The Tai-Ex opened down 6-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
10,821 on turnover of 1.4-billion N-T.

The market closed lower Wednesday amid renewed concerns about trade friction
between the United States and China following recent downbeat comments on the
issue by President Donald Trump.

Selling focused on the bellwether electronics sector, as investors locked in
recent gains, while old economy and financial stocks generally moved lower in
line with the broader market.

 

(Photo by Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

A U-S judge has sentenced Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to life
in prison plus 30 years.

Guzman was found guilty of 10 charges, including drug trafficking and money
laundering, by a federal court in New York in February.

He escaped a Mexican jail through a tunnel in 2015, but was later arrested.

He was extradited to the U-S in 2017.

Guzman is a former head of the Sinaloa cartel, which U-S officials say was
America's biggest supplier of drugs.
 

(Photo by Robert D. Ward)

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak says he has "cut all ties" with
Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier jailed on sex-trafficking charges.

Speaking at a press conferance, Barak called Epstein's deeds "horrible" and
said he thought they were a one-time incident.

The former Israeli leader is making a return to political life lin a bid to
unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - and he received some 2-million U-S
dollars in grants last decade from the Wexner Foundation, of which Epstein
was a trustee.

Barak has sought to distance himself from Epstein, but Netanyahu has
repeatedly attacked his political rival over their connection.
 

(Photo by CWB)

The Central Weather Bureau has lifted its land warning for Tropical Storm
Danas - as it is now continuing to move away from the island into the East
China Sea.

Danas is currently located some 320-kilometers south-southeast of Oulunbi at
the island's southern most tip and is moving in a northerly direction at
speeds averaging 28-kilometers-an-hour.

The storm is still packing sustained wind speeds of 65-kilometers-an-hour,
with gusts of up to 90-kilometers-an-hour and has a radius of 150-kilometers.

A sea warning remains in affect for the Bashi Channel as well as waters off
the island's east and northeast coasts.

Based on the weather bureau's current projected path, Danas will continue to
move in a northerly direction over the coming 48-hours before veering in
northeasterly direction to pass through the Korea Strait.

However, extremely heavy rain alerts are still in affect for Chiayi, Tainan,
Kaohsiung and Pingtung.

While heavy rain alerts have been issued for Yilan, Hualien and Taitung as
well as mountainous areas of Nantou, Taichung, Miaoli, Hsinchu, Taoyuan and
New Taipei.
 

(Photo by Wind92)

The first poll taken after the K-M-T confirmed Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu as
its presidential candidate shows him trailing President Tsai Ing-wen in a
two-way race.

It also indicates that the entry of independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je into
the race would tighten the gap between the two front-runners.

The telephone-based poll conducted by the Cross-Strait Policy Association
shows that Tsai has a support rating of 45.9-per cent, while Han's support
rating stands at 39-per cent.

The results of the poll when Ko is factored in shows that Tsai's support
rating stands at 36.3-per cent, Han's is 33.7-per cent and the Taipei mayor
sees a support rating of 22.3-per cent.

Cross-Strait Policy Association Chairman Tan Yao-nan says the results
illustrate the role an independent candidate such as Ko could play in the
race.
 

(Model of FormoSat-7, photo by Hsin-Jen Hsu)

The National Space Organization says the FormoSat-7 satellite has sent back
its first batch of data from space - and that data will be made public within
seven months.

According to the organization, FormoSat-7 transmitted information about the
Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere.

The National Space Organization says it will continue to conduct tests to
improve the radio occultation techniques, radio frequency beacon and ion
velocity meter to maximize the efficiency of the satellite.

FormoSat 7 is the second satellite constellation to have bee jointly
developed by Taiwan and the United States, was launched at Kennedy Space
Center in Florida on June 24.

It replaced FormoSat-3 to collect meteorological, ionospheric and climate
data.

The space organization has Formsat-7 will become the "most accurate barometer
in space" able to detect typhoons, monsoons and other severe weather
patterns.

 

(Photo by Seanchang9601)

The K-M-T's Central Standing Committee has passed a proposal to nominate
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu as the party's 2020 presidential candidate.

The committee has also voted to lift a rule that had required any K-M-T
president to double as the party's chairperson.

That proposal means current chairman Wu Den-yih will be able to complete his
term and not have to step down if Han is elected president in January's
election.

Wu's term as K-M-T chairman expires on May 20 of next year.

The two proposals will now be submitted for review and ratification at the
KMT's national convention, which will take place on July 28 at the Banciao
Stadium in New Taipei.
 

The Tai-Ex opened down 24-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
10,861 on turnover of 1.5-billion N-T.

The market closed slightly higher Tuesday, as select electronics heavyweights
continued momentum from a session earlier and offset the impact of losses
suffered by non-tech stocks.

However, analysts say turnover remained moderate as many investors opted to
stay on the sidelines during the ongoing earnings season both here in Taiwan
and on Wall Street.

 

(Photo by European Parliament)

Ursula von der Leyen was confirmed as the European Commission president
Tuesday, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

The outgoing German defense minister scraped through with barely nine votes
to spare in a cliffhanger vote in the European Parliament.

Von der Leyen will replace Jean-Claude Juncker when his term expires at the
end of October.

Von der Leyen has promised a greener, gender-equal Europe, starting with full
gender-equality in her team of 28 commissioners.
 

(Photo by Wind92)

President Tsai Ing-wen is visiting St. Vincent and the Grenadines today -- on

the third stop of her 12-day visit to Taiwan's four Caribbean allies.

Tsai was received by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on here arrival at Argyle
International Airport in the capital Kingstown on Tuesday.

She is scheduled to address parliament and oversee the signing of bilateral
accords on the fight against transnational crime and financial cooperation
during her stay in the country,

Tsai is next scheduled to fly to St. Lucia, where she'll stay for three days
on the last leg of her state visit to the Caribbean.

She will return to Taiwan on July 22 following a transit stop in the U-S city
of Denver.
 

(Photo by Wind92)

President Tsai Ing-wen is touting the tourism as being a key development
industry for St. Kitts and Nevis.

And according to Tsai, she believes Taiwan's mature tourism industry is in a
unique position to share its experiences and explore business opportunities
in the Caribbean island nation, as both sides work to promote the growth and
sustainable development of tourism.

Tsai made the statements during a visit to the Brimstone Hill National Park
Fortress on the island of St. Kitts.

The park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tsai will travel to St. Vincent and the Grenadines today before heading to
St. Lucia tomorrow.

She will return to Taiwan on July 22 following a transit stop in the U-S city
of Denver.
 

(Photo by Presidential Communications Operations Office)

The Philippines is considering cutting diplomatic ties with Iceland.

The move comes after Iceland spearheaded a resolution that asked the United
Nation's top human rights body to look into the thousands of deaths of
suspects under his anti-drug crackdown.

A spokesperson for the Philippine President says Rodrigo Duterte "is
seriously considering cutting diplomatic relations with Iceland" for
initiating what Manila is calling the "grotesquely one-sided, outrageously
narrow, and maliciously partisan" resolution.

However, human rights groups have lauded the resolution as crucial to helping
end the drug killings and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
 

Environmental protesters have blocked roads in London and four other British
cities in a new wave of demonstrations demanding faster action against
climate change.

Hundreds of supporters of the group Extinction Rebellion blocked the street
outside London's Royal Courts of Justice and called for charges to be
dropped against more than 1,000 people arrested during climate protests
earlier this year.

Protests also took place in Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol and Leeds.

Britain aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but Extinction
Rebellion wants it done by 2025.
 

The Tai-Ex opened down 11-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
10,865 on turnover of 1.8-billion N-T.

The market staged a technical rebound to close up Monday on the back of gains
posted on Wall Street at the end of last week.

The electronics sector served as a driver of the gains on the broader market,
while non-tech stocks appeared mixed and the financial sector ended down.



 

A leaky valve caused a SpaceX crew capsule to explode during a ground test
back in April, destroying the spacecraft and dealing a blow to the company's
effort to launch astronauts.

The company announced the preliminary results of its accident investigation
Monday.

SpaceX's crew Dragon capsule had just returned, minus astronauts, from a
successful test flight to the International Space Station and was undergoing
a ground test April 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The abort-system thrusters were 100 milliseconds away from firing, when the
spacecraft exploded and was destroyed.
 

(Photo by Official SpaceX Photos)

Hans Koenigsmann, a SpaceX vice president, said a check valve allowed a slug
of liquid oxidizer to leak into the high-pressure abort system.

The titanium valve ignited, leading to the blast and according to
Koenigsmann, the check valves will be replaced with more reliable disks.

NASA astronauts have not launched from the U.S. since the space shuttle
program ended in 2011.

Instead, NASA has been paying tens of millions of dollars per seat on Russian
Soyuz spacecraft, to get astronauts to and from the space station.

SpaceX, meanwhile, has been launching space station supplies for NASA since
2012.


 

(Photo by dilmarousseff)

Terry Gou has congratulated Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu on his K-M-T
presidential primary win.

However, the former Hon Hai chairman is refusing to say whether or not he
plans to leave the K-M-T and run as an independent candidate in January's
presidential election.

Gou sent his congratulations to Han via a press release sent from his
campaign office after canceling a planned press conferance at the last
minute.
 

(Photo by Seanchang9601)

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu has won the K-M-T's 2020 presidential primary poll
-- taking 44.8-per cent of the landline phone ballots.

Former Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou has placed second - with 27.7-per cent of
the ballot.

The K-M-T was set to announce the party's primary poll winner at a press
conferance later this hour - but reports say the party opted to bring forward
the announcement as news of Han's victory was already leaking to local media
outlets.

Han is set to address the press in the coming minutes.

Gou cancelled a planned press conferance earlier this morning.

While former New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu will be holding his own press event at
noon, at which he will respond to the polling results.
 

Taiwan has finished the 2019 Summer Universiade in seventh place in the gold
medals table - between Italy in sixth place and Mexico in eighth place.

Taiwan's Universiade team won nine gold, 13 silver and 10 Bronze medals in
Naples.

And the total count means Taiwan also finished in seventh place in the
overall medals table between China in sixth place and France in eighth place.

Japan topped the gold medals table in Naples - with 33 golds.

While Japan and Russia were joint top in the overall medals table.

The next Universiade, in 2021, will be held on in Chengdu, China.
 

The Tai-Ex opened down 4-points this morning from Friday's close, at 10,819
on turnover of 2-billion N-T.

The market closed lower on Friday as investors locked in earlier gains caused
by a higher Wall Street amid hopes that the U-S Federal Reserve will kick off
an interest rate cut cycle later in July.

Selling in select tech heavyweights in the Apple supply chain pushed down the
broader market into negative territory, while the semiconductor sector
remained resilient, preventing the broader market from falling further.
 

(Photo by Artemas Liu)

Former Sunflower student movement leader Lin Fei-fan will take up a new post
today, as one the D-P-P's three deputy secretary generals.

Lin accepted the post from D-P-P Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia.

President Tsai Ing-wen and Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu met
with Lin last week to voice their support for his accepting the post.

The Presidential Office is dismissing reports that several D-P-P heavyweights
are voicing their opposition to Lin's appointment.
 

(Photo by Wind92)

President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a speech at Columbia University during her
closely watched visit to New York, calling for international support for a
"free and democratic Taiwan" as the world faces growing threats from
authoritarian forces.

Despite protest chants by Chinese groups outside the venue, Tsai gave her
16-minute speech without interruption at a closed-door event at Columbia
University, where she also conversed with political science professor Andrew
Nathan and took questions from the roughly 100 students in attendance.

The event took place on the next-to-last day of Tsai's visit to New York that
will span three days before heading to the Caribbean for state visits to four
of Taiwan's diplomatic allies. She will also stop in Denver on her way back
to Taiwan.

Citing the case of Hong Kong, where young people are taking to the streets to
fight for democratic freedoms, Tsai said the region's experience under
China's "one country, two systems" model goes to show that authoritarianism
and democracy cannot coexist.