The Tai-Ex opened up 106-points this morning from yesterday's close, at

23,226 on turnover of 2.4-billion N-T.

The market closed marginally higher on Tuesday despite rising by over

200-points early in the session - as investor uncertainty kicked-in over

Donald Trump's pending return to the White House.

Analysts say Trump's possible tariffs have spooked many investors - which has

led to uncertainty in the local market.

Lawmakers have rejected all seven justice nominees selected by President Lai

Ching-te to fill the vacancies on the Constitutional Court.

None of the seven nominees, including law professor Chang Wen-zhen and former

lawmaker Yao Li-ming received the necessary 57 votes in the 113-seat

Legislature for approval.

Chang and Yao had also been nominated by Lai to serve as the head and deputy

head of the Judicial Yuan.

The K-M-T has argued that all of Lai's nominees were partisan (偏袒的).

And,

The Centers for Disease Control says over 90,000 flu-like cases were reported

last week - and influenza will enter an epidemic phase later this week.

According to the C-D-C, total of 94,882 visits to emergency departments and

outpatient clinics (門診) for flu-like symptoms were reported from December

15 through 21.

That was a 16-per cent increase compared to the number of cases recorded the

previous week.

The C-D-C is saying based on predictions, the flu epidemic phase is expected

to begin this week, with a peak in the number of cases likely to be seen

around the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Two reporters were killed in Haiti, as authorities tried to reopen

Port-au-Prince’s biggest public hospital after it was shut down by gangs

earlier this year.

AP's Lisa Dwyer reports

Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, say

they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian

National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

The Kurdish-led force is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting

sleeper cells (秘密行動人員) of the extremist Islamic State group scattered

across the country’s east.

Since the fall of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified

(加劇的) between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key

city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human

Rights, says that since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the

Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed.

The 50,000-year-old remains of a baby mammoth uncovered by melting permafrost

have been unveiled to the public by researchers in Russia’s Siberia region.

They call it the best-preserved mammoth body ever found.

The female mammoth nicknamed Yana weighs more than 100 kilograms and is 120

centimeters tall.

Her remains are one of seven mammoth carcasses recovered worldwide.

Yana will now be studied by scientists at Russia's North-Eastern Federal

University, which called the find “exceptional” (特殊的).

The university has a dedicated (專門的) mammoth research center and museum.

That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____.

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