Good morning .. it's 9 o'clock ... and I'm Alex Lewis w/ the top of the hour
news .....

Starting with local stories...

President Tsai Ing-wen is urging the United States to include Taiwan in an
exemption list for its tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Tsai made the request during a meeting with visiting members of the US-China
Economic and Security Review Commission at the Presidential Office.

According to Tsai, a stable economic partnership between Taiwan and the U-S
plays a positive role in Washington's economic security and she hopes Taiwan
can be included in the list.

Taiwan's top trade negotiator, John Deng traveled to Washington to hold talks
with U-S officials shortly after the White House announced an order imposing
a 25-per cent tariff on imported steel and a 10-per cent tariff on imported
aluminum.

However, Taiwan remains excluded from the tariff exemption list.

----------------------

The head of the Cross-Strait Policy Association says maintaining the status
quo is still the greatest common denominator among the Taiwanese people.

According to association Secretary-General Wang Zhi-sheng, that position has
not changed despite China's recent incentives to lure Taiwanese investment
and talent.

Wang made the statement at a forum in Taipei to assess cross-strait relations
during President Tsai Ing-wen's first two years in office.

And according to Wang, he supports Tsai and D-P-P's refusal to endorse the
so-called "1992 consensus," which he says is "a vague and controversial
term."

-------------------

And ......

The National Immigration Agency has rejected an application by K-M-T vice
chairman and secretary-general, Ceng Yong-quan to visit China.

Ceng applied to travel there to attend the 10th Straits Forum in Xiamen in
June.

But a review committee made up of officials from the National Security
Bureau, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice and the
Mainland Affairs Council decided to reject the application.

The immigration agency says the panel reached that conclusion due to the
sensitive information Ceng was privy to during his tenure as Presidential
Office secretary-general under former president Ma Ying-jeou.

An application by Lin Chong-sen to travel to China for the forum has also
been rejected due to his former position as chairman of the Straits Exchange
Foundation.

Lin currently serves as vice chairman of the K-M-T's National Policy
Foundation.

And turning attention now to international headlines...

Despite the United Nations resolution that demands protections for medical
staff and facilities, warzone healers are a huge target for attacks.

The Red Cross says there have been over 1,200 incidents of violence against
hospitals and medical personnel in 16 countries in the two years since the
resolution was adopted.

The director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross told the
U.N. Security Council that ``the gap between words and action is rather
dramatic.''

He cites incidents of health workers being killed, threatened and kidnapped
as well as ambulances obstructed, medical supplies destroyed or prevented
from crossing front lines, and hospitals bombed or looted.

He says it's "imperative that all states _ not only parties to conflicts _
uphold international commitments and make the protection of health care a
national priority.''

A judge in the US state of New York is siding with parents in kicking their
son out of their house.

The AP's Ed Donahue reports.

Looking at the weather across Taiwan ...

We can expect ....

Partly cloudy skies with occasional showers or thunderstorms in the north and
east - where we'll see a high of 31 in both the Taipei and Hualien areas.

Partly clear skies in the center - w/ a high of 33 in Taichung.

And mostly clear skies in the south - w/ a high of 32 in Gaoxiong.

Current Temperatures ....

Taipei -- 31

Taichung -- 29

Gaoxiong -- 32

Hualien -- 30

That was the I-C-R-T news at 9 .... w/ me Alex Lewis .....