The Tai-Ex opened down 79-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

18,673 on turnover of 4.9-billion N-T.

The market closed at a new high on Tuesday on the back of futures-led buying

- as investors pushed up the spot market in a bid to profit in the futures

market, where February contracts are scheduled to be settled later today.

Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua says no final decision has been made on

possible electricity rate hikes.

The statement comes as the Ministry of Economic Affairs' electricity price

review committee is scheduled to meet next month to decide on rates for the

next six months.

According to Wang, her office is considering adjusting rates even for users

of less than 330-kilowatt-hours a month, but large electricity users will

bear the brunt (首當其衝) of the rate increase in order reduce the impact on

the general public.

There have been reports claiming electricity rates could increased by more

than 10-per cent for some users.

Several local government have issued orders to remove a popular brand of

spicy-flavored shrimp snack from store shelves.

The move comes after it was confirmed that Yu Zong Foods had used a dye

supplied by a Yunlin County-based food manufacturer that contains a

carcinogenic (致癌的) dye.

The Kaohsiung Department of Health says it has ordered Yu Zong Foods to

remove all packaged of its "Wei Hsien" spicy shrimp chips from store shelves

that used red chili powder supplied by the Yunlin County-based food

manufacturer.

A batch of chili powder from the company was recently found by the Yunlin

Public Health Bureau to contain Sudan III, an industrial dye that is not

allowed in food products.

Police in Kansas City have charged two people with murder following a mass

shooting (大規模槍擊事件) at the Super Bowl celebration parade.

The violence last week left one person dead and almost two dozen injured.

US correspondent Nick Harper reports.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reaffirmed his government’s

support for the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during

an hours-long visit to the South American country.

Lavrov on Tuesday expressed Russia’s commitment to strategic cooperation in

numerous (很多的) sectors, including technology, energy and culture.

His meetings with Venezuela's vice president and foreign minister in the

capital, Caracas, took place as Venezuela’s government and a U.S.-backed

faction of the opposition continue to negotiate conditions to level the

playing field ahead of this year’s presidential election.

Law enforcement agencies say they have infiltrated and disrupted a prolific

ransomware syndicate behind cyberattacks around the world.

Britain’s National Crime Agency says it led an international operation

targeting LockBit, which provides ransomware as a service to so-called

affiliates (附屬機構) who infect victim networks with the computer-crippling

malware and negotiate ransoms.

The group has been linked to thousands of attacks since 2019.

Hours before the announcement, the front page of LockBit’s site was replaced

with the words “this site is now under control of law enforcement."

The operation aimed to steal all of LockBit’s data and then destroy its

infrastructure.

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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