20120502 9am

9AM Intro

Good morning, it's 9 o'clock. I'm Bill Thissen

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions is calling on the government to better protect workers' rights by instituting several measures, including a ban on the practice of hiring dispatch workers. The confederation is asking the government to raise the minimum wage, reduce the maximum number of working hours and to make it mandatory for employees in all businesses to have two days off per week. The alliance also has called on the government to make it mandatory for workers in businesses that employ four people or fewer to be included in the labor insurance system. Currently, only businesses that employ five people or more are required to join the labor insurance system. ------------- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the new director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan will be announced soon The statement followed reports that Christopher Marut has already been appointed to the position. The ministry's Department of North American Affairs has refused to disclose whether the government has been informed of any appointment --- saying only that the United States will make an announcement soon. It has been reported that Marut will succeed incumbent director William Stanton --- who will complete his three-year tenure this August. And also in U-S Taiwan related news ... Taiwan has not on the United States' Special 301 Report this year --- marking the fourth consecutive year the island has not been blacklisted in the report on intellectual property laws and copyright protection. In the report Taiwan was not among the annual list of countries the U-S identified as failing to adopt and enforce effective intellectual property rights protection. In the 1990s, Taiwan was often listed in the Special 301 Report but has not been included since 2009. The island was removed from the report's "Watch List" that year after it implemented efforts such as a specialized intellectual protection court and regulations that strengthen copyright protection.

afghan

President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan today, slipping into Kabul under a thick veil of secrecy to sign a long-term partnership deal meant to help bring down the curtain on America's longest war. In a televised address delivered from the Bagram Air Base, Obama hailed the Strategic Partnership Agreement he signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He pledged to withdraw US combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and while some troops will remain in the country in an advisory capacity he promised not to build permanent US military bases in the country. Exactly one year after Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Obama told Americans that he had achieved one of the major foreign policy goals of his first term in the White House.

newt

In US politics... Newt Gingrich will end his presidential effort tomorrow. The APs Jerry Bodlander reports.

ss

A U.S. House committee chairman said today the Secret Service is poring over interviews with 10 of 12 women involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal and so far there's no indication that any posed a national security threat. Rep. Peter King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the Secret Service is still translating the interviews. The information was part of a letter from the Secret Service responding to King's questions about the incident.

rupert

A committee of British lawmakers called Rupert Murdoch unfit to run his global media empire _ a finding that reflects just how deeply the phone hacking scandal born of his defunct News of the World has shaken the relationship between the press and politics. The ruling yesterday against Murdoch, his son James and three of their executives also exposed the waning influence of the media tycoon, and could jeopardize his control of a major broadcaster.

WEATHER AM .....

cloudy skies and possible thunder showers w/ a high of 32 islandwide. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 27 Taichung -- 27 Gaoxiong -- 29

9AM Outro

That's the ICRT News at 9. I'm _____