The Tai-Ex opened down 4.9-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

18,640 on turnover of $5.6-billion N-T.

The market opened in consolidation mode today after record gains on the first

trading session of the Year of the Dragon.

Shares in Taiwan surged almost 550 points and by more than 3 percent, despite

stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation figures.

Buying included stocks in the bellwether electronics sector, led by chipmaker

TSMC American depositary receipts, which steamed ahead by more than 11

percent when the stock market was closed over the New Year holiday, due to

enthusiasm about AI development.

A woman gave birth to a baby after going into labor on board a flight from

Tokyo to Taipei on Thursday, according to EVA Airways.

The airline says flight attendants and four doctors who happened to be on

board the morning flight assisted with the birth.

It adds that the plane landed at Taipei Songshan Airport at 1:11 p.m., with

the mother and her newborn son taken to a local hospital.

Details regarding the passenger, including her nationality, or how many weeks

she was pregnant, were not disclosed (公佈) by the airline.

An FBI informant has been charged with lying to authorities about a

multimillion-dollar bribery scheme between President Joe Biden, his son

Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.

The claim is central to a Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.

Prosecutors say Alexander Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that

executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter

and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016.

The allegations became a flashpoint in Congress over the summer as

Republicans demanded the FBI release the unredacted (內容沒有被刪減的) form

documenting the allegations as they pursued investigations of President Biden

and his family.

An attorney for Smirnov declined to comment on the allegations.

Greece has become the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex

civil marriage.

AP's Lisa Dwyer has more.

Senegal’s top election authority has voided the president’s postponement of

a presidential election scheduled for Feb. 25 and its rescheduling in

December, saying the moves were unconstitutional.

A judgement approved by seven members of Senegal’s Constitutional Council

cancelled the decree signed by President Macky Sall that postponed the

election.

The judgement also said that the National Assembly’s move on Feb. 5 to

reschedule the vote for Dec. 15 also was “contrary to (與之相反) the

constitution."

That was the I.C.R.T. news,

Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded

every day in the afternoon.

Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____.

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