EZ News 09/16/26

Good afternoon, I'm _ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening  The Tai-Ex opened up 35-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 45,546 on turnover of 4-billion N-T. The market closed lower yesterday, led by the electronics sector amid concerns over AI development after the heads of three U-S AI giants warned of risks and called for a slowdown in development. FM announces plans to open representative's office in Cebu Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung says the Lai administration is preparing to open a representative office (代表處) in Cebu Province in the Philippines. According to Lin, the office will be Taiwan's second in the country after Manila and will serve travelers and businesspeople in the central Philippines, which is a popular tourism destination (旅遊目的地). The statement comes after Nikkei Asia reported on the new office earlier this week. Lin has not said when the Cebu office will open. CDC warns that flu cases are expected to peak around Mid-Autumn Festival The Centers for Disease Control says the number of flu cases continued to rise last week. According to the C-D-C, a total of 136,796 outpatient (門診病患；門診的) and emergency visits for flu-like symptoms were recorded from September 6 through 12 and that's a 16.5-per cent increase from the previous week. The C-D-C's Epidemic Intelligence Center says the current flu epidemic is now expected to peak (達到高峰) around the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, when outpatient and emergency visits will likely reach between 150,000 and 160,000. Influenza A viruses remain dominant in the community, with the A-H-1-N-1 subtype accounting for 82.2-per cent of all detected cases. The first phase of the government's free flu vaccination program begins on October 1. Nikkei: China applies sweeping new entry and exit rules tied to national security New entry and exit rules have taken effect in China, as Beijing links entry rules to national security in legal terms. Nikkei Asia reports that under the new rules, Chinese citizens can be banned from leaving the country for a minimum of 6 months to an indefinite (無限期的；期限不定的) period. Foreign nationals can also be barred from entering the country if they submit inaccurate information or make false statements in visa applications. The provisions (條款；規定) are particularly concerning to company founders and executives following a series of high-profile cases of individuals unable to leave. Beijing previously banned a foreign bank employee and US government worker from leaving China and also reportedly imposed exit restrictions on two founders of an AI startup. Legal experts say the change highlights China's increasing use of explicit legal language to bar people from leaving, as opposed to holding people who don't know what they're being held for. Nvidia's Huang and Anthropic's Amodei clash over AI safety as Trump calls fears a 'hoax' Salesforce has unveiled (發布；揭曉) a new artificial intelligence model called Koa at the opening of its annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, where the debate over the safety of rapidly advancing AI technology is dominating (主導；佔據主要地位) discussion among more than 43,000 attendees. Anthropic and OpenAI have both called for the industry to slow down, while Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and US President Donald Trump have pushed back against those concerns. Some critics, however, say the safety argument may serve a commercial purpose. Ira Spitzer reports from San Francisco. … That was Ira Spitzer reporting.  That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn