20120528 9am

9AM Intro

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

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

Former Premier - Su Zhen-chang - was elected D-P-P chairman -- after taking a little over 50-per cent of the ballots cast. Su served as party chairman in February of 2005 -- but resigned following the D-P-P's losses in local elections in December of the same year. Su received 55,894 votes - former Tainan Magistrate Su Huan-zhi - had 23,281 votes. Former Vice Premier Wu Rong-yi received 16,315 votes, followed by former lawmaker - Cai Tong-rong with 12,497. Former party Chairman Xu Xin-liang was last in the five-way race - with 2,763 votes. Voter turnout was recorded at almost 69-per cent of the 163,808 D-P-P members eligible to vote. --------- Lawmakers remain divided on a proposed capital gains tax on stock profits. K-M-T lawmaker - Lin Hang-zhi - warned the bill can only be passed during the current legislative session if a consensus is reached across party lines. Lin said although the current session has been extended from until June 15-th - it will still prove a challenge to get the bill passed in the coming three weeks. The Legislative Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the impact of the capital gains tax later today - before its preliminary review of various draft tax related bills begins. There are currently six versions of the tax bill being debated. -------- Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister - Gao Chang - says a mechanism for the resolution of cross-strait business disputes will be included in discussions regarding a Taiwan-China investment protection agreement. According to Gao ... the mechanism will focus on a dispute resolution protocol between China-based Taiwanese businessmen and the Chinese authorities. The S-E-F is set to hold the next round of formal cross-strait talks in Taipei in mid-June.

killing

The U.N. Security Council is speaking out against the killing of civilians in the Syrian town of Houla. The APs Diane Kepley reports Sen. John McCain said today the U.S. can't count on Russia _ a major arms supplier to Syria _ to force President Bashar Assad from power. McCain blamed President Barack Obama for embracing what he called a ``feckless'' foreign policy and punting tough decisions until after the fall election.

nato

The U.S.-led coalition yesterday disputed reports that eight civilians, including children, were killed in a NATO airstrike in a remote part of eastern Afghanistan. Afghan officials said an airstrike Saturday night killed eight members of a family, but a senior NATO official said that so far, there is no evidence of any civilian casualties. Separately, NATO reported that three coalition service members were killed yesterday in eastern Afghanistan _ two during an insurgent attack and one from a roadside bombing.

egypt

Three candidates for president of Egypt are appealing the results. The APs Mark Lavie in Cairo.

greece

Three weeks before Greece goes to the polls for the second time in just over a month, opinion polls published Sunday indicate the June 17 election will result in no single party gaining a majority in parliament, but that two mainstream parties that favor implementing Greece's bailout programs could be able to form a coalition government. The four surveys show that Greek voters, tired of more than two years of austerity that have seen salaries and pensions cut and new taxes imposed, nonetheless want Greece to keep the euro and not revert to its own currency, the drachma.

f1

Mark Webber won the Monaco Grand Prix Sunday, while Fernando Alonso took a narrow lead in the championship. Webber is the sixth different driver to win in the opening six races of the season, a first for F1.

WEATHER AM .....

cloudy skies, rain and scattered thunder showers islandwide -- w/ a high of 27 in Taipei - and a high of around 31 in Taichong and Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 24 Taichung -- 26 Gaoxiong -- 27

9AM Outro

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