EZ News 03/02/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened down 18-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 15,580 on turnover of 2.7-billion N-T. The market recouped its early losses on Wednesday to close higher, as investors were encouraged by news that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will not be cutting its first-quarterly sales forecast. T-S-M-C saw its share price rise by 2.15-per cent to close at the day's high of 522 N-T. And that gain pushed up the electronics sector by 1.55-per cent, boosted the semiconductor sub-index by 2.38-per cent and contributed more than 90-points to the main board's overall rise for the trading day. **Agriculture Minister Sees End to Egg shortage by late March ** Agriculture Minister Chen Ji-chung says he's anticipating that the current national egg shortage could be over by the end of this month, as the government is introducing short and long-term measures to address the problem. According to Chen, up to 5-million eggs will be imported from Australia by the end of March to fill the current daily deficit of between 500,000 and 800,000 eggs Those eggs will be first allocated to food processors so they can release their stocks of locally grown eggs to meet domestic consumption. The Council of Agriculture has also earmarked 1.8-billion N-T this year to help local poultry farms renovate and modernize their operations -- which are seen as a key measure to achieve full self-sufficiency. The agriculture minister says more details of those plans will be published tomorrow. **Water Restrictions in Kaohsiung to Begin Next Week ** The central government announced that it will enforce water restrictions in Kaohsiung beginning next week due to a lack of rainfall. According to the Central Emergency Operation Center, the water alert level for Kaohsiung will be raised from green to yellow from March 8, meaning that water pressure will be reduced from between 10PM and 6AM. Kaohsiung has been placed on green alert level, indicating that water-storage levels are below normal. The ministry says it is coordinating with the Water Resources Agency, the Water Corporation and the local government to take water shortage alleviation measures. **Greece Search for Train Crash Survivors Continue ** Emergency workers are searching late into the night for survivors and bodies after a passenger train and a freight train crashed head-on in central Greece. The collision just before midnight Tuesday killed at least 43 people and injured scores. It was the country's deadliest rail crash on record. Greece's transport minister resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his duty (責任) to step down. The cause of the crash near the Vale of Tempe was not immediately clear, but the stationmaster at the train's last stop was arrested. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pledged a full, independent investigation. **Japan Vows to Pursue Return of NKorean Abductees ** Japan’s Prime Minister is vowing to pursue (追究, 追求) all measure possible to resolve historical abductions (綁架) of Japanese citizens by North Korea. Chris Gilbert reports from Tokyo. 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