The Tai-Ex opened up 105-points this morning from Friday's close, at 23,258

on turnover of 7.7-billion N-T.

The market tumbled nearly 250-points on Friday - bucking a regional upswing

as investors were spooked by concerns about U-S President Donald Trump's

latest tariff threat to hit exports from countries he says have trade

policies that are unfair to America.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung is expressing his gratitude to the U-S State

Department for reaffirming support toward Taiwan with what he's calling

additions "of positive, Taiwan-friendly wordings."

It comes after a fact sheet's contents were updated to remove a line

indicating Washington's long-held stance of not supporting Taiwanese

independence.

It previously stated that the U-S opposes "any unilateral changes to the

status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we

expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved (秆∕) by peaceful means."

However, in the updated version published the line stating that the U-S does

not support Taiwan's independence had been removed.

And,

Ambassador-at-large for cyber affairs, Audrey Tang says freedom and security

are not mutually exclusive and has been talking-up Taiwan's approach to

digital challenges.

Speaking in Germany on the sidelines of the Munich Cyber Security Conference,

Tang said "freedom and security are not a trade-off, but instead are a

deepening of democracy ..

… and "the stronger the social consensus, the greater the resilience and

security, and the better able to withstand threats."

Tang also addressed the conference, and in a 10-miunte speech she touted

Taiwan using measures such as real-name registration for online

advertisements, fighting online fraud and using artificial intelligence to

enhance (矗蔼) democracy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he directed his ministers not to

sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to

Ukraineˇs rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S.

interests.

The proposal, which was a key part of Zelenskyyˇs talks with U.S. Vice

President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on

Friday, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return.

That's according to one current and one former senior official familiar with

the talks.

US President Trump earlier this week jettisoned three years of U.S. policy

and announced he would likely meet soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin

to negotiate a deal to end almost three years of fighting.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is stable, as he recovers (確) from a

respiratory infection in the hospital.

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports the Pope

Papal thriller ¨Conclave〃 won four prizes including best picture at the

British Academy Film Awards, at a ceremony with no single dominant winner.

¨The Brutalist〃 also won four trophies on Sunday including best director

for Brady Corbet.

¨The Brutalist〃 star Adrien Brody took the prize for best actor, and Mikey

Madison won the best actress prize for ¨Anora.〃

Genre-bending musical ¨Emilia Perez〃 proved that itˇs still an awards

contender despite a multipronged backlash that looked to have dented (ゴ阑)

its chances.

It won the prize for best film not in the English language and the best

supporting actress prize for Zoe Saldana.

Kieran Culkin was named best supporting actor for ¨A Real Pain.〃

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

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