon thunder showers in the north w/ a high of 33 clear skies in the center and south all day also w/ a high of 33 Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 31 Taichung -- 30 Gaoxiong -- 31

10AM EZ News Outro

That's EZ News at 10. I'm _____