The Tai-Ex opened up 235-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
22,972 on turnover of $8.3-billion N-T.

The Ministry of Labor reports that Labor Funds grew by $20.9 billion NT in
October.

That brings total gains for 2024 to $93.91 billion NT.

The funds, managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds, are valued at $6.88 trillion
NT with a 14.96 percent return rate for the first 10 months of the year.

Key funds include the Labor Pension Fund, with a 14.59-percent return, and
the Labor Retirement Fund, at 17.92-percent.

The National Pension Insurance Fund also saw a strong performance, reaching a
16.01-percent return.

Over the past decade, these funds have delivered an average annual return of
6.7-percent.

Officials warned of global market uncertainty (不確定) due to interest rate
policies, uneven growth, and geopolitical tensions, but noted Taiwan’s stock
market remained solid in October.

The northeast monsoon is bringing cooler weather and rain to northern Taiwan
today.

Greater Taipei, Yilan, Hualien, and Matsu could see showers, with heavy rain
expected in northeastern mountains.

Other areas, including Penghu and Kinmen, will stay mostly dry and sunny.

Drivers in central and southern Taiwan should watch for thick morning fog
that’s reducing visibility (能見度) to under 200 meters in some places.

Strong winds are hitting coastal areas, including Taoyuan and Hsinchu, and
islands like Penghu and Matsu.

Air quality in western Taiwan is worsening due to pollution buildup.

Central and southern areas are under an “Orange Alert,” with some spots
reaching “Red Alert” levels.

(PB)

Israel has unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since
agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people.

The strikes came after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of
projectiles earlier on Monday as a warning over what it said were Israeli
truce (休戰) violations.

This was apparently the first time Hezbollah took aim at Israeli forces after
the 60-day ceasefire went into effect last week.

The increasingly fragile ceasefire aims to end more than a year of war
between Hezbollah and Israel — part of a wider regional conflict sparked by
the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

There's growing anger in Guinea after dozens were killed in a stampede at a
football match.

Officials say clashes broke out among football fans at the stadium after a
contested (有爭議的) goal.

Correspondent Nabil Ahmed Rufai reports.

Scientists and culture experts in New Zealand have begun the first-ever
dissection of a spade-toothed whale, the world's rarest whale species.

The creature, which washed up dead on a beach on New Zealand's South Island
in July, is only the seventh specimen (樣本) ever found.

None has ever been seen alive at sea.

Over the next week, researchers will study the 5-meter-long male at an
agricultural research center near the city of Dunedin.

Almost nothing is known about it but scientists, working with Maori cultural
experts, hope to answer some of the many lingering questions this week,
including where they live, what they eat, how they produce sound and how this
specimen died.

Taiwan stocks are up this morning, with the TAIEX index jumping over 350
points to 22-thousand-614, recovering key quarterly and six-month averages.

The rally was led by TSMC, which climbed back above $1,000 NT, rising $24 NT
to $1,020 NT.

Other blue-chip stocks also gained, with Hon Hai up $4 NT to $199.5 NT and
MediaTek rising to $1-thousand-285 NT.

Analysts say TSMC remains the main driver of the market, though concerns
linger (徘徊) over U.S. tariffs and tech bans targeting China.

They believe the AI trend continues to provide strong momentum but warn that
potential policy changes in the U.S. under Donald Trump could bring fresh
challenges.

(PB)

Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control has announced a free shipping incentive
(優惠) for home HIV tests until the end of the month...

The CDC said members of the general public are entitled to a free shipping
subsidy until Dec. 31 for Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) home tests
ordered through the program's official website.

The program was announced in observation of the international World AIDS Day
which falls on Dec. 1 since it was first introduced in 1988.

Those who purchase kits from the site have to just pay NT$200 for each test
kit, which can be delivered to partnering outlets such as FamilyMart and
7-Eleven.

CDC statistics show Taiwan experienced an increase of 834 HIV positive
patients from the beginning of the year until the end of October, which was a
4.8 percent increase compared to the same time frame last year.

The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched
airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the
country’s largest city of Aleppo.

The insurgents launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside
around Idlib, before moving toward neighboring Hama province.

On Sunday, government troops created what they called a “strong defensive
line” in northern Hama, according to Britain-based opposition war monitor
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, jets struck the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 15
people.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's office says Iran has pledged to help the
government counter the surprise offensive (進攻).

Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates
President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have also called Assad to
express their solidarity.

Canada’s ambassador to the United States says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and some key cabinet
nominees to understand that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the flow of
drugs and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.

Kirsten Hillman says Trudeau’s dinner with Trump on Friday was a very
important step in getting Trump to back away from threatened tariffs on all
products.

Trump threatened (威脅) to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico
if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across
their borders.

Hillman says Trudeau's message that the Canadian border is vastly different
from the Mexican border was really understood.