20120518 9am

9AM Intro

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

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is continuing to protest to the World Health Organization over an internal document issued last September instructing members to refer to Chinese Taipei as "Taiwan, province of China." The statement follows the U-S State Department's recent report to Congress over the W-H-O's lack of transparency in deciding Taiwan's official designation. According to foreign ministry officials .... Health Minister - Qiu Wen-da - will voice the government's stance on the issue in Geneva next week - when he attends to the annual conference of the World Health Assembly. ----- Minister of Economic Affairs Shi Yen-xiang says his office will provide assistance to smartphone giant - H-T-C - in order to deal with on-going litigation regarding patent infringement brought against the company by rival Apple. Shi says the ministry has is in touch with H-T-C and asked the company to keep it informed of the progress of litigation. H-T-C said announced earlier this week that shipments of two of its latest models shipped to the U-S market have been delayed by a review of the U-S Customs requested by the U-S International Trade Commission. The customs review came after the I-T-C ruled that H-T-C infringed on one of Apple's patents involving data detection. H-T-C was given until April 19-th to come up with an alternative to avoid a ban on imports and sales of its products equipped with the function in the U-S. --------- A planned cross-strait meeting of financial regulators has been postponed until the second half of the year - although the two sides have agreed on the topics for discussion. The Financial Supervisory Commission and China's Banking Regulatory Commission had reached consensus to discuss topics such as offshore wealth management businesses and sharing of supervisory information and experience. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Taiwan before the end of June. Neither side has elaborated on the reasons behind the cancellation.

syria

Syria's main opposition council is crumbling under the weight of infighting and divisions over issues that cut to the heart of the revolution, including accusations that the movement is becoming as autocratic as the regime it wants to drive out. Amid mounting criticism of his leadership, the SNC leader said yesterday he is ready to step down once a replacement is found The decision came just days after he was re-elected for a third, three month term during a council vote held in Rome.

missiles

The U.S. is giving Israel more money for missile defense. The APs Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon.

finance

Now that he's the likely Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney is gaining a lot more financial support. AP correspondent Jon Belmont reports. ...and Romney's public image appears to be rebounding. A new Gallup poll finds 50 percent of Americans polled have a "favorable" view of Romney, an 11-point jump since February. Romney's favorable rating is 2 points lower than that of President Obama

facebook

Facebook's initial public offering of stock is shaping up to be one of the largest ever. The world's definitive online social network is raising at least $16 billion, a big windfall for a company that began eight years ago with no way to make money. Facebook priced its IPO at $38 per share today, at the high end of its expected range. If extra shares reserved to cover additional demand are sold as part of the transaction, Facebook and its early investors stand to reap as much as $18.4 billion from the IPO.

WEATHER AM .....

partly cloudy skies and scattered showers in the north - with a high of 28 in the Taipei area --- cloudy skies with possible thunder showers in the center and south - w/ a high of around 30 in Taichong and Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 26 Taichung -- 25 Gaoxiong -- 26

9AM Outro

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