20120509 9am

9AM Intro

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

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

Local industrialists are calling on the government to boost efforts to sign free trade deals with United States and the European Union. The call comes amid concern about the recent signing of such deals between the two area and Taiwan's major regional competitor -- South Korea. Both the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce and the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China - say the government should set up a Cabinet-level task force to conduct talks with major trading partners on the free trade issue. They are also urging the government to loosen regulations to pave the way for further trade liberalization. -------- Defense officials are urging the United States to continuing supplying Taiwan with defensive weapons systems - they say will help maintain the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. According to defense ministry spokesman - Major-General Luo Shou-ho .... once Washington continues to supply such weapons, Taiwan will - in his words -- "be more confident in engaging mainland China." Luo added that such a move will lead to stable development of Taiwan-China relations. The statement follows a meeting Monday between top U-S defense officials and their Chinese counterparts. ------- The government is denying charges that Consumer Price Index statistics are based on political agendas. The head of the island's budgetry bureau said such statistics are complied by a neutral civil service agency and have nothing to do with politics. The statement follows charges by the Taiwan Solidarity Union ... that C-P-I data has been influenced by politics since Economics Minister - Shi Yen-xiang - vowed in April to step down if the C-P-I rose by more than 2-per cent this year.

syria

The U.N. has gotten another grim report on the deteriorating situation in Syria. The APs Warren Levinson reports.

greece

The smoldering debate over European austerity flared hotter yesterday as the left-wing politician trying to form a new Greek government declared that his country is no longer bound by its pledges to impose crippling cutbacks in return for rescue loans. The comments by Alexis Tsipras flew in the face of EU leaders' insistence on fiscal discipline and sent the Greek stock market falling just two days after Greek voters rejected mainstream pro-austerity politicians. Tsipras also demanded an examination of Greece's still-massive debt and a moratorium on repayment of the part of it that is ``onerous,'' statements that rattled investors and drove Greek shares down another 3.6 percent on top of Monday's nearly 7-percent loss. Markets in France, Italy, Germany and the U.S. also fell.

bomb

U.S. investigators are examining a sophisticated new al-Qaida underwear bomb to see if it could have slipped past past airport security and taken down a commercial jetliner. The APs Mark Smith reports. U.S. and Yemeni officials say the supposed would-be bomber at the heart of an al-Qaida airliner plot was actually an informant working for the CIA. He was given the bomb and turned it over to authorities.

lugar

In US politics... Veteran Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar lost a bitter challenge from the right flank of his own Republican Party today, his nearly four-decade career in the Senate ended by a tea party-backed GOP foe. Republicans need to gain four seats to take control of the U.S. Senate. Also today, North Carolina voters weighed a gay-marriage ban and Democrats were picking a nominee to challenge Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a June recall election, contests that overshadowed Mitt Romney's unstoppable progress toward the GOP presidential nomination.

WEATHER AM .....

cloudy skies, rain and possible afternoon thunder showers islandwide -- w/ a high of 32 in the Taipei area and a high of 33 in Taichong and Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 27 Taichung -- 28 Gaoxiong -- 29

9AM Outro

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