EZ News 08/29/22

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Three Taiwanese from Myanmar Human Trafficking Ring Arrested ** The Criminal Investigation Bureau says three people have been detained on connection with a human trafficking ring in Myanmar. The three were allegedly involved in organ harvesting and sex trafficking. They were arrested after it was confirmed they were fugitives and are likely members of a telecom extortion ring in Myanmar. The three Taiwanese nationals were detained after they returned home from Myanmar this past weekend. One of them was on Taiwan's most wanted list for forgery (偽造罪) and currency counterfeiting, but police have not indicated that that individual was involved in human trafficking operations. **KMT Vice Chair Touts China Trip as 'Helping Taiwanese People' ** K-M-T Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia says his recently concluded 17-day trip to China was aimed at looking after the needs of Taiwanese people based in the country. Speaking after returning to Taiwan, Hsia said used his meetings with Chinese officials to convey (表達) concerns over Beijing's recent military drills in areas surrounding Taiwan. According to Hsia, he told Chinese officials that the military exercises were of no help to peaceful development, and that the vast majority of people in Taiwan were uneasy, worried, and dissatisfied with the drills. Hsia says he also exchanged views with them on job scams in Cambodia, cross-strait flights, the reopening of the "mini-three links" and rumors of the termination of the ECFA accords "early harvest" list. **Army Fires Warning Flares at Chinese Drone in Kinmen ** The army says it has fired warning flares after a Chinese drone after it was spotted over a small island in Kinmen County. According to the Kinmen Defense Command, a civilian-operated drone from China appeared over Lieyu Township and troops responded by firing warning flares based on standard operating procedures. Defense officials say troops refrained from takiing more aggressive (挑釁的) measures, such as shooting the drone down, in order to avoid further escalating cross-strait tensions. A clip of the drone's flight was posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo and shows it flying close to and filming a military lookout post, including its facilities and soldiers and ship and aircraft identification charts. The Ministry of National Defense says it is work on a defensive system against drones for installation by 2023 in Kinmen and Matsu. **Serbia opposition, rights groups condemn EuroPride decision ** In Serbia, opposition parties and international rights groups have denounced (斥責) a decision by the President to cancel next month's LGBTQ EuroPride events. President Aleksandar Vucic explained that the Balkan nation could not handle EuroPride because of a political crisis with Serbia's former breakaway province of Kosovo, and economic problems amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Most of the groups say they would ignore the ban announced Saturday by Vucic and go ahead with the September 12-18 events scheduled in Belgrade. **NASA moon rocket on track for launch despite lightning hits ** NASA's new moon rocket is expected to launch later today, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad. Officials say neither the rocket Artemis 1 nor ground equipment suffered (受到) any damage. Five lightning strikes hit the 600-foot towers surrounding the rocket at Florida's Kennedy Space Center this past weekend. The 322-foot rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It plans to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, 50 years after NASA's Apollo program. Astronauts could return to the moon in a few years, if this six-week test flight goes well. 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