20120529 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 46.47-points this morning from yesterday's close - at 7,182.47 on turnover of 1.78-billion N-T dollars. ---------- The Legislative Finance Committee held a public hearing on the government's proposal to tax capital gains on stock transactions yesterday. The hearing was an attempt to solicit public opinion on the issue before formal reviews on the various draft proposals are submitted the Legislature. Lawmakers from across party lines have so far failed to reach any consensus on the tax proposals -- of which there are currently seven versions awaiting review. The government wants to pass the capital gains tax bill before the end of the current legislative session - which has been extended until June 15-th. Meanwhile .... The Taiwan Securities Association is warning of possible layoffs in the industry if the government follows through on its plans to introduce a tax on stock gains. According to the association .. such a move would send trading volume plummeting. In a report submitted the to the Legislative Yuan yesterday ..... the association estimated that 43-per cent of employees at brokerage houses - or over 21-thousand people - would lose their jobs. The report added that daily transaction volume on the Tai-Ex could fall below 40-billion N-T dollars. --------- The Council of Agriculture says it will send a second delegation to inspect the United States' beef industry if necessary. Yesterday's announcement came a day after delegation of officials from the Council of Agriculture and Ministry of Health concluded a visit to the United States -- and concluded that beef products imported from the U-S to Taiwan are safe to eat. According to Deputy Agriculture Minister - Hu Xing-hua - his office will not rule out any options in regards guarding against the import of tainted U-S beef - and could possibly coordinate inspection trips with Japan and South Korea. U-S authorities confirmed case of mad cow disease in California.

Syria ...

In international news ... Russia's Foreign Minister - Sergei Lavrov - says Syrian rebel forces are partly to blame for the massacre of more than 100 people in the Houla region last Friday. According to Lavrov -- some victims were killed at close range in a district controlled by rebels. The United Nations has condemned the killings -- saying government artillery was involved. The statement comes as United Nations-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on implementing his peace plan.

Sudan ...

Sudan says it will begin pulling its troops out of the disputed border region of Abyei today. The area is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan -- which became independent in 2011 after a long civil war. Sudan's forces seized Abyei in May of 2011. Its status was left undecided in the 2005 peace deal between the sides.

Hack ..

A complex targeted cyber-attack that collected private data from countries including Israel and Iran has been uncovered. A Russian security firm says the malware - known as Flame - had been operating since August 2010. The company says it believes the attack was state-sponsored ... but is not be sure of its exact origin. Research into the attack was carried out in conjunction with the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union.

UK ...

Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended his friendship with Rupert Murdoch -- calling it a "a working relationship" during testimony to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics Monday. Blair told the inquiry he had not changed any policies during his terms in office to please newspaper's owned by Murdoch's new group. Blair's testimony was briefly interrupted by a heckler - who burst into the courtroom to call him a "war criminal." The inquiry is currently focusing on the relationship between the press and politicians.

Egypt ...

The campaign headquarters of Egyptian presidential candidate - Ahmed Shafiq - has been attacked by protesters. The attack comes amid on-going protests against election results -- and after it was announced Shafiq would compete in a run-off next month. Shafiq was ousted President Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister - and will run against the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate in a June 16-th and 17-th runoff.

Qatar ....

A fire at a shopping centre in the Qatar's capital of Doha has killed at least 19 people. The interior ministry says 13 of the victims were children. Four of them were Spanish nationals, three from New Zealand and one child was French. The cause of the fire is being investigated .. but it is believed to have started in the centre's nursery.

WEATHER AM .....

Looking at the weather across Taiwan ... We can expect ..... mostly cloudy skies and showers islandwide. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 29 Taichung -- 30 Gaoxiong -- 31

10AM EZ News Outro

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