20120530 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 down 31.64 points this morning from yesterday's close - at 7,310.65 on turnover of 3.06-billion N-T dollars. --------- Premier Sean Chen rejected Finance Minister - Christina Liu's - resignation late yesterday. Liu tendered her resignation earlier in the day after K-M-T lawmakers rejected a Cabinet proposal for the capital gains tax. She had been a vocal backer of the Cabinet's proposal. Speaking to reporters at just after 10:30 yesterday evening .... Cabinet spokesperson - Hu Yu-wei - said the Premier has asked Liu to remain on office and continue to work on the capital gains tax issue. Hu added the Premier hopes to merge the K-M-T proposal with the Cabinet's initial plan regarding a tax on securities transactions. Meanwhile .... The K-M-T's capital gains tax plan is drawing mixed reviews --- leaving brokerage houses relieved and groups interested in tax fairness dissatisfied. The plan will allow individual investors to choose between reporting stock gains as part of their income - or paying a stock transaction tax of between 0.02 and 0.06-per cent that only kicks in when the Tai-Ex closes above the 8,500 point mark. Stock market analysts say the K-M-T plan has short term benefits - but limitations over the medium term. -------- The main opposition D-P-P's newly elected chairman - Su Zhen-chang - took office yesterday -- vowing to revamp the party. According to Su .. the D-P-P will re-establish representative offices in the United States and Japan - while working to improve communication with the voting pubic at home. The appointments of the party's new deputy secretaries-general and other department head are slated to be announced sometime this week.

Syria ..

In international news ..... Western countries say they are set to expel senior Syrian diplomats. The move is in response to the killing of 108 people in the Hoola region of Syria last Friday. The United States, France, the Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Switzerland have all taken similar action. The United Nations says most of the victims were summarily executed - and has blamed government forces and militia for the killings. U-N-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan held talks with President Bashar al-Assad yesterday in an attempt to kick-start his peace plan. Assad has blamed the violence on "terrorists."

Italy ...

Rescuers in northern Italy are continuing to comb through rubble for more survivors -- after a strong earthquake killed at least 16 people yesterday. Some 350 people were injured after the magnitude 5.8 quake hit the Emilia Romagna region. It was the second deadly earthquake in just over a week. The number of people made homeless from recent quakes in the area has now risen -- from six- to 14-thousand.

Egypt ...

In Egypt ... The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for president - Mohammed Mursi - says he will include a wide range of political forces in any government he forms. Mursi has promised to provide representation to women and children. His Freedom and Justice Party has said the presidency would no longer be about one person --- and Muris has vowed to end the era of a what he called ---- the "Superman President."

Burma ..

Myanmar's opposition leader - Aung San Suu Kyi - arrived in Thailand yesterday --- on her first trip outside the country in more than two decades. She is attending the World Economic Forum on East Asia. The pro-democracy leader was given a passport in early May. An estimated 130-thousand Myanmar refugees live in camps in Thailand -- many of whom fled political persecution.

UK ...

Wikileaks founder - Julian Assange - is set to find out later today whether or not he will be extradited from Britain to Sweden to face charges of sex crimes. At least one extradition expert said that his long-running legal campaign may finally yield a victory for the Australian computer programmer. Assange became a household name following the release of a quarter-million classified U-S State Department cable.

Canada ...

A severed human foot has been mailed to the headquarters of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party. Police were called shortly after a receptionist opened a blood-soaked box. Police said the package was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada and not to a specific person. Harper's office is not located at the party headquarters.

WEATHER AM .....

Looking at the weather across Taiwan ... We can expect ..... partly cloudy skies and possible afternoon thunder showers in the north and center - w/ a high of around 32 in both Taipei and Taichong --- and mostly cloudy skies in the south w/ a high of 32 in Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- Taichung -- Gaoxiong --

10AM EZ News Outro

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