• 10AM EZ News Intro
• 10AM TAIWAN NEWS ........
• turkey
• gays-funerals
• toyota
• WEATHER --- AM ....
• 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: 10AM TAIWAN NEWS ........
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in local news ...

The Premier is refusing to accept the resignation of Health Minister Yang
zhi-liang.

Yang resigned yesterday afternoon .. saying the move was in opposition the Ma
administration's plans to establish a multi-rate health insurance premium
system.

Yang questioned the legality of Premier Wu Dun-yi's insistence that some
75-per cent of the population be exempt from health premium hikes.

The health minister also said the government's figures cannot be met .. and
he can only assure that 59-per cent of the insured will remain unaffected by
rate adjustments.

Yang added that he believes the Ma administration should instead introduce a
second-generation health insurance program - that would calculate premiums
based on total household incomes rather then salaries and wages.

According to government spokesman - Johnny Jiang - the Premier has asked Yang
to remain in office .. saying he cannot resign - during what he referred to
as - "a critical moment for the reform of the National Health Insurance
program."

Yang had not responded publicly to appeals for him to remain at his post.

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The Council of Labor Affairs is defending a decision to allow women to take
time off work when they are pregnant .. saying it will be less expensive than
most business owners believe.

According to labor minister - Wang Ru-xuan - the move is aimed at improving
benefits for women .. and it has yet to be decided whether leave will be paid
or unpaid.

However .. she added that the cost of paid pregnancy leave will not be as
high as imagined, as not all pregnant workers will need to take leave for the
full nine months.

The C-L-A has said that under the pregnancy leave plan, working women would
be allowed to take up to one year of unpaid leave.

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Water Resources Agency officials are carrying out safety inspections on five
of southern Taiwan's largest reservoirs following last week's magnitude 6.4
earthquake.

According to the W-R-A .... the safety checks are looking into possible
cracks in the reservoirs' concrete embankment .. and such checks are carried
out after all earthquakes greater that magnitude 4.

Although the quake was not centered close to any of the reservoirs, the water
agency says the move is aimed at ensuring their safety.

The W-R-A says it does not expect the structure of any of the reservoirs to
have been affected.

The quake only affected some an area around some 20-kilometers northwest of
the Gaoxiong County town of Meinong.

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Subject: turkey
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A strong earthquake killed at least 51 villagers in a remote part of eastern
Turkey before dawn yesterday.

Aftershocks continued for hours while rescuers searched for trapped survivors.

People were sleeping in their mud-brick houses when the 6.0-magnitude quake
struck in a sparsely-populated area of high steppe in Eastern Anatolia.

Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes.

A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed about 18-thousand people in August
1999.

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Subject: gays-funerals
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The U-S Supreme Court is getting involved in the legal fight over anti-gay
protesters who show up at military funerals.

The AP's Ed Donahue has details.

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Subject: toyota
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Toyota Motor is seeking to discredit an outside study critical of its
electronic safety systems and says it has found no flaw with its throttle
controls.

The conclusions mark an attempt by the automaker to reassure consumers it has
safety issues under control as it works to win back sales seven weeks into a
recall crisis that has tarnished its reputation.

But in developments that underscore the continuing pressure on Toyota, a
Michigan judge has ordered the automaker's top two U.S. executives to appear
for a deposition ... and a congressional panel told it to surrender a 2006
memo from employees in Japan warning of risks to quality controls.

Toyota has recalled over 8 million vehicles worldwide for mechanical problems
with its accelerator assembly that can cause sticking and for the risk that
floormats could trap an accelerator.

Unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been linked to at
least five U.S. crash deaths since 2007.

Authorities are investigating 47 other crash deaths over the past decade.

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Subject: WEATHER --- AM ....
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rain islandwide .....

w/ a high of 13 in the north
17 in the center
and 21 in the south ......


Current temperatures:

Taipei ---- 12

Taichong --- 13

Gaoxiong --- 20

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