**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened down 48-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

15,711 on turnover of 2.2-billion N-T.

The market moved sharply higher on Wednesday following a rally on Wall Street

overnight after U-S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the government will

guarantee bank deposits.

And buying emerged in local semiconductor heavyweights to lead the gains

across the main board, while the financial sector also attracted strong

bargain hunting.

**US Chips Program Office Senior Officials to Visit Taiwan **

The U-S Department of Commerce has announced that officials from its Chips

Program Office will visit Taiwan.

According to chips program director Michael Schmidt, the delegation will also

be visiting Japan and South Korea.

Schmidt says the aim of the trip to Asia is to promote cooperation in the

global semiconductor supply chain.

The Chips Program Office has not disclosed (透露) any details about Schmidt's

trip to Asia.

However, a senior Department of Commerce official is being cited as saying

the delegation will include the office's senior policy advisor and its

director of international exchanges.

**MOFA Announces New Monetary Donation to Turkey **

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the government will make another

financial donation to Turkey to help the country rebuild following the

February 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yu, his office his office will

soon allocate (分配) money from the relief fund to make a monetary donation

to help the disaster relief effort in Turkey.

The donations will include 1.17-million U-S dollars for Ankara to buy mobile

food trucks to provide ready-to-eat food to people in the earthquake affected

areas and another 5-million U-S dollars to the Turkish Red Crescent Society.

**Brazil Bolsonaro Ordered to Return Diamonds **

A Brazilian government watchdog is giving former President Jair Bolsonaro

five working days to return to authorities a set of jewels he received from

Saudi Arabia in 2021.

All nine members of the government watchdog voted Wednesday in favor of

(贊成) requiring Bolsonaro to turn the jewels over to the state-owned bank in

the capital city of Brasilia.

Another set of jewels from Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth several million

dollars and also sent to Bolsonaro, according to one of his former ministers,

was seized by customs at Sao Paulo's international airport.

Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since he left office in January,

is under preliminary police investigations at home since Brazilian media

started reporting on the jewels earlier this month.

Bolsonaro did not declare either set of jewels to tax authorities. Legal

experts say he could face prosecution in the case.

It is unclear whether the diamonds were a gift from Saudi authorities or not.

**Beethoven's Death Being Researched **

Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, researchers are

searching for clues about his health problems.

The AP's Ed Donahue reports. ((opens with music))

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.

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