**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened down 44-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

15,888 on turnover of 3.6-billion N-T.

The market closed slightly higher on Wednesday, as Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing's negative performance eroded gains made by select old economy

stocks.

U-S inflation concerns also resulted in local investors turning cautious and

the trading day proved to be a tug-of-war between T-S-M-C and gaining

non-tech stocks.

**French Office Insisting Paris' Taiwan Position 'Unchanged' **

The French Office in Taipei is insisting that Paris' position on Taiwan "has

not changed."

The statement comes days after French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe

cannot become a "follower" of either the United States or China on the issue

of Taiwan.

According to the French representative office, the government has been "in

favor of peace and stability" in the Taiwan Strait and such position "has

never changed."

And the office says France has advocated (提倡) the rule of law and the

freedom of navigation and Paris is "deeply aware"of its "global

responsibilities."

**VP Lai Picked as DPP's 2024 Presidential Candidate **

The D-P-P has officially selected Vice President Lai Ching-te as its

candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

The party's Central Executive Committee approved Lai's nomination nearly a

month after he registered as the sole (唯一) candidate for the party's

primary selection process.

Speaking to reporters following his official nomination, Lai said the 2024

election is not a matter of "war and peace" but a choice between "democracy

and autocracy."

According to Lai, the election will also decide "Taiwan's direction, in terms

of the continuity of its democratic system, the happiness of its future

generations, and the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific."

**Japan Withdraws Alerts After NKorea Missile Launch **

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile, triggering a false-alarm from

Japan’s alert system on Thursday.

Warnings and evacuation orders were issued throughout the country after the

system wrongly predicted (預料，預報) the missile would land near its

northern territories.

Chris Gilbert reports from Tokyo.

**Prince Harry to Attend King Charles Coronation **

Buckingham Palace says Prince Harry will attend the Coronation service of his

father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

This ends months of speculation about whether the prince would be welcome

after leveling charges of (控告) racism and media manipulation at the royal

family.

But Harry's wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California

with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The coronation date coincides with their son’s birthday.

Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor

prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling

book, “Spare.”

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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