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Tai-Ex opening
The Tai-Ex opened down 79-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 21,824 on turnover of $5.2-billion N-T.
The market surged to another all time high on Thursday, to jump to just over the 21,900 point mark.
Investors continued to rally (恢復,價格回升) around artificial-intelligence development-related stocks.
Ministry of Environment Seeks Zero Waste
Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming says the government is still hoping to achieve (達到) zero waste.
He says new regulations on recycling will be drafted by the end of this year Speaking at a legislative committee hearing, Peng said amount of stored general waste increased from 210,000 tonnes in 2018 to 840,000 tonnes last year.
That's largely due to an rise in the amount of packaging waste from online shopping and food delivery.
According to Peng, the government is seeking to add five new incinerators.
He says the incinerators will bring the total number of waste incinerators islandwide to 29 by the end of 2027. The environment minister said that will increase the total waste processing capacity from 6.81 million to 7-million tonnes per year.
And he went on to tell lawmakers that new regulations will also be drawn up to promote recycling and reuse of certain products.
Bird Flu Strains Spreading Through US Mexico
There are growing concerns about strains (菌株) of bird flu infecting livestock and humans in the United States.
There have been at least three confirmed cases of people developing the H5N1 virus in recent months, including in the US states of Texas and Michigan.
Authorities, though, say the risk to the general public is still low.
Sally Patterson reports.
UN: Congo Camp Fire Leaves Families without Shelter
The U.N. says a fire at a displacement camp in eastern Congo has destroyed around 50 makeshift tents.
The blaze left dozens of families without shelter (庇護所).
On Wednesday afternoon, the tents were reduced to ashes at the Mugunga displaced people camp near the provincial capital Goma.
The United Nations said the fire is believed to have started during cooking at the camp.
The UN says the same camp was hit by bomb attacks in early May, which killed at least 18 people and injured 32 others.
ECB Cuts Key Interest Rate
The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point, moving ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The ECB cut its benchmark rate to 3.75% from a record high of 4% at a meeting of the bank’s 26-member rate-setting council in Frankfurt.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said inflation had eased (緩解) enough for the central bank to start lowering rates.
But inflation in the eurozone is expected to remain (保持) above the ECB’s 2% target into next year.
Lagarde declined to say how fast or how deep any future rate cuts might be.