EZ News 12/05/2023

Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened down 19-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 17,401 on turnover of 2.4-billion N-T. The market closed slightly lower on Monday as the bellwether electronics sector lost ground on the back of growing concerns the U-S will tighten controls on chip sales to China. Despite the slump in investor interest in the bellwether electronics sector, the transportation sector, in particular bulk cargo shippers, trended higher, due to increasing freight rates, which lent some support to the broader market. ---- AIT Head Stresses Need to Combat Election Disinformation American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk is stressing that Washington and Taipei are "on the frontlines" as they seek to tackle the spread of disinformation. Speaking at the National Taiwan University, where she delivered her End-of-Year policy address, Oudkirk said both sides are working closely to combat online information manipulation, as such threats are especially worrisome in the context of democratic elections. Oudkirk also said Washington and Taipei and other democratic partners recently participated in the Global Declaration on International Information Integrity Online and that declaration has now been joined by more than 30 countries. The declaration was launched by Canada and Netherlands in September. ---- Academia Sinica scholar Awarded Germany's Humboldt Research Award A distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica has been awarded the 2023 Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. Wang Fan-sen, of the Institute of History and Philology, received the award in recognition of his achievements and impact on historical scholarship. Along with being a research fellow at Academia Sinica, Wang also currently serves as chair professor at the National Cheng Kung University, National Chengchi University, the National Taiwan Normal University and the National Sun Yat-sen University. The Humboldt prize is for internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of their lifetime's research achievements. ---- Putin Plans to Visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia Russian media outlets are reporting that President Vladimir Putin plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week. Russian state news agencies say that Putin will travel to the two countries for a working visit, during which he will meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The U-A-E is currently hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference. However, it's unclear whether Putin will attend the conference. Putin currently risks arrest if he leaves Russia after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. ---- UN Concerned about Rohingya Muslims aboard Two Boats The United Nations refugee agency is raising the alarm for an estimated 400 Rohingya Muslims believed to be aboard two boats reported to be out of supplies and adrift in the Andaman Sea. The agency is worried that all those aboard could die without efforts to rescue them. The captain of one of the boats says he had 180 to 190 people on board and that the engine was damaged. There is a seasonal exodus of Rohingyas, usually coming from overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. About 740,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since 2017 after a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. ---- CBC to Cut 600 Jobs And Canada's public broadcaster says it will cut 600 jobs and reduce its English and French programming budgets. The move comes as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is struggling with monetary pressures. The bulk of the layoffs will come from corporate divisions such as technology and infrastructure. The broadcaster says it has also identified 200 vacancies that will go unfilled as it contends with 125-million Canadian dollars in budget pressures. Along with the job cuts, C-B-C will be reducing its English and French programming budgets, resulting in fewer renewals and acquisitions, fewer new television series and less episodes of existing shows. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn