20120516 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 14 points this morning from yesterday's close at 7,381 on turnover of 2.071-billion N-T dollars. --------- Prosecutors have released the deputy head of Tai-Power's Department of Nuclear Engineering on bail of 2-million N-T dollars. Lin Chun-long was questioned yesterday over his role in a 2007 procurement case at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Prosecutors say Tai-Power employees who oversaw and handled the 440-million N-T dollar procurement case allegedly failed to conduct themselves in accordance with the terms of the Government Procurement Act. There have also been reports that materials provided by the two companies that won the tender were found to have no, or limited protection against radiation -- a defect that contravened the requirements of the contract. ---------- The Government Information Office held its official closing ceremony yesterday -- after serving as the government's mouth-piece for 65-years. The office officially closes on Sunday - the day President Ma Ying-jeou's second term begins. G-I-O spokesman - Philip Yang - described the timing of the office's closure as "fitting" -- saying his office always served as what he called - "the makeup artist for the government." Closure of the G-I-O is part of the Ma administration's plans to streamline government. The G-I-O's duties will now be transferred to three government units

merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande agreed yesterday to spend the coming weeks discussing proposals for generating economic growth in Europe, a first step to bridging their differences over how to tackle the eurozone debt crisis. They talked up their commitment to building a solid relationship after an election campaign in which Merkel backed then-President Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande has criticized Merkel's austerity-led approach to the continent's debt troubles and called for more policies geared toward boosting economic growth as opposed to just cutting government spending. During his campaign, he also called for the European budget-discipline pact pushed by Merkel to be renegotiated.

imf

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, has raised the possibility that Greece could leave the Eurozone and said the consequences would be unpredictable... Christine Lagarde

brooks

Rebekah Brooks, a close confidante of Rupert Murdoch, was charged yesterday with interfering with a police investigation into a phone hacking scandal. Brooks said she is "baffled" by the decision and deplored the 'weak and unjust decision'. If found guilty, Brooks could face a prison sentence.

vatican

The Legion of Christ religious order admitted yesterday that it knew that its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago ... yet didn't remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics. The Legion is still trying to recover from revelations that its late founder was a pedophile. Reverend Thomas Williams, an American moral theologian and former superior of the Legion's Rome general office, admitted this week he had had a relationship with a woman and had fathered a child ``a number of years ago.'' He didn't identify the woman or say whether he is supporting the child, though the Legion said the child is being cared for.

WEATHER AM .....

cloudy skies and possible afternoon thunder showers islandwide Current Temperatures ... Taipei -- 29 Taichung -- 29 Gaoxiong -- 27

10AM EZ News Outro

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