The Taiwan Stock Exchange opened 81 points lower this morning.

Opening turnover reached 6.77 billion N-T dollars.

Taiwan shares followed other Asian markets lower as oil prices rose above 100
U-S dollars a barrel amid growing conflict (衝突) in the Gulf.

U-S stocks also fell overnight as higher oil prices worried investors.

The S&P 500 lost 1.2 percent, the Dow fell 1 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped
2.2 percent.

The Directorate General of Highways says traffic controls (交通管制) may be
introduced on five highway sections.

These include the Southern Cross-Island Highway and the East Coast Highway.

The announcement comes after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea
warning for Tropical Storm Noul.

Noul is the 12th tropical storm of this year's season.

The highways agency also activated its emergency response team (緊急應變小組) at 7
this morning.

Officials said mountain roads could become blocked (受阻的、無法通行的) or damaged
during the storm.

Traffic controls will be changed based on the latest weather reports and road
conditions.

The Mainland Affairs Council says it will cancel the Taiwan citizenship
(公民身分、國籍) of a China-born woman convicted (被判有罪的) of working for Beijing in
Taiwan.

Zhou Man-zhi became a Taiwan citizen through marriage in 2004.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court confirmed her eight-year prison sentence
(監禁刑期) for breaking the National Security Act.

The court found that Zhou tried to develop two groups for marriage immigrants
in Taiwan.

It said she acted for China-based organizations controlled by the Chinese
Communist Party.

U-S President Donald Trump says a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement
(合作協議) with Saudi Arabia can only move forward if the kingdom establishes
relations (建立關係) with Israel.

Saudi Arabia has long refused to join the agreements without a clear path
toward an independent (獨立) Palestinian state.

Sagher Meghani reports.

Human Rights Watch is calling on India's government to investigate police
actions against student protesters in New Delhi.

The group says security forces used unnecessary and excessive force (過度武力),
including tear gas (催淚瓦斯) and batons, against mostly peaceful protesters.

The criticism comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has offered
to hold talks with protest leaders.

The protesters are demanding that the country's education minister resign
(辭職).

India is now ranked as the country with the highest risk of civil unrest
(社會動盪) on a major international index.

The number of people joining protests has more than doubled over the past
year.

Neha Poonia reports from New Delhi.

Diplomats are preparing to vote on whether to remove the chief prosecutor
(首席檢察官) of the International Criminal Court.

The vote follows findings of sexual misconduct (性行為不當).

The prosecutor is also banned from entering the U-S and is under U-S
sanctions.

The sanctions (制裁) are linked to the court's investigation of Israeli
officials over the conflict in Gaza.

Molly Quell has the latest.

The Tai-Ex opened 73 points higher this morning at 44,899.

Turnover reached 7.3 billion N-T dollars.

The market bounced back on Wednesday, led by chip and technology shares.

The gains came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 5.21 percent
overnight, as major chipmakers (晶片製造商) and other A-I-related companies gained
in the U-S.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has repeated Taiwan's claims in the South
China Sea.

However, he said the Lai administration is not actively pushing those claims.

His comments come as tensions continue between China and the Philippines in
the disputed waters (爭議海域).

Speaking at a legislative hearing on the government's South China Sea policy,
Lin said Taiwan's claims over islands in the area have not changed.

He said Taiwan's position is based on four principles (原則).

These include solving disputes peacefully under international law, including
Taiwan in international talks, protecting freedom of navigation (航行自由) and
air travel, and sharing regional resources.

The Central Weather Administration says a tropical depression (熱帶性低氣壓) east
of the Philippines could become a tropical storm as early as today.

The weather system could reach waters near Taiwan this weekend.

A sea warning (海上警報) may be issued as it moves through the Bashi Channel and
into the South China Sea.

The tropical depression is about 1,400 kilometers east-southeast of Eluanbi,
Taiwan's southernmost point.

It is moving northwest at 27 kilometers per hour.

If it becomes a tropical storm, it will be named Noul.

It would be the 12th named storm of this year's Pacific typhoon season.

The U-S has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia on the kingdom's civilian
(民用的) nuclear energy program.

The deal could allow Saudi Arabia to develop the ability to enrich uranium
(濃縮鈾).

The Trump administration has released few details about the agreement.

However, it could lead to the construction of a uranium enrichment center
after a joint U-S-Saudi study.

The U-S Department of Energy says the peaceful nuclear agreement will also
give American companies greater access to Saudi Arabia's nuclear energy
program.

Firefighters in central Spain are battling a major wildfire (野火、森林大火) in
Guadalajara.

The fire has burned more than 32,000 hectares (公頃) of land.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the area on Wednesday and called for
political parties to work together against climate change.

He said climate change is a scientific issue, not a political one.

The Guadalajara fire is one of the largest in Spain's history.

It comes less than two weeks after another fire in southern Spain killed 13
people.

A heat wave is making firefighting more difficult, with temperatures reaching
42 degrees.

Other European countries are also facing extreme heat and wildfires.

Austria has opened a police station in the house where Adolf Hitler was born.

The Nazi leader was born in the former inn (以前的旅館) in April 1889.

For years, Austrian officials debated what to do with the 17th-century
building.

They wanted to stop it from becoming a place where neo-Nazis would gather.

The building has now been refurbished (翻修), and its outside appearance has
been changed.

The government first announced plans to turn it into a police station in 2019.

Police musicians performed at the opening ceremony.

The Louvre Museum in Paris has reopened its Apollo Gallery.

The gallery (展廳、畫廊) had been closed after crown jewels (王室珠寶) worth more than
100 million U-S dollars were stolen during a daytime robbery last October.

The AP's Alex Turnbull reports.

The Ministry of National Defense says a Chinese military helicopter was
detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait median line on Monday.

Officials say the helicopter and a drone were detected between 10:20AM and
7:40PM on Monday.

Chieh Chung, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security
Research, says he believes it is the first time a Chinese military helicopter
has been detected crossing the median line.

Chieh says that represents a new form of "gray-zone" operation.

Defense officials have not said whether the detected helicopter was a
shipborne aircraft (艦載機) or had been dispatched from a nearby Army aviation
base along China's coast.

Taiwan has officially entered a new COVID-19 epidemic phase after more than
47 hundred people sought treatment for the disease during July 12-18.

The Centers for Disease Control says that figure marks a 66.5 percent
increase from the previous week.

Officials say Taiwan has sufficient supplies of antiviral medications and
vaccines to respond to the outbreak.

She said the NB.1.8.1 variant has remained the dominant strain in Taiwan for
the past four weeks.

The most common symptoms include sore throat, cough, nasal congestion (鼻塞) or
a runny nose, fever, fatigue, headache and muscle aches.

COVID-19 activity is also increasing in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South
Korea, Tseng said.

Taipei ranked 14th in the U.K.-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student
Cities 2027 rankings.

The rankings were based on indicators including university rankings,
desirability, affordability, student mix and employer activity.

QS noted that Taiwan's ranked cities performed particularly well for
affordability (可負擔性), with all placing among the world's top 30.

But Taiwan's cities lagged in employer activity, which measures how strongly
employers associate a city with producing high-quality graduates.

Globally, Seoul topped the 2027 rankings, followed by Tokyo, London and
Melbourne. Munich and Sydney tied for fifth, ahead of Paris, Berlin, Vienna
and Zurich.

A 10th straight day of attacks between the United States and Iran across the
Middle East has overshadowed (使蒙上陰影) diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to
salvage an interim ceasefire deal that collapsed earlier this month.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Iran war has cost $37.5 billion,
so far.

It is now unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war...
which has turned into a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz...

Ed Donahue reports on the mood from the White House.

French lawmakers have approved a bill banning children under 15 from using
social media.

The move makes France the first country in the European Union to pass a
blanket ban (全面禁令) on platforms as concerns grow worldwide over the harmful
effects of digital content on kids.

Both chambers of the Parliament voted Tuesday in favor of the measure, a
flagship initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron’s second term.

The bill also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools.

The Tai-Ex opened up 117-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
42,566 on turnover of 3.9-billion N-T.

The market extended is losses on Monday from a session earlier amid fears
over further volatility after a recent strong showing.

Analysts say investors continued to cut their holdings in semiconductor
stocks, reversing an initial upturn after the tech-heavy Seoul market
continued to move lower ...

.... but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing appeared resilient on bargain
hunting to lend some support to the broader market.

The Intellectual Property Prosecutors' Office has indicted a former Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing executive for allegedly attempting to leak the
chipmaker's core technologies to China.

According to prosecutors, the former deputy manager has been charged with
violating (違反) the National Security Act and the Trade Secrets Act.

Prosecutors have requested a seven-year prison sentence - arguing that the
former T-S-M-C employees actions threatened Taiwan's technological advantage.

The executive made unauthorized copies of classified and general trade-secret
documents belonging to T-S-M-C and took them home with the intention of using
them in China.

Prosecutors say T-S-M-C detected the irregularities through an internal
investigation and recovered all of the copied documents before any technology
was transferred.

An elevated pedestrian walkway connected to (連接到) the Minquan Bridge in
Taipei has opened.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an said it's part
of a broader renovation project designed to bolster the bridge's resistance
to earthquakes and floods while also improving the area's recreational
facilities and pedestrian-friendly urban environment.

Construction of the walkway began in August of last year and was completed on
May 28.

The walkway features a lightweight steel structure and circular viewing
platforms overlooking the Keelung River.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have announced a maritime embargo (禁運)
against Saudi Arabia.

Monday's decision comes in retaliation for a blockade on Yemen and a recent
attack on Sanaa International Airport.

The embargo affects the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a crucial waterway for global
trade and gateway to the Red Sea as Saudi Arabia seeks an alternative to the
Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz.

The blockade raises fears of renewed conflict in the region.

Saudi Arabia has not responded.

This comes as the British military said a tanker came under attack early
Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman, the latest assault to target
shipping in the strategic waterway.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship reported
over the radio it had been hit by an unknown projectile.

Two other ships were attacked in the strait over the last day, with Iran’
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claiming those assaults.

sentenced to life in prison

A former drug kingpin is sentenced to life in prison.

AP correspondent Jennifer King reports.