**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened up 69-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 15,777

on turnover of $2.7-billion N-T.

The market ground on Thursday and moved in a narrow range throughout the

session, as investors reacted to a lackluster (無生氣的) performance on Wall

Street overnight.

Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing bucked the downturn, to provide

some support to the broader market, many other large-cap tech stocks as well

as non-electronics stocks came under pressure.

**FM No Committal on Tasi's APEC attendance **

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says Taiwan will "discuss" President Tsai

Ing-wen's possible attendance at November's APEC leaders' meeting in San

Francisco "with other countries."

The statement comes after U-S lawmakers called for Tsai to represent Taiwan

at the annual summit by Tsai instead of a proxy.

The letter to U-S Secretary of State Antony Blinken was signed by 21 House

Republicans.

Speaking on the sidelines of a legislative hearing, the foreign minister said

Taiwan will hold talks with other countries involved "to make the best

arrangements (安排)" for the island's participation at this year's APEC

leaders' summit.

**Rain Dumps Nearly 20million Tons of Water into Reservoirs **

The Water Resources Agency says the heavy rain that lashed the island on

Thursday dumped 19.12-million tons of water into the island's reservoirs.

According to agency deputy director Wang I-feng, the Li-Yu-Tan Reservoir in

Miaoli saw the biggest inflow (流入), with 5-million tons of rain water.

That was followed by the Shihmen Reservoir in Taoyuan, which registered an

inflow of some 3-million tons of rain water.

Wang says that means the Shihmen Reservoir will have a stable water supply

until the end of June.

**Sudan MIlitary Rules Out Negotiations **

Sudan’s military has ruled out negotiations with a rival paramilitary force,

saying it would only accept its surrender.

The two sides continued to battle in central Khartoum and other parts of the

country.

A tenuous (脆弱的) 24-hour cease-fire ran out Thursday evening with no word

of an extension.

The military’s statement raised the likelihood of a renewed surge in the

nearly weeklong violence that has killed hundreds and pushed Sudan’s

population to the breaking point.

Many hospitals have been forced to shut down and others are running out of

supplies.

The truce had brought only marginal calm to some parts of the capital,

Khartoum.

**Uganda President Refuses to Sign Bill Against Homosexuality **

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has refused to sign into law a

controversial new bill against homosexuality that prescribes the death

penalty in some cases, requesting that it should be amended.

Museveni’s decision was announced late Thursday after a meeting of ruling

party lawmakers, almost all who support the bill approved by lawmakers last

month.

A spokesman for the presidency said Museveni was not opposed to the proposed

(提議) punishments but wanted lawmakers to look into “the issue of

rehabilitation.”

Museveni is under pressure from the international community to veto the bill,

which needs his signature to become law.

The U.S. has warned of economic consequences.

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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