The Tai-Ex opened down 75-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

21,578 on turnover of $3.6-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan closed slightly lower Friday as contract chipmaker TSMC

recovered earlier losses, while cautious market sentiment persisted amid a

spike in U.S. Treasury yields and concerns over rising debt in the world's

largest economy.

Old economy stocks appeared mixed amid concerns over volatility in the U.S.

markets due to rising debt.

The Minister of Transportation and Communications says, unlicensed driving

will be treated similarly to drunk driving under a new draft amendment.

Minister Chen Shi Kai said that new proposed (建議的) penalties, which the

ministry has been working on since last year, include unlimited fines for

repeat offenders, and the immediate impounding of vehicles.

Car owners who allow unlicensed drivers to operate their vehicles will also

face harsh (嚴厲的) penalties, according to the minister.

Chen also emphasized that the MOTC does not plan to ban older people from

driving, rather they hope to ensure that older drivers can drive more safely.

Those draft amendments are scheduled to be submitted to the Executive Yuan

for approval by the end of next month.

Current rules limit fines for unlicensed motorists and motorcyclists at

NT$24,000, with repeat offenses within a five-year period receiving the

maximum fine and a driving ban.

A U.S. German citizen is under arrest for attempting (試圖) to firebomb the

U.S. embassy in Israel.

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports

Russia and Ukraine have swapped hundreds more prisoners of war, the third and

last part of a major swap and a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise

failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.

The exchange on Sunday saw each side bring home 303 more soldiers, after each

released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on

Friday.

The swap was the biggest since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022

and came just hours after Ukraine's capital of Kyiv and other regions came

under a massive (大量的) Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at

least 12 people and injured dozens.

Ukrainian officials sad the attack was the largest aerial assault of the war.

A second major power outage has hit southeastern France, this time in the

city of Nice, after a suspected arson damaged an electrical facility.

Police currently have not established a link between Sunday's blackout and a

power outage on Saturday that disrupted the city of Cannes during the closing

day of its renown film festival.

The Nice blackout started around 2 a.m. and left some 45-thousand households

without electricity.

The city’s trams stopped and power was briefly (短暫地) cut to the airport

during its overnight closure hours.

Power was fully restored by 5:30 a.m.

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

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