Episode Details

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

Tai-Ex opening
The Tai-Ex opened up 28-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 17,541
on turnover of $3.2-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan continued to feel the pinch as a result of uncertainties
created by the presidential election, giving up earlier gains.

Large cap tech stocks came under pressure, driving the broader market lower
as a whole, while buying rotated to "military concept stocks" amid worries
over cross-strait ties as well as shipping stocks which were boosted by hopes
of growing freight rates (海運運費率) in the wake of the crisis in the Red
Sea.


Former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-teh dies at age 83
Democracy movement leader and activist Shih Ming-teh has died at the age of
83,

The Taipei Veterans General Hospital says Shih passed away early this
morning, and his family confirms that today was also his birthday.

Shih was jailed for years in the 60s and 70s for sedition, after calling for
Taiwan's independence from China, and again between 1980 and 1990 for his
role in the Formosa Incident, in which the then authoritarian Kuomintang
regime (政府，政權) cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in
Kaohsiung.

He was also the founder of the Shih Ming-Te Foundation, a nongovernmental
organization based in New Taipei's Xizhi District aimed at promoting the
advancement of ethnic reconciliation, national freedom, equality, democracy
and human rights.


India Opposition Party Begins March Ahead of National Vote
Thousands of members of India’s main opposition Congress party and its
supporters have begun a 2-month cross-country march ahead of a crucial
national vote this year.

The march is led by Rahul Gandhi, scion (繼乘人) of the influential Gandhi
family.

This is the second time the Congress party has hit the road in the last two
years to rally support for elections.

India is expected to vote in a national election in April or May, and the
opposition is scrambling to put up a fight against Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Modi and his party remain popular after nearly a decade in power and many
surveys suggest he will win a third consecutive term this year.


US Texas Officials Accused of Blocking Migrant Rescue
The Department of Homeland Security is accusing Texas officials of blocking
federal agents who were trying to save a migrant woman and two children who
drowned.

AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports.


Russia Former Mayor to Fight
Russian local media say a disgraced (蒙羞) former mayor convicted over
bribery has had his prison sentence cut short after signing a contract to
fight with Russia’s military in Ukraine.

Oleg Gumenyuk, who served as mayor of the far eastern city of Vladivostok
between 2018 and 2021, was convicted last year of accepting bribes worth over
$400-thousand US dollars and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

However, his lawyers say he was released after agreeing to fight in Ukraine.

He said that the politician’s whereabouts were unknown, but that the former
mayor was instructed to report to his military unit on Dec. 22nd.

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 _____.