The Tai-Ex opened down 17-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
20,215on turnover of 4.1-billion N-T.

The market moved higher on Tuesday, extending momentum from a session earlier
as a technical rebound continued.

Buying focused on non-tech stocks, while the electronics sector saw its gains
capped after reports that Huawei Technologies is ready to test its newest
artificial intelligence chip to rival Nvidia.

Navy Chief of Staff Qiu Chun-rong has admitted the first domestically built
submarine prototype willl likely miss the date that sea trials were scheduled
to begin.

The Ministry of National Defense's timeline for the Narwhal to carry out sea
trials was supposed to begin in April month and be completed by late
September.

However, Qiu says the Navy is currently still working on improvements and
focusing on reaching the "technology readiness level" required for the vessel
(船隻) to carry out sea trials.

That statement followed reports of potential testing delays due to voltage
surges from a land-based power supply used in testing causing some components
in the submarine to fail.

The Centers for Disease Control is warning in a rise in the number of COVID
infections.

According to the C-D-C, infections have now risen for three consecutive
(連續的) weeks and are likely to peak between May and June.

Figures show the number of people visiting hospitals with COVID symptoms
increased by 19-per cent last week from the previous (前) week.

While 21 cases of severe COVID and seven deaths have been confirmed over the
past seven days.

C-D-C Deputy Director-General Philip Luo is advising people to get vaccinated
and more than 3-million doses of government-funded COVID vaccines are
currently available.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has just won re-election to
officially replace former leader Justin Trudeau has warned that the US
president is trying to break Canada.

Kate Fisher reports from Washington

The European Union’s enlargement commissioner has urged Serbia’s new
government to push forward democratic reforms (改革，改進) needed for
membership in the bloc, saying that the Balkan nation’s protesting citizens
have been seeking similar changes.

Marta Kos says the EU wants to embrace Serbia and other candidate countries
in the Western Balkans.

But she said Serbia must first reform the judiciary in order to fight
corruption, ensure freedom of the press and free and fair elections.

Marta Kos spoke after meeting Serbia’s new prime minister who has taken over
the government earlier this month facing monthslong anti-corruption
demonstrations triggered by a train station concrete canopy collapse that
killed 16 people in November.

Many in Serbia blamed the crash in the northern city of Novi Sad on alleged
rampant (猖獗) corruption in the government’s infrastructure deals with
China, staging almost daily street protests demanding justice for the
victims.

The Tai-Ex opened marginally lower this morning from yesterday's close, at
20,018 on turnover of 2.7-billion N-T.

The market moved higher on Monday led by a tech rally on Wall Street at the
end of last - and the main board returned to above the 20,000-point mark for
the first time since April 2.

Market watchers say buying on the Tai-Ex Monday reflected a continued rally
on U-S markets, which showed signs of stabilizing after the tariff shocks ..
and it's being suggested that the worst result from the tariff impact is now
over.

The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research says the government should
seek a tariff exemption for the island's information and communications
technology products during negotiations with the United States.

The statement comes after Washington and Taipei held their first negotiations
on April 11 - as the government is seeking to ensure that Taiwan will not
face a 32-per cent import duty .. as was announced by the U-S on April 2 ..

... before a 90-day pause on that was announced on April 9.

Washington and Taipei held their first negotiations on April 11 - as the
government seeks to ensure that Taiwan will not face hefty tariffs on exports
to the U-S market.

The Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism has annouced that a
centenarian badminton player will be representing Taiwan at the upcoming
World Masters Games.

According to city government, 104-year old Lin Yu-mao is one of more than
2,000 athletes aged 65 and above who will be competing in the games.

Lin is the Guinness World Records-certified oldest badminton player.

Fifteen World Masters Games participants are aged 90 and over, including
eight from Taiwan.

The oldest participant at this year's quadrennial (四年一次) athletics event
is a Thai track and field athlete who is 105 years old.

The 2025 World Masters Games is taking place in Taipei and New Taipei from
May 17 through 31.

Polls are open in Canada's national election, with the ruling Liberal Party
favored to win by a narrow margin.

The vote comes as Canadians grapple with high living costs, and tensions
(緊張局勢) with a confrontational US President, who has made controversial
comments about Canada's future.

Mitch McCann reports:

A justice on Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the federal government to
seize private properties when owners are found responsible for illegal
wildfires or deforestation.

In addition, authorities must seek compensation from landowners responsible
for illegal and intentional (故意的) destruction.

The ruling also directed the government to block regularization, a process by
which illegally-acquired land becomes legal.

The expectation of regularization has been one of the main drivers of
deforestation in the Amazon.

Land-grabbers clear land in the hope that it will eventually be titled thanks
to lax land laws or government amnesties.

The court's decision could be appealed.

The Tai-Ex opened up 99-points this morning from Friday's close, at 19,972 on
turnover of 4.3-billion N-T.

The market gained nearly 400-points on Friday as investors were buoyed
following a third consecutive rally on Wall Street overnight, driven by hopes
for the U-S Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Former Vice President Chen Chien-jen has attended the funeral of Pope
Francis' and is expressing his hope President Lai Ching-te will be invited to
the new pope's inauguration ceremony.

Speaking to reporters, Chen said he spoke with former U-S President Joe
Biden, Japan's Foreign Minister and the delegation (代表團) heads from
Paraguay and Guatemala following the funeral.

Chen also says he believes he had completed his mission as Lai's special
envoy to Pope Francis' funeral service.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Chen was seated next to Thailand's
representative, as delegations at the funeral were arranged in alphabetical
order according to French, the official language of diplomacy.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has wrapped-up his trip to Eswatini with a
pledged donation to support local rhinoceros conservation efforts.

Lin returned to Taiwan on Sunday after a five-day visit to the African
kingdom to attend King Mswati III's 57th birthday celebration as President
Lai Ching-te's special envoy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Lin pledged a 55,000 U-S dollar donation
to the Eswatini-based nonprofit trust that manages four game parks in the
country, on the final day of the visit.

According to the ministry, Lin also named a new baby rhino recently born in
one of the parks under the Big Game Parks "Formosa" to symbolize (象徵)
friendship between the two countries.

Iran's president visits those injured in port explosion that killed at least
28 people

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports

New Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen says that the U.S.
isn’t showing Greenlanders proper respect.

Nielsen said Sunday that the mineral-rich Arctic island “will never, ever be
a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.”

Nielsen made the remarks in defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s
interest in taking control of the strategic (有戰略優勢的、關鍵的) territory
as he stood side by side with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on the
second day of a three-day official visit.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

South Korea’s main liberal opposition party has tapped its former leader Lee
Jae-myung as presidential candidate in the June 3 vote.

The Democratic Party said Sunday that Lee has won nearly 90% of the votes
cast during the party’s primary.

He defeated two competitors.

Lee is a liberal who wants greater economic parity in South Korea and warmer
ties with North Korea.

He has solidified his position as front-runner to succeed recently ousted
(罷免，逐出) conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.

A Gallup Korea poll released Friday said 38% of respondents preferred Lee
while all other aspirants (有志者) obtained single-digit ratings.