**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened down 5-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

16,930 on turnover of $2.9-billion N-T.

The market bounced back from loses in previous sessions this week on

Wednesday, as investors were buoyed by reports suggesting that the American

economy is in better shape than feared.

**Vice Premier Meets with Japan's LDP Secretary-General in Tokyo **

Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan has held talks with the secretary-general of

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Cheng met with Toshimitsu Motegi at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.

Speaking during the meeting, Motegi described Taiwan is an extremely

important partner to Japan and a precious friend with shared values and the

the two countries also enjoy close economic relationships and regular

personnel (人員) exchanges.

Cheng is leading a delegation of economics officials to Tokyo this week for

talks on energy, net-zero emissions and 5-G wireless cellular technology.

**World News Media Congress Opens in Taipei **

The World News Media Congress is taking place in Taipei this week and is

bringing together more than 900 leaders in journalism and news media

organizations from 58 countries.

It's the first time since 2013 that the event has been held in Asia.

Speaking at the opening ceremony at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center,

President Tsai Ing-wen told delegates that combatting (對抗) disinformation

is a shared challenge all democracies must face, as disinformation directly

influences people's way of life.

According to Tsai, Taiwan has become home to many international media

professionals in the past few years and that's testament to the island's

"hard work on safeguarding media freedom and the right to free speech."

**SKoreans Scrap Traditional Age System **

Millions of South Koreans are now one or two years younger, after the country

abandoned (棄) a traditional system for giving people’s ages.

Here’s Andrew Wood – who used to live in South Korea – to explain

**Malta Eases Abortion Laws **

Maltese lawmakers have unanimously approved legislation to ease the the

strictest abortion laws in the European Union.

But a coalition of pro-choice campaigners say last-minute changes make the

legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous.”

The original bill allowing women access to abortion if the mother’s life or

health was in danger was hailed as a step in the right direction for the

nation.

Under the amendments, though, a woman must be at risk of death to access an

abortion, and then only after three specialists consent.

The new law allows a doctor to terminate (終止) a pregnancy without further

consultation only if the mother's life is at immediate risk.

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 _____.

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn