EZ News 05/08/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened up 22-points this morning from Friday's close, at 15,648 on turnover of 2-billion N-T. The market closed slightly higher on Friday despite investors remaining wary of possible volatility on Wall Street due to renewed concerns over problems in the American banking sector. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing returned to the 500 N-T mark during the session, as the bellwether electronics sector staged a mild technical rebound, which helped the broader market offset losses by non-tech stocks. **Nantou and Changhua See Most Rain During Passing Front ** The Central Weather Bureau says Nantou and Changhua received the most rainfall on Sunday - as a weather front passed over the island. According to the bureau, Nantou County's Ren-Ai Township recorded accumulated (積累) rainfall of over 10.5-centimeters from between midnight Saturday through Sunday evening. The Water Resources Agency says the island's reservoirs benefited from Sunday's rain, but it was still not enough to alleviate drought conditions in the south. **Starlux's Chang Kuo-wei Offers Full Refund to Passengers Stranded in Japan ** Starlux Airlines Chairman Chang Kuo-wei says his company will offering full refunds to passengers who had to spend the night at Narita Airport outside Tokyo because of a flight diversion and aircraft deployment problems. Chang flew to Japan early Sunday to apologize for the delay to the 308 affected passengers and made the pledge (保證) flying one of the two Starlux A350 planes stuck at Narita overnight back to Taiwan. According to airline, 183 of the 308 stranded passengers returned to Taiwan on Sunday afternoon on an Airbus 321, while 99 passengers were booked on regularly scheduled Starlux flights. The remaining 26 passengers caught flights back to Taipei on other airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Administration says it will review the case and request Starlux submit a full explanation and to make improvements. **US Biden Calls for Gun Reforms ** US President Joe Biden has once again called on Congress to pass gun reforms following a shooting at a Texas shopping mall. Authorities say the suspected gunman killed 8 people, injured 7 others, and then was himself killed by an officer who had been dispatched (派遣) to the area on a different call. Our US Correspondent Jagruti Dave reports. **Canada Wildfires Slow Amid Cooler Temp ** Fire crews battling wildfires threatening communities in western Canada are getting some relief from cooler temperatures and a bit of rain, but officials warn the reprieve (暫時緩解) is only in some areas. Officials in Alberta say there were 108 active fires in the province Sunday and the number of evacuees grew to about 29,000. A provincewide state of emergency was declared Saturday. Two out-of-control wildfires in neighboring British Columbia also have forced some people to leave their homes, and officials warn that they expect high winds to cause the blazes to grow bigger in the next few days. Officials in Alberta say that despite the current cooling, hot and dry conditions are predicted to return within a few days. 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