20120524 10am

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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 up 14.93-points this morning from yesterday's close - at 7,162.68 on turnover of 1.7-billion N-T dollars. --------- Health Minister Qiu Wen-da has called on the World Health Organization to grant Taiwan "greater and fairer" participation in its events. Addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva .. Qiu said despite Taiwan's commitment to the responsibilities that come with its W-H-A observer status, the island has seen little progress in gaining greater participation in the world health body. Speaking to reporters following the address .. Qiu said his message was clear and drew positive responses from several countries. The W-H-A runs thru May 26-th. ------------ Taipei City police say an initial investigation into a fatal car accident involving an off-duty policeman and his friend shows the officer was not to blame. The accident occurred Monday evening - and resulted in the death of a 19-year-old college student. Authorities say both the police officer and his friend were driving under the influence - but surveillance cameras near the scene of the accident show the officer's friend was driving the car. There had been claims the police officer had been using his friend as a scapegoat. Both have been released on bail for involvement in involuntary manslaughter. ------------- The nationality of New York Knicks point-guard - Jeremy Lin - became a topic of debate yesterday in the Taichong City Council --- after a councilor claimed students had points deducted from test scores for identifying Lin as Taiwanese. According to Huang Guo-shu ... first-year students at the Chu-ren Junior High School were asked about Lin's nationality in a recent written physical education test. Half of the students saw their test scores marked down because they identified him as a Taiwan national. When Huang posed the same question to city hall officials .... many of them said they see Lin as Taiwanese - while others said he is American.

EU ...

In international news .... European Union leaders say they want Greece to remain in the eurozone. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy says the union also wants Greece to respect its commitments to the 17-member eurozone. He added that "vital reforms" were essential for Greece to overcome its economic problems. The eurozone crisis has overshadowed the Brussels summit -- amid fears Greece may exit the single currency bloc.

Egypt ...

Egyptians cast their ballots yesterday in the first day of a presidential election that went smoother than expected. There was a heavy police and military presence outside the 13-thousand polling sub-stations. The election comes 15 months after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Fifty million people are eligible to vote - and the military council which took power in February of last years -- has promised a fair vote and return to civilian rule. The election includes -- Islamists, secularists, revolutionaries and Mubarak-era ministers.

Pakistan ...

A Pakistani doctor who helped the C-I-A find Osama Bin Laden has been jailed for at least 30-years. Shakil Afreedi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system for running a fake vaccination program to gather information. Bin Laden was killed by U-S forces in Abbottabad in May of last year. Islamabad says the covert U-S operation was a violation of its sovereignty.

HP .....

Hewlett-Packard says it plans to axe 27,000 jobs worldwide end of 2014. According to the world's largest maker of personal computers .... the cuts of 8-per cent of it workforce will reduce costs by up to 3.5-billion U-S dollars per year. H-P says the money will be reinvested into the company.

Philippines ...

Philippine authorities say China has sent two more ships to waters near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. A statement from the Manila's Foreign Ministry said Chinese vessels now anchored near the disputed South China Seas island include five government ships and dozens of fishing and utility boats. The Philippines currently has two vessels there. The two countries both claim the area and have been locked in a stand-off since April.

China ....

Authorities in Beijing have set new standards for public toilets ----- including a stipulation that they should contain no more than two flies. The new rules - published by the commission of city administration yesterday - also set standards on smells and the cleaning of garbage cans.

WEATHER AM .....

Looking at the weather across Taiwan ... We can expect ..... partly cloudy skies and a high of 32 islandwide. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- Taichung -- Gaoxiong --

10AM EZ News Outro

That was EZ News at 10 on ICRT w/ me Gavin Phipps ....