The Tai-Ex opened down 72-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
22,216 on turnover of $6.7-billion N-T.

Parts of Kaohsiung are suspending work and classes, due to heavy rain.

The city government announced that school and work in Mao-lin District, as
well as parts of Tao-yuan District will be cancelled today for safety.

Officials say a now-dissipated tropical depression has resulted in torrential
(滂沱) showers in mountainous areas, with risks of rockslides and overflowing
rivers.

(NS)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted Iran’s main
enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program,
as well as top nuclear scientists and officials, in an attack today.

He said Iran was working on a new plan to destroy Israel after its old plan,
failed.

Netanyahu said in an address on social media that the attacks will continue
“for as many days at it takes to remove this threat.”

Iranian state television says the head of Iran?s paramilitary Revolutionary
Guard is feared dead.

The report offered few other details about what happened to Gen. Hossein
Salami of the Guard.

The report on air added that one other top Guard officials, as well as two
nuclear scientists were also feared dead.

State television also reported the attack set the headquarters of Iran?s
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard ablaze.

Meanwhile

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral (單方面)
action against Iran” and that Israel advised the U.S. that it believed the
strikes were necessary for its self-defense.

Rubio also issued a warning to Iran that it should not target U.S. interests
or personnel.

The attack comes as tensions reached new heights over Tehran’s advancing
nuclear program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years
censured Iran over it not working with its inspectors.

Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the
country and swap out some centrifuges for more-advanced ones.

Both Iran and Israel closed their airspace.

Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising nearly 5% on the news.

North Korea says it has repaired its damaged second destroyer and launched it
into the water in the presence of leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said it launched (下水) the
destroyer — the second it built this year — off the east coast of the
country on Thursday.

KCNA cited Kim as saying the country’s two destroyers will play a big role
in improving the North Korean navy’s operational capabilities.

Kim reiterated previous claims that his naval buildup is a justified response
to perceived threats posed by the United States and its allies in Asia.

The French government is doubling down on plans to ban children from social
media.

The education minister says "we must protect our young people from
overexposure (過度曝露) to screens".

Ross Cullen reports.

The Tai-Ex opened down 107-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
22,362 on turnover of 5.1-billion N-T.

The market closed higher on Wednesday, as it broke through stiff technical
resistance ahead of the 240-day moving average of 22,300 points.

That came on the back of extended gains for Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing and amid investor optimism over US-China trade talks.

Former President Ma Ying-jeou is slated to attend the 17th Straits Forum in
the Chinese city of Xiamen early next week.

According to the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, he will be leading a group of
students from the Da Jiu Academy to the event as part of a two-week trip to
China.

Foundation C-E-O Xiao Xu-cen says after attending (出席) the forum, Ma and
the students will travel to Gansu Province for a series of cultural
activities and to learn about the Silk Road.

Xiao says the visit is aimed at reducing hostility (敵意) across the Taiwan
Strait by showing people on both sides the willingness of young people to
engage and interact with each other.

The Central Weather Administration says it's monitoring a tropical depression
that formed yesterday evening east of the Philippines.

It's currently located some 500-kilometers southeast of Eluanbi at the
island's southernmost tip and moving in a north-northwesterly direction at
33-kilometers-an-hour.

The weather administration says the weather pattern is moving towards Taiwan.

It's forecast to bring thunderstorms or heavy rain to much of the island.

A weather front brings rain, snow, and now deadly flooding to South Africa.

The AP's Jennifer King reports.

Kosovo says it has agreed to a request from the United States to temporarily
accept up to 50 third-country migrants a year.

The Balkan country’s government said “over the course of a year, up to
fifty individuals may be temporarily relocated, with the aim of facilitating
(促進) their safe return to their home country."

Immediately upon returning to office in January, President Donald Trump
started plans for mass deportation to make good on campaign promises to crack
down on illegal immigration.

It was not clear when Washington made the request or whether it made similar
(相似的) requests to other countries in the region.

Japan’s Princess Kako of Akishino, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, was welcomed
by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a private ceremony.

The younger daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko is at
the tail end of her 11-day trip to the South American nation.

The princess also spoke before lawmakers at Congress, and thanked Brazilians
for hosting (當宿主) Japanese immigants for more than a century.

Her trip also marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the
two countries.

The Tai-Ex opened up 134-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
22,376 on turnover of 7.5-billion N-T.

The market closed sharply higher on Tuesday on the back of investor optimism
over ongoing trade talks between the United States and China.

The bellwether electronics sector led the rally, boosted by a surge in tech
stocks on Wall Street.

In news from and about Taiwan this morning ...

K-M-T lawmakers have passed an amendment to Article 5 of the Armed Forces Pay
Act raising volunteer soldiers' monthly allowance to 30,000 N-T.

That's an increase of over 15,000 N-T, along with other benefits.

The monthly allowance will be granted to all volunteer military personnel,
regardless of rank, effective January 1 next year.

The amended article introduces new types of designated (指定的) allowances
for volunteer military personnel, with specific amounts to be determined by
the Cabinet.

And it requires all allowances to be adjusted accordingly whenever the
cumulative consumer price index reaches 3-per cent.

The Centers for Disease Control says the number of patients seeking treatment
for COVID stood at 70,182 last week - a sign that the case numbers are
slowing.

According to the C-D-C, the number of COVID related medical visits rose by
9.3-per cent between June 1 and 7 - which is much lower than the previous
week's rise of 49-per cent.

C-D-C spokesperson Philip Luo says the peak has passed earlier than the
originally predicted end of June or early July timeframe - which suggests the
epidemic may also end a couple of weeks earlier than the projected (預計的)
date of August 9.

An Omaha plant was raided (查抄，突然搜查) in what U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials say was likely the largest ”worksite
enforcement operation" in Nebraska since the start of President Trump's
second term.

Jennifer King reports

The International Monetary Fund had said it visited Syria for the first time
since 2009 as the country rebuilds after over a decade of conflict.

The IMF says Syria cannot afford hundreds of billions of dollars of damages
and losses from the conflict that first started as protests in 2011 against
Bashar Assad’s totalitarian government.

During its five-day visit this month, the IMF met with officials from Syria's
public and private sectors, notably (尤其) the finance minister and central
bank governor, and said Syria was willing to reform its economy and make its
outdated state institutions viable again.

In 2017, the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would cost about
$250 billion.

Since Assad was overthrown, some experts say that number could be as high as
$400 billion.

The Tai-Ex opened up 130-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
21,921 on turnover of 5.6-billion N-T.

The market closed higher on Monday, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing saw
its share price rebound to hit the 1,000 N-T mark for the first time in three
months.

The overall rise was led by the electronics index - which added 0.75-per cent
during the trading day.

Market watchers say investor attention was centered on T-S-M-C, while other
semiconductor and tech stocks were mixed.

In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

The Mainland Affairs Council says more than 3,100 spouses from China have
submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration.

The statement comes after the National Immigration Agency issued a notice to
spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household
registration in April.

The notice stated that spouses from China had until June 30 to renounce
(放棄) their Chinese household registration or their Taiwanese household
registration would be revoked.

However, people having difficulties obtaining such a document have been
granted an extension of the deadline or may submit a written affidavit in
lieu of (以...替代) documentation.

A total of 2,000 have so far applied for postponements or submitted an
affidavit.

The New Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has indicted 23 people for their
roles in exporting garbage disguised as plastic waste.

The prosecutors' office says evidence suggests the fraud ring netted (獲得)
more than 49-million N-T in illicit gains.

According to the indictment, environmental waste management firms collected
general waste and stored it at sites in New Taipei and Changhua County.

The waste was then transported to Kaohsiung, where it was compressed,
repackaged and disguised as plastic waste and then shipped to Southeast Asian
countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam for sale.

The suspects have all been charged with violating the Waste Disposal Act.

Trump's new travel ban is taking effect as tensions escalate over immigration
enforcement in the US.

AP's Julie Walker reports.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says, Canada will meet NATO's military
spending goals by early next year.

Carney also said that Canada would diversify defense spending away from the
US.

The announcement means that Canada will achieve NATO's spending target of 2%
of GDP five years earlier than previously planned.

Carney says, Canada's military equipment has aged, and only one out of every
four submarines is seaworthy (適航的).

NATO figures show that Canada is estimated to be spending 1.33% of GDP on
military spending in 2023.