The Tai-Ex opened down 0.6-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

23,407 on turnover of $6.3-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan closed lower Wednesday as the bellwether electronics sector

came under pressure in the wake of heavy losses suffered by tech stocks in

the United States overnight.

The market opened down as electronics heavyweights, such as Taiwan

Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., slid following a 1.89 percent fall in the

tech-heavy Nasdaq index overnight.

That weakness continued to the end of the session as last ditch selling sent

TSMC to the day's low.

iRent car rental service is under fire for allegedly collecting excessive

personal data, including spousal (配偶的) information, and sharing it with

affiliated companies.

The Highway Bureau has demanded corrections following complaints from the

Consumers' Foundation.

While iRent says users agreed to share their data, officials found its

necessity unclear.

The company has promised to stop sharing data within its group for marketing

and will revise (修訂) its privacy policy, letting users opt in for data

sharing.

Inspectors are reviewing if iRent's practices comply with data protection

laws.

The company must submit evidence by January 17th for further investigation.

Wildfires are continuing to rage through Los Angeles, with tens of thousands

of residents forced to evacuate.

At least five people have died so far, with the fires spreading at an

unprecedented (史無前例) pace.

It's now the largest fire in the city's history.

Ira Spitzer reports from LA.

Israel’s military says troops have recovered the body of another hostage

from Gaza.

The military said on Wednesday that Yosef AlZayadni's body was recovered in

an underground tunnel in southern Gaza.

It said it was examining whether a second body was that of another hostage.

The men were taken captive (俘虜) during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel and Hamas have been considering a ceasefire deal that would free the

remaining 100 or so hostages and would halt the fighting in Gaza.

Israel believes a third of the remaining hostages are dead.

However, AlZayadni was believed to still be alive before Wednesday's

announcement.

Canada's finance minister says U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments

that Canada should become the 51st state are now counter productive.

He says Trump was smiling when he made the comment at dinner at Mar-a-Lago

with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in late November, but the joke is over.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea that Canada should join the United

States as the 51st state, saying Tuesday he would not use military force to

invade the country, which is home to more than 40 million people and is a

founding NATO partner.

Instead, Trump said he would rely on “economic force” as he erroneously

cast the U.S. trade deficit with Canada as a subsidy (補貼).

The U.S. relies on Canada for approximately 60% of its crude oil imports.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states, and is also the

largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S.

That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____.

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn