The Tai-Ex opened down 69-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

34,279 on turnover of 8.2-billion N-T.

The market rose by more than 500 points on Wednesday, as buying was triggered

by lingering enthusiasm toward global A-I development, which pushed up tech

stocks higher.

The K-M-T and the Taiwan People's Party have approved a cooperation agreement

for November's local elections.

The agreement was separately passed by the K-M-T Central Standing Committee

and the T-P-P's Central Committee and means that two party's will jointly

field (選派…上場) candidates.

Under the pact's "nominate first, coordinate later" model, the two parties

will prioritize incumbent mayors or county magistrates seeking re-election.

A joint KMT-TPP campaign group will also be established to support candidates

nationwide.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs says C-P-C has absorbed about 3.3-billion

N-T in fuel costs over the past two weeks to help stabilize domestic prices

due to the US-Isreal war with Iran.

According to Vice Economics Minister, Lai Jien-hsin, the government has been

prioritizing price stability as global energy supplies face disruptions

(破壞) from the conflict.

Under a price-stabilization mechanism, C-P-C absorbs at least 60-per cent of

cost increases while keeping domestic fuel prices among the lowest in

neighboring markets.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister offered harsh criticism Thursday of Iran

following overnight attacks on his country, saying: “What little trust there

was before has completely been shattered.”

Prince Faisal bin Farhan offered the comments after a meeting between foreign

ministers of the Gulf Arab states and others over the Iranian attacks

targeting the wider Middle East.

He criticized Iran’s attacks on Riyadh, the capital hosting the meeting.

Iran also attacked Saudi Arabia's vast Eastern Province, home to many of its

oil fields, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The minister says Saudi Arabia will use "every lever (手段，把柄)",

"political, economic, diplomatic and otherwise, to get these attacks to

stop”.

A US congressional committee is demanding that the US Attorney General face

questions over her handling of the Epstein files, a move the Justice

Department is pushing back (反對) on.

Mitch McCann reports:

The latest World Happiness Report 2026 says that heavy social media use has

contributed to a stark (嚴重的 ) decline in well-being among young people,

with the effects particularly worrying in teenage girls in English-speaking

countries and Western Europe.

The annual report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the

University of Oxford, also found that Finland is the happiest land in the

world for the ninth year in a row.

Other Nordic countries such as Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway ranked

among the top 10 countries.

But it highlighted how life evaluations among under 25-year-olds in the

United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have dropped over the past

decade.

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

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