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

17,356 on turnover of 1.6-billion N-T.

The market retreated from an early rise to end the day slightly higher on

Wednesday - as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing saw its gains eroded (

削弱) ahead of the release of its November sales data.

Investor sentiment also turned cautious ahead of the release of U-S nonfarm

payroll data tomorrow, as many are waiting for more guidance on the Federal

Reserve's monetary policy.

Environment Minister Xue Fu-sheng is in Dubai for the COP28 meeting.

According to Ministry of Environment, Xue is leading a delegation of other

government officials to the two-week United Nations's annual climate change

conference.

Taiwan hasn't been formally invited to attend the conference, but officials

are attending peripheral (週邊) meetings and holding talks on the sidelines

of the event.

The environment minister says he's been highlighting Taiwan's plans to reach

climate goals and showcasing the government's resolution to pursue efforts to

limit the average global temperature rise during those meetings in Dubai.

And,

The Food and Drug Administration says a poisonous pufferfish that was served

by a restaurant owner in Nantou County last month has been identified as an

lunartail puffer.

The meal left one person dead and resulted in eight other people being

hospitalized.

According to the F-D-A, samples of the fish were sent for testing immediately

following the man's death and D-N-A samples identified it as a lunartail

puffer - which is an inedible (不可食用的) variety of the fish.

The F-D-A says the lunartail puffer can be easily confused with species in

the same genus that are edible when properly prepared.

The sale, processing and producing of food stuffs made with pufferfish are

illegal under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

US President Joe Biden's push to pass tens of billions of dollars in new aid

for Ukraine has stalled in the Senate.

Republican lawmakers blocked the funding - which also includes help for

Israel - in a protest over a dispute (爭議) about border security policy.

Kate Fisher reports from Washington

Prosecutors say a man accused of fatally stabbing a tourist and injuring two

other people over the weekend near the Eiffel Tower has been placed under

investigation on charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with a

terrorist organization.

The suspect went before an investigating magistrate Wednesday who ultimately

decides preliminary charges.

The stabbing over the weekend killed a German-Filipino tourist at a bridge

near the tower.

It has drawn special concern from French authorities less than a year before

the 2024 Paris Olympics, whose opening ceremony is planned along the Seine

river.

The man had been under surveillance for suspected Islamic radicalization.

Mexico's Supreme Court has overturned (推翻) a 2022 ban on bullfighting in

Mexico City, opening the way for events to resume, possibly as soon as this

month.

A panel of justices voted to overturn a May 2022 injunction that said bull

fights violated city resident’s rights to a healthy environment free from

violence.

The panel did not explain their arguments for overturning the ban, but fight

organizers claimed it violated their right to continue the tradition.

The capital had a history of almost 500 years of bullfighting, but there had

been no fights since the 2022 injunction.

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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