• 10AM EZ News Intro
• Government Formally Approves New Municipalities
• Police Confiscate Some 200 Cases of Tainted Alcohol
• honduras
• myanmar
• flu
• mj drugs
• Weather ... July 3rd ...
• 10AM EZ News Outro

 

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Subject: 10AM EZ News Intro
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Good morning. It's 10 o'clock. I'm _______ and time for EZ News on ICRT.

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Subject: Government Formally Approves New Municipalities
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in local news ...

The Executive Yuan officially approved the mergers and upgrades for four new
municipalities yesterday.

This paves the way for simplifying the administrative system in the future.

Premier Liu Zhao-xuan has announced that he is going to approve the upgrade
of Taipei County to a higher status directly under the central government ...
and will allow the mergers and upgrades of the cities and counties of
Taichung, Gaoxiong and Tainan.

The changes -- which are scheduled to take effect on December 25th of 2010 --
will lead to increased budgets for the newly formed regions, allowing them to
establish more public projects.

According to Liu, with the inclusion of Northern, Central and Southern
Taiwan, the country could be divided into seven major regions which should
cooperate with the new areas ... and help develop their neighbors.

The D-P-P has criticized the changes for leaving out residents living in
areas that will not be upgraded ... saying that they will become poorer,
second-class citizens.

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Subject: Police Confiscate Some 200 Cases of Tainted Alcohol
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Police say they have confiscated some 200 cases of alcohol imported from the
Netherlands ... after they were found to contain slight traces of cocaine.

The A-G-W-A coca leaf liqueur exported by a Dutch firm ... was seized from a
customs warehouse in northern Taoyuan county.

However, 60 cases have already been sold.

Police launched an investigation into the liqueur after a tip-off from a
consumer ... who claimed he felt unwell after drinking beverage at a pub.

Local reports say the alcohol has been very popular in nightclubs in southern
Taiwan.

The local importer, who has been reported saying the alcohol is sold legally
in the U.S., South Korea and India ... has been released on bail pending
further investigation.

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Subject: honduras
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in international news ...

Honduras' interim government says it is open to holding early elections to
resolve the dispute over ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

The Organization of American States is pushing for Honduras to reinstate
Zelaya.

The leader of the caretaker government, Roberto Micheletti, says holding a
referendum is possible on bringing back the leftist president to serve out
the last few months of his term.

However, Micheletti says it would be "difficult" to do so immediately.

The Honduran administration has so far rebuffed any attempts to bring back
Zelaya.

Zelaya was ousted in a military coup last Sunday in a dispute over
presidential term limits.

The situation has become the biggest political crisis in Central America
since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.

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Subject: myanmar
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has a rare meeting with Myanmar's top
general today.

He is planning to urge the secretive leader to free all political prisoners
and ensure next year's elections are credible.

However, he says he is under no illusions about how difficult it will be to
persuade the military junta to free prisoners and take concrete steps towards
democracy ahead of next year's multi-party elections.

Ban also says he plans to ask to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose
widely criticised trial is expected to resume today.

It is not clear if Ban will be able to meet with Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of
the past 19 years in detention.

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Subject: flu
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in health news ...

Researchers say the new H-1-N-1 influenza strain may be just a little less
catching than seasonal flu, but seems a little better able to cause stomach
upsets.

Lab experiments with the virus show it lacks a piece of genetic material that
makes ordinary flu viruses so transmissible.

Researchers in the Netherlands, meanwhile, have found it lives very well in
the nose and their findings suggest it has the ability to stay around for a
long time -- and get worse.

Last month the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the new swine
flu.

It has been confirmed in more than 77-thousand people globally and has killed
at least 332 people.

However, U.S. officials have said there are likely a million or more cases in
the United States alone.

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Subject: mj drugs
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The evidence pertaining to drugs appears to be crucial in the investigation
into the death of Michael Jackson.

The AP's Warren Levinson reports.

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Subject: Weather ... July 3rd ...
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thunderstorms expected in the north, center, and parts of the east today ...
with some rain expected down south ...
highs today are expected to reach 32 or 33 degrees ...


current temps:

taipei: 27

taichung: 28

gaoxiong: 30

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Subject: 10AM EZ News Outro
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That's EZ News at 10. I'm _____