EZ News 03/13/24

EZ News

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News.

Tai-Ex opening

The Tai-Ex opened up 110-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

20,025 on turnover of $10.5-billion N-T.

No plans for absentee voting for elections in Taiwan: Premier

Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said the government has no plans at present

to allow for absentee voting.

Opposition parties in Taiwan have been pushing for absentee voting after the

recent presidential election saw the second lowest voter turnout in history.

Chen said election systems would need to be strengthened and further planning

and research would be needed before absentee voting could be implemented in

Taiwan.

Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang echoed Chen's sentiments, stating that while

absentee voting could be suitable for referendums, it poses challenges for

regular elections.

In February, a draft bill allowing absentee voting for referendums was

approved, but it does not apply to citizens living abroad.

The opposition KMT proposed extending this measure to presidential elections

and including mail-in ballots, but ruling DPP lawmakers expressed concerns

about potential interference (干涉) from China.

Turnout in recent elections in Taiwan has been declining, with factors such

as the inconvenience of traveling to vote contributing to this trend.

(CNA-IG)

IAEA Inspects Discharge at Fukushima

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says he’s satisfied with

Japan’s handling of the release of treated, nuclear contaminated wastewater

from Fukushima.

He is inspecting the discharge (釋放) site on Wednesday, his first visit

since Japan began the project in August.

Chris Gilbert reports.

UN Food Agency Sounds Alarm for Haiti

The U.N. food agency’s director in Haiti says that 4 million people face

“acute food insecurity” and one million of them are one step away from

famine.

Jean-Martin Bauer told a virtual press conference that he’s “ringing the

alarm bell” because the recent increase in gang violence has made a very bad

situation even worse and displaced (流離失所) an additional 15-thousand

people — just over the first weekend in March in the capital,

Port-au-Prince.

He says that brings the total number of displaced people in Haiti to over

360-thousand, and the U.N. says half of them are children.

Romania President to Enter Race as NATO Leader

Romania’s president says he will enter the race to become the next leader of

the 32-nation NATO military alliance, emphasizing his country’s proximity to

Ukraine and the threat from Russia.

President Klaus Iohannis wants to succeed Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg,

who has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014 and has made clear he

will not be staying.

Romania, a NATO member since 2004, borders Ukraine and has played an

increasingly prominent (著名的) role in the alliance throughout Russia’s

full-scale invasion.

NATO officials and envoys want the nomination for Stoltenberg's successor

wrapped up by the end of April.

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 _____.