EZ News 03/26/25

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 54-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 22,327 on turnover of 2.7-billion N-T. The market rebounded from a slump the previous session on Tuesday - as large cap electronics stocks were in focus following gains on Wall Street overnight after U-S news media reports said the Trump administration may implement more measured trade actions. Power plants scale back operations as smog envelops northern Taiwan The Ministry of Environment says power plants have temporarily been scaling back operations after air pollution in the north reached unhealthy levels. According to the ministry, "red warnings" - indicating air that is unhealthy for all groups - were triggered at monitoring stations in Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan Tuesday afternoon .. .. and it coordinated with Tai-Power to implement load reduction (減少) and emissions controls at power plants in Keelung, Yunlin County, Taichung and Kaohsiung in order to mitigate the effects of the pollution. The environment ministry says the total reduced power generation amounted to 132.52-million kilowatt-hours as of 6PM. Ex-captain charged with corruption sent back to Taiwan A former army captain charged with corruption has been repatriated in a joint mission by Taiwanese and Filipino authorities. According to the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, Lee Chen-yu was detained in the Philippines for over a year after he was arrested by Filipino authorities in Cebu in February 2024 based on information from Taiwan that he was a fugitive. The bureau says Filipino authorities refused to deport Lee to Taiwan, because they mistook him for another fugitive (逃犯) with the same name and needed to investigate whether he was involved in other cases. However, he was finally returned to Taiwan yesterday following talks between Taiwan and Philippine officials. Lee was formally arrested on his arrival at Taoyuan International Airport. Ukraine Russia to Halt Black Sea Attacks Ukraine and Russia have agreed to halt military strikes in the Black Sea and to allow safe passage of commercial shipping vessels. The move comes after U.S. officials held several days of talks with representatives from Moscow and Kyiv in Saudi Arabia. But major questions remain over whether this agreement will be able to be effectively (有效地) implemented. William Denselow reports from Kyiv. King Charles Visit to Vatican Postponed King Charles III’s scheduled audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican next month has been postponed by mutual agreement after medical advice suggested the pontiff would be better off with more rest. Buckingham Palace made the announcement in a statement Tuesday. The tentative audience was among details of the British monarch’s visit to the Vatican and Italy last week by the palace. The royal visit to Italy, which is scheduled to start on April 7, will continue. The Pope was released from hospital Sunday after 38 days of treatment (治療) for double pneumonia and is under doctors orders to observe two months of rest during which he should avoid large gatherings. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn