The Tai-Ex opened up 123-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

17,039 on turnover of 7-billion N-T.

The market continued to gain ground on Tuesday, as the bellwether electronics

sector led the main board higher, but investors were reluctant to chase

prices - which stopped the index from breaching (衝破，突破) high technical

hurdles ahead of the 17,000-point mark.

Representatives from the K-M-T and the Taiwan People's Party are holding a

new round of 'party-to-party' talks, as they seek to finalize a joint ticket

for January's presidential election.

The meeting is taking place at the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation in Taipei.

The attendees will include K-M-T presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, T-P-P

chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je and K-M-T Chairman Eric Chu.

Former President Ma Ying-jeou has also been invited to participate (參加) as

a witness.

The T-P-P says it will holiding a press conference after the talks.

The National Communication Commission says it's launched an investigation

into allegations that a Taiwan fishing boat used by drug smugglers was

employing a Chinese navigation satellite system to avoid detection.

According to thee N-C-C, vessels usually use equipment with a legal Automatic

Identification System to navigate, but the vessel under investigation used a

restricted Chinese system to avoid being monitored.

The statement comes after the Kaohsiung District Court recently convicted

crew members of the Taiwanese fishing boat on charges of drug smuggling - and

heard as evidence that the boat was using a Chinese "Bei-Dou Navigation

Satellite System" to evade (逃避) law enforcement.

The European Union is likely to miss its target to provide Ukraine with 1

million rounds of ammunition (彈藥) by March.

At a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, the bloc's top diplomat

said production would need to be ramped up fo the target to be hit.

Jennifer King reports.

Residents of a fishing town in southwestern Iceland have left their homes

after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil

defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region.

Iceland's Meteorological Office says police decided to evacuate Grindavik

after recent seismic activity in the area moved south toward the town.

Monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma (岩漿) now extends under the

community.

The town is about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

Authorities also raised an aviation alert to orange, indicating an increased

risk of an eruption.

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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