EZ News 08/22/23

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened up 48-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 16,429 on turnover of 4.4-billion N-T. The market closed flat on Monday after giving up most of its early gains ahead of Nvidia's release of its latest financial results at an investor conference scheduled for Wednesday in California. Investor sentiment was also negatively affected by concerns over the U-S Federal Reserve's rate hike cycle, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to address the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday. **MOA to Take China Mango Import Suspension to WTO ** The Ministry of Agriculture says it plans to take China's decision to suspended imports of mangoes from Taiwan to the World Trade Organization. The statement comes after Beijing announced that it had suspended imports of mangoes following the detection of an agricultural pest in recent shipments. The agriculture ministry is slamming the suspension of mango imports -describing it as being "unwarranted (毫無根據的、不合理的) and out of step with international trade standards." Agriculture officials say China's import ban is unlikely to have any major economic impact, as Taiwan has only exported 2.2-per cent of its total mango crop this year. **MOFA Congratulates Guatemala' President-Elect ** The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is congratulating Bernardo Arevalo on his victory in Guatemala's presidential election. According to the ministry, it has informed Guatemala's president-elect that Taiwan will seek to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with his incoming government, based on the shared values of democracy and freedom. The foreign ministry is "lauding" Guatemala for holding a successful election and Taiwan's embassy in Guatemala City sent an official letter of congratulations to Arevalo's camp after it declared victory in Sunday's runoff election. Speaking in July, Arevalo said he would not switch (轉變) diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing if elected, despite his being favor of improving trade relations with China. **Japan to Release Fukushima Wastewater as soon as Aug24 ** The Japanese government says treated and diluted (經稀釋的) radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be released into the ocean as early as Thursday. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead at a meeting Tuesday of the Cabinet ministers involved in the plan. He instructed the plant's operator to being the release Thursday if weather conditions permits. It comes more than 12 years after nuclear meltdowns at the plant caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The water has been accumulating since then and will be released over decades. **US Biden Faces Criticism for Hawaii Response ** Joe Biden has visited the Hawaiian island of Maui, almost two weeks after deadly wildfires there killed more than hundred people. The US President has faced criticism (批評) for not traveling to Hawaii sooner. **Swiss ZeroDegree Isotherm Level Reaches Highest Altitude ** The Swiss weather service says a heat wave has driven the zero-degree Celsius level to its highest altitude since recordings on it in Switzerland began nearly 70 years ago. MeteoSwiss says the zero-degree isotherm level reached 5,298 meters above sea level over Switzerland overnight Sunday to Monday. All of Switzerland’s snow-capped Alpine peaks had air temperatures exceeding (超過) zero Celsius, where water freezes. That raises prospects of a thaw. A MeteoSwiss meterologist says "if such conditions persist in the longer term, glaciers are set to be lost irreversibly (不可逆轉地)". 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