**Tai-Ex opening **

The Tai-Ex opened up 4-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 16,903

on turnover of $4-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan moved sharply higher Tuesday amid renewed interest in tech

heavyweights focused on artificial intelligence development and the financial

sector.

But old economy stocks were more mixed.

**3 teenage boys drown near Taoyuan's Xiaowulai Skywalk **

Three junior high students drowned, while swimming in a restricted area in

Taoyuan.

The Taoyuan City Fire Department says it received a report from residents

yesterday, that several teenage boys from a group of seven had fallen into

the water under the Xiaowulai Skywalk.

Emergency workers were dispatched to the scene, but three of the boys were

pulled from the water with no vital signs, and later pronounced dead.

Officials believe the boys had been caught in a whirpool (漩渦) underwater,

and were unable to escape.

The fire department says the spot where the drownings happened was

restricted, and emphasized that people should not enter the deep-water zone.

**SKorea: NKorea Lanches Ballistic Missile **

South Korea says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward the

North’s eastern waters.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launch was made this morning

but gave no further details.

The reported launch came a day after North Korea threatened “shocking”

consequences to protest what it called a U.S. spy plane’s reconnaissance

activity near its territory.

The United States and South Korea dismissed the North’s accusations and

urged it to refrain from any acts or rhetoric (言辭) that raises

animosities.

**US Charles Manson Follower Released from Prison **

A follower of cult (邪教) leader Charles Manson, Leslie Van Houten, has been

released from a California prison.

The AP's Ed Donahue reports.

**France Notre Dame Trusses Placed **

Work to rebuild the fire-ravaged Notre Dame has hit a new milestone.

A crane hoisted massive oak trusses (桁架) from a barge and onto the Notre

Dame Cathedral, as part of the operation to bring the Paris Monument back to

life by December 2024.

The operation involving the trusses, each weighhing up to 7.5 tons, drew

crowds along a bridge over the Seine River and its banks Tuesday.

France's transport minister says seeing the sight of the trusses placed on

the cathedral was a "magic moment" for Parisians.

Notre Dame was consumed by flames in 2019, and the French government

determined it would be rebuilt using traditional techniques.

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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