The Tai-Ex opened up 220-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

22,114 on turnover of $7.7-billion N-T.

No major damage has been reported after this morning's magnitude 6.3

earthquake.

The tremors at 7:35am caused some disruptions to traffic, as mass

transportation systems underwent checks for safety.

The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation says the city's MRT ran at reduced

speeds for a brief time, before returning to normal operations.

The quake registered an intensity of 3 in Taichung, and metro trains there

stopped at station platforms for two minutes, before running at lower speeds.

All lines have been reported undamaged.

Meanwhile….

The Central Weather Administration says aftershocks of magnitude 5.5 or

higher may occur in the next three days.

The CWA says with recent heavy rains, they are advising (勸告) members of the

public to stay on alert for landslides.

(NS)

The Centers for Disease Control raised its travel alert for the Democratic

Republic of the Congo (DRC) and six other African countries…

… after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak in Africa

a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

The alert follows a surge in m-pox cases in the DRC and a rising number of

African countries…

The D-R-C has been elevated to "Level 2: Alert", advising Taiwanese travelers

to take enhanced (提高的) precautions.

So far this year, the D-R-C has reported over 15 thousand 600 cases and 537

deaths due to m-pox.

(CNA_IG)

The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef says if polio vaccines don't get

distributed immediately, children in Gaza will die.

1.2 million doses of the vaccine have been approved by the World Health

Organisation following the discovery of poliovirus type 2 in July by the

Global Polio Laboratory Network in sewage (污水) samples collected in Gaza.

Jody Jacobs has more…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country’s troops have taken

full control of Sudzha.

It's the largest Russian town to fall to Ukraine’s forces since the start of

their cross-border incursion more than a week ago.

Zelenskyy's claim on Thursday couldn't be independently verified (驗證).

He says Ukraine’s military is setting up a command office in Sudzha, which

suggests that Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term —

or just signal Moscow that it may intend to.

Sudzha had a prewar population of around 5,000 and is the administrative

center for the border area of Russia’s Kursk region.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, officials warned

civilians Thursday to evacuate ahead of rapidly advancing Russian troops.

Hong Kong has welcomed the births of its first locally born giant pandas.

The theme park where the twins were born said their mother is the world’s

oldest first-time giant panda mother on record (記錄在案).

Ying Ying gave birth to the male and female pandas at Ocean Park on Thursday

just a day before she turned 19 years old.

Ying Ying and her partner Le Le were the second pair of pandas gifted by

Beijing to Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to China’s

rule in 1997.

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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