EZ News 03/09/26

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex tumbled 1,244-points this morning from Friday's close, at 32,354 on turnover of 27.6-billion N-T. The market fell just over 70-points on Friday, as investors remained worried about geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that have sent the price of oil on an upward climb, to hit its highest level in nearly two years. Lai says supporting women makes Taiwan 'more powerful' President Lai Ching-te says he believes Taiwan will become "more powerful" if women have more support and choices from society. Taking to Facebook to mark International Women's Day, Lai said when a society is willing to give women more support and room for choice, Taiwan will not only become kinder, but also more powerful. Noting that the theme of this year's International Women's Day is "Give To Gain," Lai said he hopes every Taiwanese woman, whether striving (努力) in the workplace or cultivating family life, can "freely become her ideal self." Lai's Facebook post went on to say his government has promulgated Taiwan's first national action plan on gender-based violence prevention … .. and that plan aims to integrate violence-prevention resources to "build a more comprehensive and complete gender equality protection network." Japanese-style Mazu float headlines parade at Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi A Japanese-style lantern float featuring Mazu headlined the national baseball team parade at the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi County this past weekend. The large art piece was a Japanese Nebuta, a traditional lantern float handmade from wood, metal wire, and paper. The float was crafted domestically (國內的) in Taiwan by Nebuta artists Makoto Suwa and Hiromi Hayashi, from Japan's Aomori City. They were invited by the General Association of Chinese Culture to serve as resident artists for this year's Lantern Festival. The float headlined the parade to celebrate Taiwan at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Iranian foreign minister says no plans to increase range of its ballistic missiles Iran's foreign minister says the country currently has no plans to increase (增加) the range of its ballistic missiles. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports US SKorea Begin Drills The United States has begun a large military exercise with South Korea involving thousands of troops while also waging an escalating war in the Middle East. The Freedom Shield exercise that began Monday runs through March 19. South Korea has said about 18,000 Korean troops will take part, while the U.S. hasn’t confirmed the number of American troops participating in the training in South Korea. The allies’ combined exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation (猜測) that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran. Canada PM Calls for Special District Elections Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called special elections for three districts that, if his party wins, would give the Liberals a majority government (多數政府). The prime minister announced votes will be cast on April 13-thth The Liberals currently have 169 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, but they need 172 to secure a majority government which would allow them to pass any bill without the support of an opposition party. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn