EZ News 02/12/25

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 65-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 23,449 on turnover of 4.8-billion N-T. The market rebounded on Tuesday after a slump a session earlier as artificial intelligence-related stocks were the center of investor focus on the back of a rise in Nvidia's share price on Wall Street overnight. Investors took cues from a 2.87-per cent increase in Nvidia shares on Wall Street, but the main board failed to sustain its early gains by the end of the session on the capped upturn by semiconductor stocks .. .. which dealers are attributing to lingering concerns over possible massive tariffs on chips by U-S President Donald Trump. Ministers hold talks to promote cultural diplomacy in Japan, Europe Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung and Culture Minister Li Yuan have held talks to discuss "cultural diplomacy" -- with a particular focus on the upcoming Expo 2025 in Japan and cultural events in Europe. According to the foreign ministry, it was the first time the two ministries have held minister-level talks and Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu and Deputy Culture Minister Sue Wang were also in attendance. The ministry says, both sides talked about combining their resources to boost Taiwan's visibility (能見度) on the world stage and one focus was the upcoming Osaka World Expo, which will be held between April and October. Another topic on the agenda was how Taiwan could took advantage of the National Palace Museum's upcoming exhibitions in the Czech Republic and France later this year. CDC reporting highest weekly flu-related medical visits in a decade The Centers for Disease Control says the number of outpatient (門診) and emergency visits due to flu-like illness recorded last week was the highest number for the same period since the 2015-2016 flu season. According to the C-D-C, a total of 181,995 flu-like illness-related outpatient and emergency visits were reported from February 2 to 8. C-D-C Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Kuo Hung-wei says the number of flu cases with severe complications is also rising, with 128 severe cases and 28 flu-related deaths recorded from February 4 to this past Monday. Most of those cases were linked to H-1-N-1 infections. Russia Frees American Prisoner Russia has freed American detainee (被拘留者) Marc Fogel. The 63-year-old school teacher was released from prison on Tuesday, according to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. He'd been arrested for the illegal possession of cannabis back in 2021 and was given a 14-year prison sentence, which the United States viewed as "wrongful." Benji Hyer reports. UN Warns of Congo Displacement The U.N. says more than 110-thousand displaced people have in recent days left settlement camps in eastern Congo’s cities controlled by Rwanda-backed rebels after the rebels were accused of forced camp closures. The U.N.’s humanitarian aid coordination agency said Tuesday that the M23 rebels issued a 72-hour ultimatum for people to leave the camps but later clarified that such movement is voluntary. Associated Press journalists witnessed some of the displaced people packing up what is left of their belongings and dismantling makeshift shelters. The forced camp closures have worsened (惡化) what is already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. At least 500-thousand people have reportedly been displaced in the region following the M23's advance. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn