EZ News 12/01/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened down 12-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 17,422 on turnover of $2.06 -billion N-T. The market continued its winning streak on Thursday, joining other regional indexes to close the trading day higher ahead of the release of U-S consumer inflation data. Cabinet Approves Fire Safety Reform Amendments The Cabinet has approved a series of draft amendments to the Fire Services Act aimed at improving fire safety in the workplace The draft amendments were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and will now be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review. The draft bill adds a provision that imposes a maximum prison sentence of up to seven years on company officials whose failure to formulate and implement a fire safety management plan is deemed responsible for fire-related deaths. The also states that the storing excessive dangerous materials in the workplace in contravention (違反) of related rules resulting in fire-related deaths will result in the same penalty. In the event of serious injuries resulting from a workplace fire, company officials will be liable to a prison term of up to five years. Failure to comply with those regulations is punishable with a maximum fine of between 3 and 10-million N-T. 8 Israeli Hostages Freed from Gaza The Israeli military says a total of eight Israeli hostages have been released from captivity in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The army said the Red Cross transferred six hostages to Egypt, and they were being brought to Israel to be reunited with their families. Two additional hostages were turned over earlier in the day. It marked the seventh straight night of hostage releases under a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Israel was to free 30 Palestinian prisoners later in the evening under the deal. The cease-fire is set to expire early Friday, though international mediators (調解者) are working to extend it. Roughly 140 hostages are believed to remain in Hamas captivity. US Blinken Warning on Gaza Violence Spreading US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned efforts must be made to prevent violence in Gaza from enveloping (籠罩) the region. The US' top diplomat met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday. Sally Patterson has more. Giant Pandas Leaving Edinburgh Zoo Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo had their final chance to see and bid farewell to a pair of popular giant pandas who are returning home to China after more than a decade in Scotland. Yang Guang and Tian Tian are leaving in early December. They have been a popular attraction since people lined the road outside the zoo to greet them when they arrived in 2011. The pair, which are the only pandas in the U.K., are the latest to leave the West after exchange agreements have expired ((期限）終止) and not been renewed by China. 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