The Tai-Ex opened sharply lower by 665-points this morning from yesterday's
close, at 22-207 on turnover of 18.8-billion N-T.

The market plunged today after returning from two days off due to Typhoon
Gaemi. TSMC's share price plunged 6.5-percent, testing the quarterly moving
average.

This comes after US tech stocks also took a significant hit over the typhoon
holiday, particularly for stocks in the artificial intelligence sector,
including NVIDIA, AMD and Supermicro.

Typhoon Gaemi has caused widespread flooding across Taiwan - as residents in
some areas have been struggling to pump water out of their homes and places
of business.

Heavy flooding has been reported in several areas of Kaohsiung, including
Renwu, Gushan, Fongshan, Cianjin and Dashe districts.

According to the Central Weather Administration, as of 5PM Thursday,
Kaohsiung's Maolin District had received 112-centinmeters of
rainfall.

That was followed by Sandimen in Pingtung, which has recorded 94-centinmeters
of rainfall and Chiayi County's Zhuqi Township, which saw 93--centinmeters of
rainfall.

Flood waters in Yilan County's Yuanshan Township had reached 2-meters -
prompting the deployment (調動) of rescue boats to evacuate 13 residents
early Thurday morning.

US Vice President Kamala Harris says the world cannot become "numb" to
suffering in Gaza, speaking after meeting the Israeli prime minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu also held talks with President Joe Biden on Thursday,
where they discussed ongoing (正在進行的) efforts to secure a ceasefire deal.

He is expected to meet with former President Donald Trump on Friday - who is
vying to return to the White House in November.

Sally Patterson has more.

Heavy rain has hit northern Japan, triggering floods and landslides,
disrupting transportation systems and sending hundreds of residents to take
shelter at safer grounds.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued emergency warnings of heavy rain for
several municipalities in the Yamagata and Akita prefecture, where warm and
humid air was flowing.

According to emergency officials, one person is missing in Akita prefecture,
after being hit by a landslide at a road construction site.

Officials predicted up to 20 centimeters of more rainfall in the region
through this evening, urging residents to remain cautious (謹慎).

Finance ministers from leading rich and developing nations are meeting in Rio
de Janeiro to discuss a global tax on the super-rich.

The proposal before the G20 participants would require individuals with over
$1 billion in total assets to pay the equivalent of 2% of their wealth in
income tax.

Brazil, which currently holds the Group of 20 presidency. A Brazilian
ministry official has said France, Spain, and South Africa have expressed
support for the proposal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday the U.S. doesn't support
it and that tax policy is hard to coordinate globally.

A study commissioned by Brazil finds that billionaires currently pay the
equivalent (相等的) of 0.3% of their wealth in taxes.

The report said a 2% tax would raise up to $250 billion per year globally
from about 3,000 individuals, money that could fund public services such as
education and health care as well as the fight against climate change.

The outer bands of Typhoon Gaeimi has begun impacting Taiwan... striking at
eastern parts of the island, north of Taichung and south of Chiayi.

The storm is currently located 210 kilometers southeast of Yilan, moving west
north west at a speed of about 14 kilometers an hour.

The Central Weather Administration says that based on its latest projections,
Gaeimi is likely to make landfall at near Yilan or Hualien later tonight--
and its impact is expected to be at its most severe.

Meteorologist (氣象專家) Liu Yuqi is warning that the system is moving slowly
and could swing (搖擺) as it approaches land..

Meanwhile Heavy rain has been reported overnight across much of the island.

The CWA has issued extremely heavy rain for the entire Central Mountain range
areas from Yi-lan down to Pingdong, which means rain could reach 500
millimeters within 24 hours..

On Yi-lan's Taipingshan, the accumulated rainfall so far today has already
reached beyond 240 millimeters.

There's a heavy or torrential rain alert for the rest the island.

All of the rain advisories will remain in effect through tonight.

The Ministry of National Defense says troops participating in this week's Han
Kuang exercise are now also on standby to assist with typhoon disaster
prevention and relief
operations.

According to the ministry, Typhoon Gaemi has disrupted (干擾) some elements
of this week's drills and several have been canceled - which has freed-up
personnel for other duties.

Defense officials say they are now coordinating with the Central Emergency
Operation Center (中央災害應變中心) to ensure that troops are ready to work
with local governments and emergency services if needed.

The defense ministry also says that troops are both ready and willing to
carry out disaster prevention and relief
operations to ensure public safety.

U-S President Joe Biden will speak to the US on Wednesday night from the Oval
Office about his decision not to seek reelection

The prime time address will mark his first public appearance and speech since
announcing on Sunday he was suspending (中止) his presidential campaign.

Sagher Meghani reports.

The U.N. envoy for Yemen is warning that recent developments in the Red Sea,
Israel and inside the country “show the real danger of a devastating
region-wide escalation (整個區域情勢恐毀滅性地升高).”

Hans Grundberg also pointed to a glimmer of hope, saying that Yemen’s
warring parties informed him "that they have agreed on a path to de-escalate
(降低情勢) a cycle of measures and countermeasures (對策) which had sought to
tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.”

Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that seven months of
escalation reached “a new and dangerous level last week” including a Houthi
drone attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli retaliatory attacks (報復性的攻擊).

Malaysia has evacuated 123 of its citizens from Bangladesh in response to
violent unrest that has killed dozens of people.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution greeted the evacuees (被撤離的人), including
80 students, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after they landed
Tuesday on a chartered (包機) AirAsia plane.

Officials say more than 50 Malaysians opted to stay in the country due to
work or study.

A contentious (爭議性的) system for allocating government jobs has triggered
violent protests in Bangladesh, with clashes between police and mainly
student protesters reportedly killing more than 100 people.

Officials say at least 40 Malaysian students, five Malaysian army officials
and 10 pilots chose to remain in Bangladesh.

The Tai-Ex opened up 257-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
22,514 on turnover of 7.8-billion N-T.

The market plunged more than 600-points on Monday as selling was seen among
large cap stocks across the board following the news that U-S President Joe
Biden will not be seeking re-election.

Premier Cho Jung-tai says the Cabinet has approved a pay rise for civil
servants, military personnel and public school teachers.

According to the premier, the public sector workers will be getting a 3-per
cent hike next year.

Cho said the Cabinet believes that civil servants, military personnel and
public school teachers should benefit from the growth in Taiwan's economy -
which is in recovery mode (模式).

Cho also said he hopes the wage hike by the government will prompt the
private sector to raise salaries for employees and strengthen Taiwan's
competitiveness.

Outgoing top European Union representative Filip Grzegorzewski has been
awarded a presidential honor for his contribution to promoting relations
between the bloc and Taiwan during his five-year tenure.

Speaking at a ceremony after being presented with the Order of Brilliant Star
with Grand Cordon by President Lai Ching-te, Grzegorzewski described Taiwan
as "a land of good fortune."

According to the outgoing E-U envoy, his top memories from his five-year
stint included participating in the 13-hour Ironman triathlon in Penghu,
summiting Jade Mountain, swimming across Sun Moon Lake and biking around
Taiwan's coastline.

Lai said he awarded Grzegorzewski the honor to highlight (強調) the envoy's
"outstanding contribution to deepening Taiwan-EU relations."

US authorities have released a video showing a white police officer fatally
shooting a Black woman, in a case sparking outrage across the country.

The video includes body-cam footage (一段影片) from the sheriffs who
responded to Sonya Massey's home in the US state of Illinois on July 6.

It has reignited national debate about police use of force and racial
discrimination.

Sally Patterson reports.

The EU's top diplomat says Hungary won’t be allowed to host a strategic EU
meeting next month.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the upcoming foreign and defense
ministers’ meeting would take place in Brussels instead of Budapest.

The change may be due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s surprise,
self-proclaimed (自稱) “peace mission” trips to Moscow and Beijing aimed at
brokering an end to the war in Ukraine.

EU partners overwhelmingly (壓倒性地) saw that as undermining their support
for Kyiv.

Hungary , which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, blasted the
decision.

It had expected to host the annual late August gathering.