**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened down 19-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

15,708 on turnover of 2.1-billion N-T.

The market closed slightly higher on Tuesday as large-cap tech stocks once

again attracted investor attention to offset losses suffered by the old

economy sector.

However, market sentiment remained cautious, as investors wait to see if

Washington agrees to raise the government's debt ceiling to avoid (避免) a

default, while the pending release of U-S consumer price index data also

weighed on investor's minds.

**Former UK PM Liz Truss to Visit Taiwan Next Week **

Former U-K Prime Minister Liz Truss will visit Taiwan next week to

participate in a government-funded speaking engagement.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Truss, has been invited by the

Prospect Foundation think tank to give a speech in Taipei on May 17.

The ministry has not said on what topic Truss' speech would be on.

The foreign ministry has also not released any information concerning

possible meetings with senior government officials or other political and

business figures (人物) during her four-day visit.

Truss spent 49-days as the U-K's shortest event-serving prime minister last

year.

**Coronavirus Subvariant XBB to Drive New Surge Through July **

The Centers for Disease Control says the coronavirus XBB subvariant is likely

to become dominant soon, creating a new surge of infections through early

July.

According to C-D-C Deputy Director General Philip Luo, the subvariant

accounted for 40-per cent of the 70 local Omicron cases confirmed during the

week of April 30 through May 6.

Luo says it is now expected to replace the current BA.2.75 strain in the near

future.

The C-D-C reported a daily average of 116 moderate and severe coronavirus

cases from May 3 through 9, which represented a slight increase in daily

cases compared with the 114 the previous week.

**Saudi Arabia Syria Embassies Resume Work **

Saudi Arabia and Syria say their embassies will resume work 11 years after

they were closed as the two countries' relations improve.

Tuesday's announcement comes nearly a month after Syria and Saudi Arabia said

they were moving toward reopening embassies and resuming airline flights.

Last month’s development followed a visit by Syria’s top diplomat to the

kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria

in 2012 and a visit by Syria’s foreign minister to Riyadh.

On Sunday, the 22-member Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria, ending a

12-year suspension and taking another step toward bringing Syria back into

the fold.

**US Charges Filed Agains Congressman Who Lied on Resume **

US prosecutors have filed criminal charges against George Santos, the

congressman who has admitted to (承認，供) lying about his resume.

Sally Patterson reports.

**Germany Proposes Law Name and Gender Change **

The German government has presented a proposal for a law that will make it

easier for people to legally change their name and gender, ending decades-old

rules that require them to get expert assessments and a court’s

authorization.

Under the planned “self-determination law,” adults would be able to change

their first name and legal gender at registry offices without further

formalities.

The existing “transsexual law,” which took effect in 1981, currently

requires individuals to obtain assessments (評估) from two ”experts" and

then a court decision before they can change their gender on official

documents.

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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