EZ News 08/14/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened down 15-points this morning from Friday's close, at 16,585 on turnover of 3.7-billion N-T. The market closed the trading day in negative territory on Friday, as a technical rebound from the prevous session ran out of steam. The semiconductor industry led weakness in the market, while select artificial intelligence development-related stocks bounced back to give some support to the local main board. **Tourism Bureau 'Optimistic' about 6 Million Tourist Target for 2023 ** The Tourism Bureau says it's optimistic about hitting its goal of 6-million tourist arrivals by the end of the year. According to the bureau, firgure between January and June suggest it is likely to hit that target, as Taiwan saw a total of nearly 2.7-million visitors from January to June. That figure is almost half the amount from the same period of 2019, when nearly 6-million visitors were recorded. Acting bureau director-general Zhou Ting-chang says visitor numbers from countries including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are either on par with, or already exceed (超過) pre-coronavirus pandemic numbers. Data shows the largest number of visitors between January and June were from Hong Kong and Macau, followed by Japan and South Korea. **Tainan Reporting More Dengue Fever Cases ** More dengue fever cases are being reported in Tainan. The total number of cases of the mosquito-borne disease in the city now stands at 1,223 since June 13, when the first case of this year was confirmed. Most of the cases has have been reported in the city's Yongkang, Annan, Rende and East districts. Local government officials say this year's outbreak is being compounded (使加劇) by the recent heavy rains, which have resulted in an increase of potential mosquito breeding habitats - such as stagnant water sources. While the rains have also made disinfecting potential outdoor breeding sites impossible. **Russian Shelling Kills ** Russian shelling (砲擊) in southern Ukraine has killed at least seven people, and warning shots were fired by a Russian warship. AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports. **Greece Rescues Migrants from Sea ** Greek authorities say they have safely rescued 48 migrants from a rudderless (無舵的) inflatable boat off the island of Lesbos, close to the Turkish coast. A patrol vessel evacuated the migrants Sunday morning and took them to the port of Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos. Three of them remain hospitalized. The coast guard did not mention the ethnicities of the migrants, but a YouTube video it released shows most of them are Africans. The coast guard says the packed inflatable vessel then sank. Greece has seen a rise in migrant arrivals from Turkey, mostly by sea, in recent weeks amid more mild summer sailing conditions. 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