Police in Taipei said they're investigating a threatening note written in
English found on the memorial wall (紀念牆) at Eslite Bookstore's Nanxi
branch.

The statement comes after a member of the public reported discovering the
message on the memorial wall last night.

According to Taipei Police, officers have been reviewing closed circuit
television (閉路電視) footage from the area and are actively investigating
the suspect's identity and related information.

Images and text posted on social media show the note reads - "I will kill
more people in the next few days."

The memorial wall outside the Eslite Bookstore's Nanxi branch appeared after
members of the public began placing flowers and candles there following last
Friday's deadly knife and smoke bomb attacks.

The K-M-T and the Taiwan People's Party have unveiled the "Taiwan Future
Accounts" - which they say is aimed at providing government-funded investment
accounts for children that could be claimed in full (全額領取) on turning 18.

According to the opposition parties, the policy will help ease financial
pressure on parents and help stop the island's declining birthrate.

Under the draft version of the plan (草案), the government will be required
to establish accounts for children aged 12 and below with valid household
registration (有設籍) in Taiwan.

The government will put an initial sum (最開始的金額) of 50,000 N-T in each
account, followed by an additional 10,000 N-T annually until a child turns
12, which will be invested in index funds on Taiwan's stock market.

The draft states that on turning 18, the owner of the account will receive
the accumulated funds (累積的金額) to help pay for higher education, start a
business, put towards a down payment on a house, or invest.

K-M-T Chair Cheng Li-wun says the funds for the program would be overseen
(監督) by a Taiwan Future Accounts Fund Management Committee established by
the government.

While T-P-P Chairman Huang Kuo-chang is acknowledging (承認) that the
inspiration for the proposal came from the "Trump Accounts" program - which
was recently announced in the U-S.

The Tai-Ex opened higher today, gaining 71 points from Wednesday's close at
28-thousand 443, on turnover of $5.8 billion N-T.

The market ended up on Wednesday as shares continued their momentum (動能)
from a session earlier.

Buying was sparked by a rally (上漲) on Wall Street, after reports showed
better-than-expected GDP growth for the third quarter in the U-S.

Turning to world news...

More than a hundred suspected members of the Islamic State group are in
Turkish police custody (拘留).

They were said to have been planning attacks against Christmas and New Year's
celebrations.

Mike Hempen reports.

Britain's King Charles III has urged people to focus on kindness instead of
conflict in his annual Christmas address.

Speaking from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, the king highlighted the
importance of companionship (陪伴) and kindness, especially during uncertain
times.

The speech, which concluded with a Christmas carol sung by a Ukrainian choir
(合唱團), comes as European leaders rally support for Ukraine.

Charles, who is the titular (名義上的) head of the Church of England, chose
Westminster Abbey as the site of his Christmas Day broadcast to underscore
the theme of pilgrimage (朝聖之旅) that ran through the speech.

The Tai-Ex opened up 73-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 28,384
on turnover of $4.9-billion N-T.

Analysts say with foreign institutional investors absent, major local
investors seized the opportunity to control the session by buying TSMC, after
a U.S. tech rally.

TSMC's gains offset losses suffered by other tech heavyweights.

And when many large-cap tech stocks trade in weakness, local investors parked
their money in smaller tech stocks.

Taipei Metro is asking the public not to leave food or drinks at a memorial
space for victims of a random knife attack last week.

The memorial located at Taipei Main Station Exit M7 honors 57-year-old Yu
Jia-chang, who was killed on December 19th while attempting to stop the
attacker.

Transit officials say the hallway near the exit is narrow and they are asking
that visitors only leave flower bouquets.

Workers will inspect the site daily and remove any food, drinks, or
inappropriate (不當) messages after the station closes each night.

Taipei Metro also says says it plans to build a permanent monument to
recognize Yu's bravery.

The Taoyuan City Government also announced it will honor Yu by enshrining him
in the Taoyuan Martyrs' Shrine.

(NS)

The Minister of Digital Affairs says Taiwan will add two international and
three domestic undersea communications cables as part of its efforts to
strengthen communications resilience.

Minister Lin Yi-jing says the new undersea cables will be hardened with an
"armor-like" protective layer, so they will not be easily damaged.

According to Lin, the planned undersea cables are part of the ministry's
"three-dimensional defensive communications network" initiative, which aims
to strengthen Taiwan's communication from land, air and sea.

The MInister says the initiative also includes the addition of an Amazon
low-earth-orbit satellite constellation and the inauguration of a high-orbit
geosynchronous (地球同步) satellite being built by American manufacturer
Astranis.

On land, the ministry will plan disaster-resilient base stations, expand its
existing fleet of vehicles with satcom-on-the-move capability, and procure a
large number of mobile diesel generators.

The US Supreme Court has issued a preliminary ruling blocking the Trump
administration from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago.

The decision is a rare setback for the administration from the
conservative-leaning court, which has largely sided with President Trump so
far in testing the limits (試探底線) of executive power.

Ira Spitzer reports.

The Grand Egyptian Museum has begun reassembling (重新組裝) a boat belonging
to Pharaoh Khufu in its exhibition hall.

The cedarwood vessel, one of two found with King Khufu, started coming
together on Tuesday as visitors watched.

The project is expected to take around four years, according to the museum.

King Khufu ruled over 4,500 years ago and built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The museum, located near Cairo, houses nearly 50-thousand artifacts.

Experts believe the boats were used for Khufu’s funeral or his afterlife
journey.

The Tai-Ex opened up 104-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
28,253 on turnover of $6.4-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan closed sharply higher Monday, led by the electronics sector,
after artificial intelligence-related stocks surged in the United States at
the end of last week.

Momentum continued yesterday as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing pushed the broader market ahead, and memory chip suppliers
continued moving upwards due to a supply shortage.

Buying also spread to non-tech stocks with the electric machinery industry in
focus, providing more support to the Taiex.

Authorities are intensifying (強化) actions against online threats, following
Friday's deadly knife and smoke bomb attacks in Taipei, which killed 3.

Taichung prosecutors say a man was ordered detained and held incommunicado
after he posted online referencing plans for large-scale attacks.

Investigators searching his home and seized his phone.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau said that about 20 online posts involving
threats or calls for indiscriminate attacks had been identified nationwide as
of Sunday.

In Hualien's Yuli township, a man has been fined after his pet ostrich
escaped its enclosure and was spotted running among motorists on Provincial
Highway 9.

Authorities in the township say that one officer was conducting (進行) an
"online patrol" yesterday morning when they came across photos of the loose
ostrich on social media.

Officers were able to find the owner, surnamed Huang, who said he usually
kept the bird in an enclosure.

But yesterday morning, the bird was apparently scared by something and took
off running down the highway...

running a red light and continuing south to a factory near Yuli Senior High
School.

All in all, it ran about 2.5 kilometers.

After questioning Huang, police issued him a citation under the law...

which stipulates a fine of 300-600 NT.

Denmark has summoned the US ambassador after Donald Trump's appointment of a
special envoy to Greenland.

The US president has repeatedly expressed (表達) interest in taking over the
island, angering the Danish government, which has controlled Greenland for
centuries.

Ira Spitzer reports.

Nigerians have welcomed back 130 children and teachers who were released
after being seized in one of the largest mass abductions (綁架) in the
country’s history.

Some of the children appeared to be malnourished or in shock on Monday as
they arrived at a government ceremony.

Police said they were freed Sunday, a month after gunmen stormed their
Catholic school in Niger state’s Papiri community in a predawn attack.

Authorities said plans were underway to reunite the children with their
families before Christmas.

Officials did not say whether a ransom — common in such abductions — had
been paid.

A suspected cyberattack has knocked France’s national postal service and its
banking arm offline during the busy Christmas season.

La Poste said Monday the attack disrupted package deliveries and online
payments, but customer data was not impacted (受影響).

At a Paris post office, employees turned away frustrated (惱怒的，不滿意的)
customers trying to send or retrieve packages.

Customers of the bank were blocked from using the application to approve
payments or conduct other banking services.

The bank redirected approvals to text messages.

It said teams are working to resolve the situation quickly.