EZ News 04/12/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened flat this morning from yesterday's close, at 15,914 on turnover of 2.1-billion N-T. The market closed slightly higher on Tuesday, despite Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing coming under heavy pressure and moving out of investor focus after reporting disappointing sales for the first quarter. **Global Parliamentary Group Slams Macron's Comments on Taiwan ** A group of cross-national parliamentarians have slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for what it's describing as his "ill-judged remarks" that sent a signal of "indifference (不重視)" over Taiwan. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China is expressing it's "dismay" over Macron's comment, which appeared in an interview with Politico and Les Echos. Speaking in the interview, Macron suggested Europe should avoid being "caught up in crises that are not ours" and said Europe cannot becom a "follower" of either the United States or China on the issue of Taiwan. According to the alliance, the comments are "severely out of step with the feeling across Europe's legislatures and beyond." **Two Tech Universities to Merger ** The National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and the Hua Xia University of Technology have agreed to a merger proposal. When completed it will be the first merger (合併) between a public and private university in Taiwan. Under the merger plan, the private Hua Xia University will not enroll students for the 2023-2024 academic year and will close after the 2025-2026 academic year. Hua Xia says it will come up with severance and retirement packages for employees on termination of employment, while the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology will hire some of them for project teacher and staff positions. The plan still has to approved by the Ministry of Education. **Brazil President Begins China Tour ** Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is beginning a tour of China to strengthen his country’s political and business ties with the world’s second largest economy. His trip comes just weeks after visiting President Joe Biden in the US. Richard Kimber reports from Hong Kong. **Iran President Reshuffles Cabinet ** State media says Iran President Ebrahaim Raisi has announced a Cabinet reshuffle, replacing the minister of agriculture and the head of the planning and budget office. The country’s dire (危急的) economic conditions, including inflation of nearly 50%, have contributed to widespread anger at the government. It was the fifth Cabinet reshuffle in less than two years since Raisi came to power. Meanwhile, Iran has seen waves of anti-government protests since the September death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was detained by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress code. The protests rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling Shiite clerics, marking a major challenge to their four-decade rule. Iran has blamed the unrest on foreign powers without providing evidence. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn