The Tai-Ex opened down 124-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

22,040 on turnover of 5-billion N-T.

The market closed slightly higher on Monday following a technical rebound on

Wall Street at the end of last week.

The market gained more than 300 points in the early morning session.

However, investors then opted to shift to the sell side, eroding (侵蝕) the

early upturn by the end of the session.

Officials from Taiwan and China are meeting today at the Golden Lake Hotel in

Kinmen today for talks on the the February 14 Kinmen speedboat incident.

Today's meeting is taking place after talks planned for last Wednesday were

postponed due to Typhoon Gaemi.

The Mainland Affairs Council has said the focus of the meeting is to discuss

outstanding (未解決的) issues relating to the incident that left two Chinese

nationals dead after their speedboat attempted to evade (逃避) a Coast Guard

Administration patrol boat.

Chinese representatives and members of two men's families arrived in Kinmen

yesterday.

President Lai Ching-te says farmers in areas hit hardest by Typhoon Gaemi

will be able to apply for cash assistance and low-interest loans.

According to Lai, the move is aimed at minimizing their losses and ensuring

(確保) farming operations can resume quickly.

The statement comes as Lai has been visiting parts of the island affected by

the typhoon accompanied by Premier Cho Jung-tai and Defense Ministry

Wellington Koo.

Lai says farmers in heavily affected areas such as Kaohsiung and Pingtung

will be exempt from paying interest on low-interest loans for the first six

months - with the government covering all such interest payments.

US Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has raised $200 million since

President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her, according to

her team.

The campaign says it has 170,000 new volunteers, and the "momentum (動力) and

energy for Vice President Harris is real", according to its communications

director.

It comes after a weekend of campaigning for both Harris and former President

Donald Trump, as the US presidential election draws closer.

Sally Patterson reports from New York.

Guatemala’s government has given temporary residency to 207 Mexicans, mostly

children, on humanitarian grounds, after they fled across the border last

week to escape drug violence.

Officials say the refugees will have 30 days of legal status after which they

could request asylum (庇護) if they want.

They have registered at least 44 extended families, and domestic and

international organizations are supporting the families with donations.

Early last week, nearly 600 Mexicans crossed the border into Guatemala, later

describing harrowing escapes on foot as drug cartels battled around their

communities.

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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