The Tai-Ex opened down 53-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

19,673 on turnover of $7.9-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan closed lower Monday, led by large cap semiconductor stocks,

in particular contract chipmaker TSMC, with selling sparked after U.S. chip

stocks suffered a tumble at the end of last week.

However, buying rotated to other tech stocks in the downstream segment with

iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in focus, while select old

economy industries as well as the financial sector also attracted bargain

hunting due to their relatively low valuations.

The National Museum of History says it has retrieved (取回) lunar samples

which had been gifted to Taiwan by the late U.S. President Richard Nixon in

1969.

It was first exhibited at the museum in Taipei in 1970, one year after Nixon

gave it to Taiwan.

The display and moon soil samples that came with it were then relocated to

Academia Sinica's Institute of Physics for safekeeping, before being given to

Taichung's National Museum of Natural Science in 1994.

Those samples are now back at the Taipei museum and are part of a show

marking its reopening on February 21st after a nearly six-year renovation.

The wooden case display contains four moon rock fragments encased inside a

piece of acrylic lucite semi-sphere.

In the display, the lunar specimens are mounted above a flag of the Republic

of China, Taiwan's legal name, which was flown to the moon and back on the

Apollo 11 mission.

(CNA-IG)

The U.S. Commerce Secretary says Washington is constantly reviewing the need

to expand export controls (出口管制) to stop China from acquiring advanced

computer chips and manufacturing equipment that can be used to boost China's

military.

AP's Lisa Dwyer reports.

The United Nations cultural and scientific agency says Ukraine will need more

than a billion dollars to rebuild its scientific infrastructure that was

damaged or destroyed during two years of Russia's war on its neighbor.

UNESCO says that some 1,443 scientific facilities, many attached to

universities, have been damaged or destroyed along with 750 pieces of vital

technical equipment, most of which is beyond repair.

The war, now in its third year, has also depleted (耗盡的) the science sector

of funds and dispersed Ukraine’s scientists, displacing many within the

country and sending others into exile (流放).

The report says the cost of rebuilding the sector currently stands at $1.26

billion US dollars.

Sweden’s national flag has been raised at NATO headquarters to cement the

Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Crown Princess Victoria and NATO

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attended the ceremony in Brussels.

Sweden set aside decades of post-World War II neutrality (中立性) when it

formally joined NATO on March 7-th.

This comes more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

which persuaded Sweden's reluctant (勉強的、不情願的) public to seek safety

under the alliance’s security umbrella.

Finland joined last year in another historic move ending years of military

nonalignment (不結盟狀態).

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 _____.

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn