The Tai-Ex opened down 319-points this morning from Thursday's close, at

22,734 on turnover of 13-billion N-T.

The market lost ground on Thursday - the final trading day of the week due to

the 228 holiday.

The main board tumbled nearly 350-points during that session, despite Wall

Street closing little changed overnight and Nvidia reporting strong profits

for the last quarter.

A doctor at the Taipei City Hospital's Zhongxing Branch is warning that cuts

to the U-S Agency for International Development could impact Taiwan's public

health system, which "relies"(依賴) on internationally collected data.

It comes after the U-S last month announced plans to eliminate more than

90-per cent of US-AID's foreign aid contracts, totaling more than 58-billion

dollars.

According Chiang Guan-yu, US-AID cuts will reduce (減少) information sharing

between American health agencies and international organizations such as the

World Health Organization - which in turn could negatively impact Taiwan.

The Centers for Disease Control says although Taiwan is not a member of the

W-H-O, there are other "friendly countries" besides the U-S that are willing

to exchange epidemic prevention information.

The Central Weather Administration is warning that another cold front will

begin affecting (影響) the island from tomorrow - pushing the mercury down

once again into the mid-teens.

The cold front will see temperatures dropping by about 15-degrees from the

highs seen in recent days and the cold weather is forecast to last into the

coming weekend.

It's expected to bring rain to much of the island from Wednesday - when highs

of between 18 and 20 degrees are forecast for much of the island.

However, the mercury could drop to as low 13-degrees in the north and center

and to 14-degrees in the south.

Israel has cut off the entry of all food and other goods into Gaza in an echo

of the siege (圍城) it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas.

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with King Charles III today

to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st

state.

Trudeau says he will discuss matters of importance to Canadians and said

“nothing seems more important to Canadians right now than standing up for

our sovereignty and our independence as a nation.”

Charles is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British

Commonwealth of former colonies.

The king has come under criticism in Canada after Buckingham Palace declined

(拒絕) to comment on Trump’s threats to annex Canada.

Charles, who met Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has

invited Trump to come to Scotland for a state visit.

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

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