BIG SETBACK: Legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng said he thinks six of the seven bills will die because all parties seem unable to build a strong concensus
By Lin Chieh-yu
Though all political parties vowed to review more bills during the three-day extraordinary session beginning today, Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) suggested that the Cabinet's six financial reform bills and the controversial referendum law would die on the floor.

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KEEPING THE PEACE: The number of US casualties since May 1 rose to 29 over the weekend following a spate of surprise attacks with small arms and grenades
Two US soldiers in Iraq were killed and four were wounded in a spate of guerrilla attacks in which at least two Iraqis also died, the US military and witnesses said yesterday.

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President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) announced yesterday that the government will scrap a US$3 billion cap on a single qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) in the nation's stock market, sending the TAIEX to its highest close since July 15, last year.

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CHANGE OF HEART?: In a dramatic turnaround, Hong Kong's chief executive agreed to delay a vote on the highly controversial legislation
Hong Kong's leader agreed yesterday to delay an anti-subversion bill that drew a half million protesters into the streets and threw his government into its biggest crisis since the former British colony was returned to China.

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Exports rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier to US$11.61 billion after rising 2.1 percent in May, due to rising shipments of steel, electronics and optical equipment, the Ministry of Finance reported yesterday.

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