EZ News 11/03/22

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened down 115-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 12,986 on turnover of $2.93-billion N-T. **2.3 million households set to benefit from hiked tax ceiling ** The Ministry of Finance has announced that it is raising Taiwan's basic living expense tax deduction for 2022. The deduction is now $196-thousand NT. Taiwan's 2017 Taxpayer Rights Protection Act stipulates that individuals should not be taxed on the amount they need to cover basic expenses, which is set at 60 percent of the median per capita disposable income (可支配所得) from the preceding year. The MOF estimated that 2.3 million households will benefit from the tax-deductible allowance for basic living expenses, saving over $1.5 billion NT, when they file an income tax return in May next year. **Leopard cat Lulu confirmed as having given birth to 2 new cubs ** Researchers have confirmed that a young adult leopard cat named Lulu has given birth to two new cubs after recent images showed them in Nantou County. The Endemic Species Research Institute says images of the leopard cat family were taken on October 12th by motion-activated cameras installed by the institute. The images showed Lulu with the two young cubs in a mountainous area of Nantou's Xinyi Township. It was the first time the three leopard cats were filmed together since Lulu was electronically tagged and released into the wild in February 2019 in Xinyi Township, one of the native leopard cats' original habitats where the institute operates a rehabilitation center. **NKorea Fires Missiles ** North Korea has fired at least three missiles including a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile, after firing more than 20 missiles yesterday. The Japanese government initially said at least one of the missiles flew over its northern territory, but later revised its assessment, saying there were no overflies (飛過. vi. 飛越上空). The government did issue evacuation alerts and temporarily halted trains as a result. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the North firing a missile it presumed as an ICBM from an area near its capital Pyongyang around 7:40 a.m. Then two short-range missiles were fired from the nearby city of Kacheon that flew toward its eastern waters. **UK Food Prices Surge ** Food prices in the UK are surging (快速上漲) at their fastest rate on record. The figures, published by the British Retail Consortium (財團), deal another blow to the public who are already facing increased energy costs. Laura Makin-Isherwood has more. **US Seeks to Oust Iran from UN Gender Equality Body ** The United States says it will seek to oust Iran from the U.N.’s premiere global body fighting for gender equality. Vice-President Kamala Harris made the announcement of the U.S. intention to work with other countries to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday. She said Iran is “unfit” to serve on the commission and its presence “discredits the integrity (正直、廉正)” of its work. The US accused Iran of systematic violation of the rights of women and girls, pointing out as proof its ongoing brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators who took to the streets in September after the death of a 22-year-old woman taken into custody by the morality police. 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