20120517 9am

9AM Intro

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

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The D-P-P says it plans to look into official irregularities over an incident involving Hong Kong students in Taipei. The students were removed from outside the newly opened Hong Kong's representative office in Taipei by security guards after protesting the Hong Kong government's suppression of freedom of expression. Acting D-P-P Chairwoman - Chen Chu - expressed her concerns to the three students over the incident and will ask the party's legislative caucus to look into possible negligence by related officials - and said the Ma administration should do everything to protect freedom of speech in the country. --------- Smartphone giant - HTC - says shipments of two of its flagship smartphones to the United States have been delayed because of an import ban on its products filed by the U-S International Trade Commission. According to a company statement ... the U-S availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE have been delayed due to a standard U-S Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. HTC executives say they believe the company is in compliance with the ruling, and are working closely with Customs to secure approval. An H-T-C spokeswoman says the EVO 4G LTE is a new product and has not yet been officially launched in the U-S, while the One X is facing a supply shortage temporarily in the country due to the U-S Customs review. --------- Foreign Minister Timothy Yang yesterday met with three entrepreneurs set to represent Taiwan at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation-related meetings. He also acknowledged their contribution to promoting the country in the international business arena. According to a statement released by the foreign ministry ... the business leaders are all recognized for their efforts in promoting exchanges between Taiwan and the APEC Business Advisory Council. The three business leaders will continue to serve as Taiwan's representatives for the next four years. The meeting will take place next week in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.

greek

Greek political leaders have unveiled a caretaker government that will run the country until fresh elections are held next month. But the country's president has revealed that 700 million Euros have been withdrawn from Greek banks in the past ten days by anxious account holders. That news is stoking fears of a possible banking collapse in the country. The May 6 election saw a massive rise in popularity for parties that advocate pulling out of Greece's commitments to its international bailout deal, under which it agreed to strict austerity measures in return for billions of euros in rescue loans.

turkey

Turkey is showing renewed interest in reviving its stalled bid to join the European Union, now that one of its key opponents is no longer the president of France. Turkey began its EU accession negotiations in 2005 but made little progress in its candidacy, thanks to a dispute with EU-member Cyprus and opposition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Turkey's membership. Sarkozy argued that the predominantly Muslim country is not a part of Europe and wanted Turkey to accept some kind of a special partnership with the EU instead of full membership _ an offer Turkey rejected. Turkey has one of the world's fastest growing economies and is becoming a regional diplomatic player.

ratko

Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic made a throat-slitting gesture to a woman who lost her son, husband and brothers in the Srebenica massacre at the start of his trial yesterday for some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two. He is the last of the main protagonists in the Balkan wars of the 1990s to go on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. A hero to Serb nationalists, the "Butcher of Bosnia" to his Muslim and Croat victims, the general eluded justice for 16 years until his capture in a cousin's farmhouse in Serbia last May.

obama

In Washington... President Obama has been meeting with congressional leaders, but it doesn't seem to have advanced chances of election-year cooperation on the economy. The APs Mark Smith reports.

WEATHER AM .....

cloudy skies, rain and possible thunder showers islandwide -- w/ a high of 27 in the Taipei area - a high of 28 in Taichong and a high of 30 in Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 27 Taichung -- 27 Gaoxiong -- 26

9AM Outro

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