The Tai-Ex opened down 67-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
46,189 on turnover of $10.9-billion N-T.

Authorities are warning residents to prepare for severe rainfall today and
Saturday, as strong winds and moisture from tropical storm Mekkhala trigger
torrential downpours across Taiwan.

From midnight to 8:00 a.m. today, Pingtung’s Wandan Township recorded a
maximum rainfall of 332 millimeters, while Tainan’s Guiren District logged
270 millimeters and Kaohsiung’s Xiaogang District saw 257 millimeters.

Flooding has been reported in several parts of Tainan, including the East,
Ren-de, and Yong-kang Districts, with water reaching up to waist-deep levels
in some areas.

Firefighters in the city are deploying inflatable boats to rescue trapped
residents and traffic is gridlocked (交通嚴重堵塞) around a major national highway
interchange.

The Taiwan Railway Corporation is also suspending services between Tainan's
Yongkang and Kaohsiung's Gangshan stations, after flooding along railway
tracks in southern Taiwan.

Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong warns that the combination of an
approaching weather front and tropical moisture will bring severe weather,
including lightning strikes, strong wind gusts, and sudden downpours, across
the entire island through Saturday.

(NS)

Meanwhile...

The persistent heavy rains have triggered localized flooding across Hsinchu
County, prompting two local schools to call off classes today.

The Hsinchu County Government announced this morning that Xinpu Junior High
School in Xinpu Township will suspend classes for the entire day and Taoshan
Elementary School in mountainous Wufeng Township has canceled classes as
well.



Overall rainfall levels across Hsinchu have not yet reached the official
thresholds for a county-wide closure, but officials note that under
government regulations, individual agency heads and school principals are
fully authorized to cancel work and classes independently based on immediate,
localized (本地化的) safety conditions.

Schools and offices are already closed today in Tainan, Kaohsiung and
Pingtung due to the rain.

(NS)

From the US.....

The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to end legal
protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and
Syria.

The decision Thursday blocks lower court orders and allows the Department of
Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status.

That program protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries, and
the move exposes hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.

The administration had argued that Homeland Security can revoke protections
without court interference.

Immigration lawyers say the decision to end the program ignored the law and
was tainted by racial animus (種族仇恨、種族敵意).

Meanwhile...

A US Senator is warning of a potential plan to deport unaccompanied (無人陪伴)
migrant children

AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports

Turkish journalism groups say several independent media outlets have been
denied accreditation (官方認可) for an upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.

The Turkish Journalists Association reports that news organizations viewed as
opposition-leaning or independent have been excluded without explanation.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to join other leaders for the July
7-8 summit.

NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart stated that the host country assesses
accreditation.

Human Rights Watch meanwhile, criticized recent detentions in Turkey, urging
NATO to ensure democratic rights are respected. Turkish officials have not
commented on the accreditation issue.

The Tai-Ex opened up 296-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
46,339 on turnover of 23.8-billion N-T.

The market plunged (暴跌) over 1,000 points on Wednesday after tech stocks
suffered heavy losses on Wall Street overnight.

The Financial Supervisory Commission says it's closely monitoring expanding
personal credit (個人信用貸款) as more and more retail investors (散戶投資人) are opting
to borrow money to invest in the local stock market amid the current equity
boom.

According to the commission's Financial Examination Bureau, it's now
conducting regular reviews of the local banking sector and will continue
monitoring lending activity.

The statements come amid concerns over possible risks caused by retail
investors using personal loans to buy stocks, and that once the stock market
faces volatility (波動), borrowers could fail to repay their loans, pushing up
the number of non-performing loans shouldered by banks.

The Central Weather Administration has issued rain warnings today.

Extremely heavy rain or torrential rain (豪雨；暴雨) advisories (警示) are in effect
for Kaohsiung, Pingtung and the Hengchun Peninsula.

Heavy rain or extremely heavy rain advisories have been issued for the North
Coast area, Taipei, New Taipei and Tainan.

While a heavy rain advisory is in effect for Keelung, Yunlin both Chiayi city
and county, mountainous area of Taitung, Penghu and Matsu.

All of the rain warnings are currently in effect through early tomorrow
morning.

War, farm aid, and ebola response

The White House has asked Congress for 87.6 billion US dollars in emergency
spending, with the bulk of the money earmarked (指定用途) for the war in Iran.

Democrats have dismissed (駁回；不予理會) the request, with Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer calling it an attempt to paper over the damage of what he
called a reckless war.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said the package appeared designed not to
pass.

The request comes a day after both chambers of Congress voted to rebuke (譴責)
US President Donald Trump over the conflict.

Mitch Mccann reports from New York.

A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan’s northern coast but there was no
danger of a tsunami, the country’s meteorological agency said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake had a preliminary magnitude
(初步規模) of 6.9 and occurred off the eastern coast of Iwate at a depth of about
50 kilometers.

The U.S. Geological Survey also reported a magnitude of 6.9.

The rattling (搖晃；震動) occurred in the area where strong earthquakes have
repeatedly been reported in recent months.

The quake struck Japan’s northeastern region during rush hour this morning,
and also mildly shook Tokyo.

Some bullet trains and other local lines have been suspended for safety
checks.

Officials say nuclear power plants and facilities and a spent fuel
reprocessing plant in Aomori, have not reported any abnormalities (異常) from
Thursday's earthquake.

The Tai-Ex opened down 190-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
46,909 on turnover of 17.6-billion N-T.

The market lost ground (下跌；走低) on Tuesday as semiconductor stocks, especially
memory chip suppliers came under heavy pressure as investors rushed to pocket
gains (獲利了結；把收益落袋) built in recent sessions.

President Lai Ching-te is once again calling for closer international
cooperation to counter (對抗；反制) transnational repression (跨國鎮壓) and describing
it as a growing challenge facing democracies around the world.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a Global Cooperation and Training
Framework workshop in Taipei, Lai told attendees that threats facing
democratic countries today have gone beyond traditional military domains and
geographic boundaries (地理界線).

The workshop was titled "Building Resilient Democracies: Responding to
Transnational Repression."

Organizers say it brought together experts and scholars from 29 countries to
exchange views on safeguarding democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule
of law.

C-P-C has confirmed that a an oil tanker (油輪) it chartered (包租；租用) is
expected to arrive in Taiwan in mid-July after exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the state-refiner, the "Dubai Energy" is carrying 2-million
barrels of crude oil.

The statements come after Reuters reported that the Dubai Energy left the
Strait of Hormuz and is bound for Kaohsiung.

The vessel had been stranded in the Strait for over three months due to the
Iran war.

C-P-C says the crude oil being shipped to Taiwan will be assigned to C-P-C's
refinery plants (煉油廠) in Kaohsiung and Taoyuan based on market demand.

North Korea has commissioned (正式服役) a 5,000-ton destroyer that leader Kim
Jong Un touts as a symbol of the country’s growing naval and nuclear
capabilities.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency says Kim made the comments
Tuesday at a commissioning ceremony at the western port of Nampo.

Kim says that warships such as the Choe Hyon show that the nuclear armament
(核武裝) of his navy is progressing as planned.

State media says Kim during Tuesday’s speech said Kang Kon, a second
destroyer in the same class as the Choe Hyon, will also be entering service
soon.

North Korea also has separate plans to build a larger, 10,000-ton destroyer.

The United States Senate has voted to approve a war powers resolution
(戰爭權力決議) directing US President Donald Trump to withdraw American forces (撤軍)
from the conflict with Iran — the first time such a measure has passed both
chambers of Congress.

The White House has dismissed the vote as having no legal significance
(法律效力；法律意義), but four Republican senators broke ranks (倒戈；不跟隨所屬陣營立場) to
support the resolution alongside Democrats.

Mitch Mccann reports from New York.

That was Mitch Mccann reporting from New York.

A problem with a communications system forced Germany’s railway system to
halt all trains, leaving passengers stranded (受困；滯留) across the country.

Trains were held at stations late Tuesday evening and would-be travelers
stood in long lines at information desks as they tried to figure out how to
get to their destinations.

The main national railway operator said shortly before 1 a.m., nearly
two-and-a-half hours after it first reported the outage (系統中斷；故障), that the
problem had been resolved and service was resuming “step by step.” (逐步恢復)

The company said there was a nationwide problem with a system which is used
for internal communication on the railway network.

The Tai-Ex opened up 53 -points this morning from yesterday's close, at
47,795 on turnover of 21.5-billion N-T.

The market closed at yet another record high on Monday after surging more
than 1,200 points, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing smashed previous
closing levels amid ongoing optimism over global AI development.

The Ministry of Health says cancer remained the leading cause of death here
in Taiwan in 2025 - maintaining that trend for the 44th consecutive (連續的)
year.

According to the ministry, data shows cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia
remained the top three causes of death last year.

That was followed by cerebrovascular disease and diabetes.

Cancer claimed 54,838 lives in 2025 accounting for 27.5-per cent of all
deaths and the cancer mortality rate was 234.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

The average annual increase of cancer deaths over the past decade has been
1.5-per cent.

Lung, liver and colorectal malignancies remained the main causes of cancer
deaths in 2025 for the 22nd consecutive year.

A man suspected of carrying out a knife attack on C-T-B-C Brothers' Passion
Sisters cheerleading team member, Wang Ching-wen has been ordered detained.

The 52 year old man was detained after the Shilin District Court approved a
request for a detention order submitted by the Shihlin District Prosecutors'
Office.

The court says it accepted the request based on strong evidence of attempted
murder and assault (突擊), as well as the risk that he could reoffend.

Wang, who is known by her stage name Wen Wen, was taking part in a private
photo shoot at a photo studio in Taipei on Saturday when she was attacked by
a man with a knife.

The motive for the attack remains under investigation.

Iran has pushed back against claims by US Vice President JD Vance that Tehran
agreed during talks in Switzerland to readmit international nuclear
inspectors — with Iran's foreign ministry saying cooperation with the UN's
atomic watchdog would continue under existing procedures.

Vance had described the opening round of negotiations at Bürgenstock as
"very, very good," but Tehran says substantive (實質Shízhì) discussions on the
nuclear issue have not yet begun.

The two sides have agreed a road map to reach a final deal within sixty days,
with Qatar and Pakistan acting as mediators.

Washington correspondent Kate Fisher says the lifting of sanctions on Iranian
oil presents a challenge for the US — because Washington will have far less
control over how Tehran spends the revenue it earns on the open market.

Egyptian security forces have detained hundreds of people, including
foreigners, near the Sudan border.

They are accused of illegal gold mining and smuggling, according to the
Egyptian military.

The military said the detainees included 87 Egyptians and 136 foreigners.

Egypt's military said some surrendered (投降) and were sent home.

The operation seized large amounts of mining equipment.

The southern region of Egypt is rich in gold mines, including the Sukari
mine.

Sudan, also rich in gold, has seen much of its gold smuggled due to the war
there.