The Tai-Ex opened down 12-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

17,422 on turnover of $2.06 -billion N-T.

The market continued its winning streak on Thursday, joining other regional

indexes to close the trading day higher ahead of the release of U-S consumer

inflation data.

The Cabinet has approved a series of draft amendments to the Fire Services

Act aimed at improving fire safety in the workplace

The draft amendments were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and will

now be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review.

The draft bill adds a provision that imposes a maximum prison sentence of up

to seven years on company officials whose failure to formulate and implement

a fire safety management plan is deemed responsible for fire-related deaths.

The also states that the storing excessive dangerous materials in the

workplace in contravention (違反) of related rules resulting in fire-related

deaths will result in the same penalty.

In the event of serious injuries resulting from a workplace fire, company

officials will be liable to a prison term of up to five years.

Failure to comply with those regulations is punishable with a maximum fine of

between 3 and 10-million N-T.

The Israeli military says a total of eight Israeli hostages have been

released from captivity in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The army said the Red Cross transferred six hostages to Egypt, and they were

being brought to Israel to be reunited with their families.

Two additional hostages were turned over earlier in the day.

It marked the seventh straight night of hostage releases under a cease-fire

agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Israel was to free 30 Palestinian prisoners later in the evening under the

deal.

The cease-fire is set to expire early Friday, though international mediators

(調解者) are working to extend it.

Roughly 140 hostages are believed to remain in Hamas captivity.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned efforts must be made to

prevent violence in Gaza from enveloping (籠罩) the region.

The US' top diplomat met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.

Sally Patterson has more.

Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo had their final chance to see and bid farewell

to a pair of popular giant pandas who are returning home to China after more

than a decade in Scotland.

Yang Guang and Tian Tian are leaving in early December.

They have been a popular attraction since people lined the road outside the

zoo to greet them when they arrived in 2011.

The pair, which are the only pandas in the U.K., are the latest to leave the

West after exchange agreements have expired ((期限）終止) and not been

renewed by China.

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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