20120531 10am

9AM Intro

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

9AM TAIWAN NEWS ....

The K-M-T's capital gains tax plan on securities is drawing mixed reviews --- leaving brokerage houses relieved and groups interested in tax fairness dissatisfied. The plan will allow individual investors to choose between reporting stock gains as part of their income - or paying a stock transaction tax of between 0.02 and 0.06-per cent that only kicks in when the Tai-Ex closes above the 8,500 point mark. Investors yesterday voiced their support for the plan - by pushing the benchmark index 2.9-per cent higher. The index has not closed that high since early August 2011. Stock market analysts say the K-M-T plan has short term benefits - but limitations over the medium term. And also in financial news .... Ten-year government bond yields rose to a three-week high yesterday on concern an increase in electricity prices next month will stoke inflation. Tai-Power will raise prices to help recover losses from costlier fuel prices. Inflation reached 1.44-per cent in April, compared with 1.21-per cent in March. The government forecast last week that consumer prices will rise 1.84-per cent this year, versus 1.42-per cent in 2011 and 0.97-per cent in 2010. -------------- Lawmakers are urging the government to amend acts governing child welfare and domestic violence - saying both area need better laws to improve reporting mechanisms. The call follows the release of a report stating that there were 37-thousand reported cases of child abuse in 2010 - a sharp increase from 8,400 cases recorded in 2004. According to Ministry of Interior statistics indicate an average of one child is abused every 17-minutes in Taiwan.

syria

Eyewitness accounts from the Syrian massacre emerged yesterday, describing shadowy gunmen slaughtering whole families in their homes and targeting the most vulnerable in poor farming villages. The Syrian regime has denied any role in the massacre, blaming the killings on ``armed terrorists'' who attacked army positions in the area and slaughtered innocent civilians. It has provided no evidence to support its narrative, nor has it given a death toll. The APs Jerry Bodlander reports the White House has some sharp words for Syria after expelling its top diplomat. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia have also announced diplomatic expulsions

italy

An earthquake killed 16 people and injured about 350 in northern Italy yesterday, spreading fear among thousands of residents living in tents after a similarly strong tremor in the same region flattened their homes nine days ago. Rescuers were searching through the rubble of houses and warehouses in the Emilia-Romagna region, where several building sites had just reopened after the previous quake on May 20. The number of those forced to leave their homes doubled to 14,000.

julian

Britain's Supreme Court is expected to rule today on whether to approve the extradition of WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange to Sweden, a potential turning point in the Internet activist's controversial career. Assange has spent the better part of two years fighting attempts to send him to the Scandinavian nation, where he is accused of sex crimes. At least one extradition expert said that his long-running legal campaign may finally yield a victory for the Australian programmer. Assange is best known for revealing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents, including a hard-to-watch video that captured U.S. forces gunning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians and journalists that they'd mistaken for insurgents. His release of a quarter-million classified State Department cables outraged Washington and destabilized American diplomacy worldwide.

mitt

In US politics... Mitt Romney is set to clinch the Republican presidential nomination today with a win in the Texas primary, a triumph of endurance for a candidate who came up short four years ago and had to fight hard this year as voters flirted with a carousel of GOP rivals.

asteroid

A newly discovered small asteroid has harmlessly zipped close to Earth _ just as scientists expected. The 16-foot-long space rock, discovered on Memorial Day, passed by today at a distance of 8,950 miles from the Earth's surface. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks such flybys, said the asteroid was the sixth closest asteroid approach. It was also the second asteroid encounter this week. On Monday, another asteroid, 69 feet across, flew by at a distance of 32,000 miles.

WEATHER AM .....

partly cloudy skies and possible afternoon thunder showers in the north and center - w/ a high of around 32 in both Taipei and Taichong --- and mostly cloudy skies in the south w/ a high of 32 in Gaoxiong. Current Temperatures .... Taipei -- 28 Taichung -- 26 Gaoxiong -- 29

9AM Outro

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