LOS ANGELES – Something to talk about: The final original episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will air May 25, Harpo Productions announced Friday.
Winfrey announced in 2009 that she was ending her hit daytime talk show after 25 years to focus on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Winfrey Tweeted Thursday that she was "hard at work planning the final shows," and that new episodes would begin April 7.
She previously told THR she is leaving her last two shows up to her Harpo team, including president Sheri Salata.
"I'm allowing for Sheri and the team to plan two days of full surprises," Winfrey told THR. "I've given up control for the last two days. It's a lot to relinquish. I had to pray on that ... and get a guarantee from Sheri there would be no strippers or dancing people coming out of shells." (report from Reuters)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Arshel Cervantes leaving NCCC Mall Davao
LAST MARCH 24, 2011 in the evening, KaJoyfulness talent and news reporter Arshel Cervantes left their stall in NCCC Mall Davao.
In a recent interview of Arshel from the KaJoyfulness network news team, Arshel will miss their moments in her 4-month work here in NCCC Mall Davao. Though Arshel's sad, some co-workers of her including talents Melissa Muaña, KC Ryan Sayon and Cinderella Go Pepico were pretending that they will never miss Arshel even her last day.
Arshel said that she and the Emerald Durian Palace stall will move to SM City Davao by next month.
"Hi, I'm Arshel, I'll be leaving here at NCCC Mall Davao," Arshel said. "Of course, I'm sad because my friends are here."
Arshel will return to NCCC Mall Davao at the right time. (report from Shirley Sombilon, KaJoyfulness News)
8 Quedancor execs charged with graft over P2-M loan
MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against eight officers of the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) and four individuals in connection with a questionable P2-million loan.
In its charge sheet, the Office of the Ombudsman said that Quedancor extended a P2-million loan to Luisito Vinuya even though he was not qualified to avail of the loan. The property he used as collateral also had a market value of only P365,120.
Aside from Vinuya and wife Femy, charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were Quedancor officials Alexander Butic, senior vice president of the loans management cluster; Divino Duban, regional assistant vice president; Ray Joven, operations officer; Analyn Hobayan, accountant; Joel Gagelonia, operations officer; Rhona Anover, regional unit head of the credit assessment group; Rudolph Zoleta, regional head of the collection and remedial management group; and Carino Caneza, operations officer.
Also charged were spouses Marcos Reyes and Adela Gutierrez.
Unwarranted benefits
A bail of P30,000 was recommended for each of the accused who denied any wrongdoing.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the accused had conspired to approve the P2-million loan to Vinuya despite his lack of qualifications or collateral, “thereby giving unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference to [him] to the damage and prejudice of the government.”
It was also found that the property that Vinuya used as collateral belongs to Reyes and Gutierrez, who had just empowered Vinuya to mortgage the property.
The fact that the property being mortgaged did not belong to Vinuya, even though the loan was in his name, should have stopped the approval of the loan application, the Ombudsman said.
There was also a big discrepancy in the valuation of the property, and this should have a triggered a deeper look at Vinuya’s application, the Office of its Ombudsman said in its resolution recommending the filing of charges. (report from Leila B. Salaverria/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
In its charge sheet, the Office of the Ombudsman said that Quedancor extended a P2-million loan to Luisito Vinuya even though he was not qualified to avail of the loan. The property he used as collateral also had a market value of only P365,120.
Aside from Vinuya and wife Femy, charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were Quedancor officials Alexander Butic, senior vice president of the loans management cluster; Divino Duban, regional assistant vice president; Ray Joven, operations officer; Analyn Hobayan, accountant; Joel Gagelonia, operations officer; Rhona Anover, regional unit head of the credit assessment group; Rudolph Zoleta, regional head of the collection and remedial management group; and Carino Caneza, operations officer.
Also charged were spouses Marcos Reyes and Adela Gutierrez.
Unwarranted benefits
A bail of P30,000 was recommended for each of the accused who denied any wrongdoing.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the accused had conspired to approve the P2-million loan to Vinuya despite his lack of qualifications or collateral, “thereby giving unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference to [him] to the damage and prejudice of the government.”
It was also found that the property that Vinuya used as collateral belongs to Reyes and Gutierrez, who had just empowered Vinuya to mortgage the property.
The fact that the property being mortgaged did not belong to Vinuya, even though the loan was in his name, should have stopped the approval of the loan application, the Ombudsman said.
There was also a big discrepancy in the valuation of the property, and this should have a triggered a deeper look at Vinuya’s application, the Office of its Ombudsman said in its resolution recommending the filing of charges. (report from Leila B. Salaverria/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
LTO chief chided in House probe
The House Committee on Transportation is asking Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virgina Torres to explain why she has taken sides in the takeover battle of Stradcom Corporation by refusing to pay the company P750 million in fees for the last five months.
Committee chair and Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado said that Torres should clarify why she has taken the side of a group led by Bonifacio Sumbilla and Aderito Yujuico who briefly took over the operations of Stradcom, LTO’s system provider, last December.
Mercado said that Torres has refused to heed two memos of the Department of Transportation and Communication providing for the payment of P750 million to Stradcom, chaired by former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo and managed by Cezar Quiambao.
He said that failure to meet government obligations in a multibillion-peso contract could have an adverse effect on investor confidence in the country especially with the government inviting foreign and local investors to put their money in the public-private partnership projects.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Mercado said Torres could not explain why the group she was apparently backing could show no proof to support its claim that they were the real owners of Stradcom. Sumbilla presented as proof a photo copy of Stradcom’s general information sheet. The lawmakers were quick to point that anybody could manufacture such documents and that both Sumbilla and Yujuico were nowhere in the company’s stock and transfer book.
“You are fooling us! You are degrading this committee!” Mercado told Sumbilla. (report Gil C. Cabacungan Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Committee chair and Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado said that Torres should clarify why she has taken the side of a group led by Bonifacio Sumbilla and Aderito Yujuico who briefly took over the operations of Stradcom, LTO’s system provider, last December.
Mercado said that Torres has refused to heed two memos of the Department of Transportation and Communication providing for the payment of P750 million to Stradcom, chaired by former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo and managed by Cezar Quiambao.
He said that failure to meet government obligations in a multibillion-peso contract could have an adverse effect on investor confidence in the country especially with the government inviting foreign and local investors to put their money in the public-private partnership projects.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Mercado said Torres could not explain why the group she was apparently backing could show no proof to support its claim that they were the real owners of Stradcom. Sumbilla presented as proof a photo copy of Stradcom’s general information sheet. The lawmakers were quick to point that anybody could manufacture such documents and that both Sumbilla and Yujuico were nowhere in the company’s stock and transfer book.
“You are fooling us! You are degrading this committee!” Mercado told Sumbilla. (report Gil C. Cabacungan Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Reactor fear at Japan plant as toll tops 10,000
SENDAI— The operator of a disaster-struck Japanese nuclear plant on Friday reported possible damage to a reactor vessel — casting a new shadow over efforts to control a steady radiation leak.
Two weeks after a giant earthquake hit and sent a massive tsunami crashing into the Pacific coast, the death toll from Japan's worst post-war disaster topped 10,000 and there was scant hope for 17,500 others still missing.
The tsunami obliterated entire towns and some 250,000 homeless in almost 2,000 shelters are still braving privations and a winter chill, with a degree of discipline and dignity that has impressed the world.
In a televised news conference a fortnight after the calamity, Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living in tsunami-stricken areas to "move with full courage towards reconstruction."
The focus of Japan's immediate fears remained the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was still emitting radioactive vapor that at one point this week made the capital's drinking water unsafe for infants.
Kan said that the situation at the ageing facility, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was still "very unpredictable".
"We're working to stop the situation from worsening. We need to continue to be extremely vigilant," he cautioned.
The government asked people still living between 20 and 30 kilometres from the plant to leave voluntarily, effectively widening the exclusion zone.
China, South Korea and the EU joined the United States, Russia and other nations in restricting food imports from Japan, which itself has halted vegetable and dairy shipments from the region near the atomic plant.
But in a potential boost to Japan's economy, European Union leaders on Friday offered the country a special pact granting preferential trade terms as it battles to recover from the disaster.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which operates the stricken plant, said it may take another month to achieve a cold shutdown -- when reactor temperatures fall below boiling point and cooling systems are back at atmospheric pressure.
A day after two workers at the 1970s-era facility were hospitalized with radiation burns, the operator reported suspected damage at reactor number three.
"It is possible that the pressure vessel containing the fuel rods in the reactor is damaged," a TEPCO spokesman told AFP.
The new safety scare could hamper urgent efforts to restore power to the all-important cooling systems at the plant.
"Radioactive substances have leaked to places far from the reactor," said a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency, Hideyuki Nishiyama.
"As far as the data show, we believe there is a certain level of containment ability but it's highly possible that the reactor is damaged."
The reactor is a particular concern because it is the only one of six at the plant to use a potentially volatile mix of uranium and plutonium.
A hydrogen explosion badly damaged the unit's outer building on March 14, and a partial meltdown is also suspected.
Higher radioactivity has also been detected in the ocean near the Fukushima plant on Japan's Pacific coast, raising public fears about the safety of fish and seaweed, traditional staples in the island nation's diet.
"This terrifies me from the depth of my heart," Sunao Tsuboi, a survivor of the US atom bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945 who is in his mid-80s, told AFP.
"Radiation damages genes and DNA. This is something that no doctor can fix. There is no proper remedy for radiation exposure."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged nations to boost nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.
Such measures must "ensure that the highest possible standards are implemented to safeguard health, food supply and the environment," he said, quoted by a spokesman.
Two Japanese travellers were briefly sent to hospital in China with radiation levels well above normal levels after they arrived in the eastern city of Wuxi on Wednesday on a flight from Tokyo, China's safety watchdog said.
A doctor at a hospital in the nearby city of Suzhou told AFP the pair were checked, "decontaminated" and released, and the safety watchdog said there was no threat to other travellers.
Radiation was also detected on a Japanese merchant vessel in the southeastern Chinese port city of Xiamen on Monday, the Chinese watchdog said.
The list of contaminated foodstuffs grew Friday when the health ministry said radiation above the legal limit had been detected in Japanese mustard spinach grown in Tokyo.
At the Fukushima plant, workers kept spraying seawater onto overheating reactors and fuel rod pools as a stop-gap measure to prevent a larger meltdown, while trying to restore the original cooling systems.
The pair hospitalised Thursday were installing cables in the basement of the third reactor's turbine building when they stepped into water containing iodine, caesium and cobalt 10,000 times the normal level, TEPCO said.
The men were wearing radiation suits but had on ill-fitting shoes, and they had ignored a warning alarm from their dosimeters, a TEPCO official said.
A total of 17 workers have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts, the level at which the risk of developing cancer rises, the company says. (report from Giles Hewitt, Agence France-Presse)
Two weeks after a giant earthquake hit and sent a massive tsunami crashing into the Pacific coast, the death toll from Japan's worst post-war disaster topped 10,000 and there was scant hope for 17,500 others still missing.
The tsunami obliterated entire towns and some 250,000 homeless in almost 2,000 shelters are still braving privations and a winter chill, with a degree of discipline and dignity that has impressed the world.
In a televised news conference a fortnight after the calamity, Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living in tsunami-stricken areas to "move with full courage towards reconstruction."
The focus of Japan's immediate fears remained the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was still emitting radioactive vapor that at one point this week made the capital's drinking water unsafe for infants.
Kan said that the situation at the ageing facility, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was still "very unpredictable".
"We're working to stop the situation from worsening. We need to continue to be extremely vigilant," he cautioned.
The government asked people still living between 20 and 30 kilometres from the plant to leave voluntarily, effectively widening the exclusion zone.
China, South Korea and the EU joined the United States, Russia and other nations in restricting food imports from Japan, which itself has halted vegetable and dairy shipments from the region near the atomic plant.
But in a potential boost to Japan's economy, European Union leaders on Friday offered the country a special pact granting preferential trade terms as it battles to recover from the disaster.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which operates the stricken plant, said it may take another month to achieve a cold shutdown -- when reactor temperatures fall below boiling point and cooling systems are back at atmospheric pressure.
A day after two workers at the 1970s-era facility were hospitalized with radiation burns, the operator reported suspected damage at reactor number three.
"It is possible that the pressure vessel containing the fuel rods in the reactor is damaged," a TEPCO spokesman told AFP.
The new safety scare could hamper urgent efforts to restore power to the all-important cooling systems at the plant.
"Radioactive substances have leaked to places far from the reactor," said a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency, Hideyuki Nishiyama.
"As far as the data show, we believe there is a certain level of containment ability but it's highly possible that the reactor is damaged."
The reactor is a particular concern because it is the only one of six at the plant to use a potentially volatile mix of uranium and plutonium.
A hydrogen explosion badly damaged the unit's outer building on March 14, and a partial meltdown is also suspected.
Higher radioactivity has also been detected in the ocean near the Fukushima plant on Japan's Pacific coast, raising public fears about the safety of fish and seaweed, traditional staples in the island nation's diet.
"This terrifies me from the depth of my heart," Sunao Tsuboi, a survivor of the US atom bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945 who is in his mid-80s, told AFP.
"Radiation damages genes and DNA. This is something that no doctor can fix. There is no proper remedy for radiation exposure."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged nations to boost nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.
Such measures must "ensure that the highest possible standards are implemented to safeguard health, food supply and the environment," he said, quoted by a spokesman.
Two Japanese travellers were briefly sent to hospital in China with radiation levels well above normal levels after they arrived in the eastern city of Wuxi on Wednesday on a flight from Tokyo, China's safety watchdog said.
A doctor at a hospital in the nearby city of Suzhou told AFP the pair were checked, "decontaminated" and released, and the safety watchdog said there was no threat to other travellers.
Radiation was also detected on a Japanese merchant vessel in the southeastern Chinese port city of Xiamen on Monday, the Chinese watchdog said.
The list of contaminated foodstuffs grew Friday when the health ministry said radiation above the legal limit had been detected in Japanese mustard spinach grown in Tokyo.
At the Fukushima plant, workers kept spraying seawater onto overheating reactors and fuel rod pools as a stop-gap measure to prevent a larger meltdown, while trying to restore the original cooling systems.
The pair hospitalised Thursday were installing cables in the basement of the third reactor's turbine building when they stepped into water containing iodine, caesium and cobalt 10,000 times the normal level, TEPCO said.
The men were wearing radiation suits but had on ill-fitting shoes, and they had ignored a warning alarm from their dosimeters, a TEPCO official said.
A total of 17 workers have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts, the level at which the risk of developing cancer rises, the company says. (report from Giles Hewitt, Agence France-Presse)
US Jesuits agree $166 million abuse payout — lawyers
SEATTLE—A US Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166.1 million to compensate nearly 500 victims of decades-long "horrific" sexual and psychological abuse by priests in five US states, lawyers said Friday.
The US Northwest chapter of the Rome-based Society of Jesus agreed to the payout — which lawyers said is the biggest by a religious organization in the United States — as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
Most of those abused by priests from the Oregon Province — the Jesuit order which covers the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana — were Native Americans at mission schools on Indian reservations.
"This settlement recognizes that the Jesuits betrayed the trust of hundreds of young children in their care, and inflicted terrible atrocities upon them," said lawyer Blaine Tamaki.
"These religious figures should have been responsible for protecting children, but instead raped and molested them," he added.
Victims of the abuse by the Catholic-following order have been watching the case closely, including Clarita Vargas, who said the announcement marked "a day of reckoning and justice."
"I feel that nothing can compensate for the loss of being whole and being allowed to be a child and growing up in a healthy environment," she told the Oregonian newspaper.
"But this will start us and continue to help us on our path to healing," she added.
Katherine Mendez, 53, told how she was abused by Father John Morse, a Jesuit priest, when she entered the St. Mary’s Mission boarding school in Omak, Washington state aged 11.
"Father Morse started abusing me almost immediately when I arrived at St. Mary’s Mission," a lawyers' statement quoted her as saying. "I kept the sexual molestation hidden in the dark, in my soul, for years and years.
"Finally, when I came forward and saw that others did too, it was as if the blanket that had hidden our secret was pulled off and we could move into the light again."
Thirty-eight of the claims involve sexual abuse by Morse, who now lives in a retirement home finance by the Jesuits, it said. Forty-nine of the victims represented by Tamaki were sexually abused when they were eight or younger.
The settlement also asks the Jesuits to provide a written apology to the victims, and share documents of importance to victims, such as their personal medical records, he said.
The abuse took place from the 1940s and continued through to the 1990s, he said. Of the nearly 500 claims, nearly 200 were Alaskan claims brought by John Manly of California law firm Manly & Stewart.
Tamaki, whose firm represented nearly a third of the non-Alaskan clients, said he hoped the settlement would help bring closure.
"Although the abuse they suffered was horrific, my clients are hopeful that, with the Jesuits’ acknowledgement of wrongdoing, changes will be made so that that this type of abuse can be prevented in the future.
"In other words, the church needs to correct flaws that have allowed this to happen," he said.
Patrick Lee, head of the Oregon Province, declined to confirm details of the settlement.
"Due to the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province's current Chapter 11 bankruptcy status, as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved, we will not comment on today's announcement," Lee said.
"The province continues to work with the creditors committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible," he added in a statement. (report from Laura Onstot, Agence France-Presse)
The US Northwest chapter of the Rome-based Society of Jesus agreed to the payout — which lawyers said is the biggest by a religious organization in the United States — as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
Most of those abused by priests from the Oregon Province — the Jesuit order which covers the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana — were Native Americans at mission schools on Indian reservations.
"This settlement recognizes that the Jesuits betrayed the trust of hundreds of young children in their care, and inflicted terrible atrocities upon them," said lawyer Blaine Tamaki.
"These religious figures should have been responsible for protecting children, but instead raped and molested them," he added.
Victims of the abuse by the Catholic-following order have been watching the case closely, including Clarita Vargas, who said the announcement marked "a day of reckoning and justice."
"I feel that nothing can compensate for the loss of being whole and being allowed to be a child and growing up in a healthy environment," she told the Oregonian newspaper.
"But this will start us and continue to help us on our path to healing," she added.
Katherine Mendez, 53, told how she was abused by Father John Morse, a Jesuit priest, when she entered the St. Mary’s Mission boarding school in Omak, Washington state aged 11.
"Father Morse started abusing me almost immediately when I arrived at St. Mary’s Mission," a lawyers' statement quoted her as saying. "I kept the sexual molestation hidden in the dark, in my soul, for years and years.
"Finally, when I came forward and saw that others did too, it was as if the blanket that had hidden our secret was pulled off and we could move into the light again."
Thirty-eight of the claims involve sexual abuse by Morse, who now lives in a retirement home finance by the Jesuits, it said. Forty-nine of the victims represented by Tamaki were sexually abused when they were eight or younger.
The settlement also asks the Jesuits to provide a written apology to the victims, and share documents of importance to victims, such as their personal medical records, he said.
The abuse took place from the 1940s and continued through to the 1990s, he said. Of the nearly 500 claims, nearly 200 were Alaskan claims brought by John Manly of California law firm Manly & Stewart.
Tamaki, whose firm represented nearly a third of the non-Alaskan clients, said he hoped the settlement would help bring closure.
"Although the abuse they suffered was horrific, my clients are hopeful that, with the Jesuits’ acknowledgement of wrongdoing, changes will be made so that that this type of abuse can be prevented in the future.
"In other words, the church needs to correct flaws that have allowed this to happen," he said.
Patrick Lee, head of the Oregon Province, declined to confirm details of the settlement.
"Due to the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province's current Chapter 11 bankruptcy status, as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved, we will not comment on today's announcement," Lee said.
"The province continues to work with the creditors committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible," he added in a statement. (report from Laura Onstot, Agence France-Presse)
Coalition strikes killed 114 in four days — health ministry
TRIPOLI—At least 114 people have been killed and 445 wounded in four days of coalition strikes on Libya, a health ministry official said on Friday.
"From March 20 to March 23, raids (by the coalition) killed 114 people and wounded 445 others," the official, Khaled Omar, told a news conference in the Libyan capital.
But he was not able to say how many were civilian casualties and how many were from the armed forces.
Omar said 104 people were killed in Tripoli and the suburbs between Sunday and Wednesday, while 10 were killed in Sirte, the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, some 600 kilometres (372 miles) south of the capital.
A government spokesman, giving a provisional toll, had said on Thursday that almost 100 "civilians" were killed in the coalition raids launched Saturday against Gadhafi's forces. (report from Agence France-Presse)
"From March 20 to March 23, raids (by the coalition) killed 114 people and wounded 445 others," the official, Khaled Omar, told a news conference in the Libyan capital.
But he was not able to say how many were civilian casualties and how many were from the armed forces.
Omar said 104 people were killed in Tripoli and the suburbs between Sunday and Wednesday, while 10 were killed in Sirte, the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, some 600 kilometres (372 miles) south of the capital.
A government spokesman, giving a provisional toll, had said on Thursday that almost 100 "civilians" were killed in the coalition raids launched Saturday against Gadhafi's forces. (report from Agence France-Presse)
NATO warship aids stricken boat during Libya op
ROME—A warship taking part in a NATO-enforced naval embargo on Libya came to the rescue of an overcrowded boat with its engine cut off in the Mediterranean on Friday, a NATO spokesman said.
"A NATO vessel received an SOS signal and responded to a vessel that is dead in the water with no functioning engine and is overcrowded," said David Taylor, speaking from the operation's command headquarters in Naples.
He told AFP later Friday that the NATO ship "carried out two medical inspections on the ship to make sure that there was no emergency" as well as "a technical inspection and repairs to the boat".
It also "offered them the necessary items, food, water".
Italy's Habeshia refugee help group late Friday accused the NATO vessel which was flying the Canadian flag of having "abandoned" the boat.
ANSA news agency quoted Habeshia chief Don Mose Zerai as saying that the NATO ship commander offered to take the migrants to Tunisia but that his ship left when they turned down his offer.
Asked to confirm the report the NATO spokesman denied this.
"The ship has not been abandoned," he said. "There was no medical emergency, there was food, and they were able to navigate."
He added: "We are following the situation".
Habeshia said there were about 350 Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis and several Bangladeshis on the boat.
The NATO spokesman put the figure at about 150 but did not give details.
The United Nations has warned that the crisis in Libya could displace up to 250,000 refugees and migrants, and boatloads with thousands of mostly Tunisian migrants have been arriving on Italian shores in recent weeks.
Boats carrying migrants are mostly ageing and overcrowded and their captains often cut off the engine when coast guards arrive so as not to be identified.
Many of the boats arriving recently have carried around 100 people each.
ANSA news agency on Thursday reported that a boat that left Libya carrying 330 Eritrean migrants had gone missing and on Friday it said that a Canadian warship was monitoring another boat that left Libya overnight.
Since mid-February more than 15,000 clandestine migrants have arrived in Italy. Italian ports were put on maximum alert, the head of the country's coast guard said earlier Friday. (report from Agence France-Presse)
"A NATO vessel received an SOS signal and responded to a vessel that is dead in the water with no functioning engine and is overcrowded," said David Taylor, speaking from the operation's command headquarters in Naples.
He told AFP later Friday that the NATO ship "carried out two medical inspections on the ship to make sure that there was no emergency" as well as "a technical inspection and repairs to the boat".
It also "offered them the necessary items, food, water".
Italy's Habeshia refugee help group late Friday accused the NATO vessel which was flying the Canadian flag of having "abandoned" the boat.
ANSA news agency quoted Habeshia chief Don Mose Zerai as saying that the NATO ship commander offered to take the migrants to Tunisia but that his ship left when they turned down his offer.
Asked to confirm the report the NATO spokesman denied this.
"The ship has not been abandoned," he said. "There was no medical emergency, there was food, and they were able to navigate."
He added: "We are following the situation".
Habeshia said there were about 350 Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis and several Bangladeshis on the boat.
The NATO spokesman put the figure at about 150 but did not give details.
The United Nations has warned that the crisis in Libya could displace up to 250,000 refugees and migrants, and boatloads with thousands of mostly Tunisian migrants have been arriving on Italian shores in recent weeks.
Boats carrying migrants are mostly ageing and overcrowded and their captains often cut off the engine when coast guards arrive so as not to be identified.
Many of the boats arriving recently have carried around 100 people each.
ANSA news agency on Thursday reported that a boat that left Libya carrying 330 Eritrean migrants had gone missing and on Friday it said that a Canadian warship was monitoring another boat that left Libya overnight.
Since mid-February more than 15,000 clandestine migrants have arrived in Italy. Italian ports were put on maximum alert, the head of the country's coast guard said earlier Friday. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Obama to give speech on Libya Monday — White House
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama will give a speech to the American people Monday on Libya and US policy going forward, the White House said Friday.
It said Obama will deliver the speech at the National Defense University at 7:30 pm (2330 GMT), a time when most Americans are home, many of them tuned to their televisions.
Obama will "update the American people on the situation in Libya, including the actions we've taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moammar Gadhafi, the transition to NATO command and control, and our policy going forward," the White House said.
Critics have complained that Obama has failed to clearly explain US goals and strategy in the seven-day-old, UN-mandated air campaign against the Gadhafi regime. (report from Agence France-Presse)
It said Obama will deliver the speech at the National Defense University at 7:30 pm (2330 GMT), a time when most Americans are home, many of them tuned to their televisions.
Obama will "update the American people on the situation in Libya, including the actions we've taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moammar Gadhafi, the transition to NATO command and control, and our policy going forward," the White House said.
Critics have complained that Obama has failed to clearly explain US goals and strategy in the seven-day-old, UN-mandated air campaign against the Gadhafi regime. (report from Agence France-Presse)
UN under pressure as Ivory Coast on edge of civil war
ABIDJAN—The United Nations came under pressure Friday to ban the use of heavy weapons in Ivory Coast amid heightened concern for the safety of civilians caught up in a bloody post-election stand-off.
The UN Security Council met Friday to discuss a draft resolution introduced by France and Nigeria on a weapons ban in Abidjan, as Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
Fighting with heavy weapons raged in two northern suburbs of Abidjan on Friday near a military barracks where pro-Gbagbo forces said they had repulsed an attack by rebels backing Ouattara.
"Rebels attacked our positions with heavy weapons," said a source inside FDS troops loyal to Gbagbo of the fighting in the Anyama district. "We repulsed them and they fled to neighbouring villages."
There was no independent confirmation of this.
In neighboring Abobo a resident reported heavy gunfire. "We are hiding at home," he said. Two other residents said they had seen FDS tanks.
"Law and order is collapsing, humanitarian access is more and more difficult, hospitals are closing — we are very, very close to a civil war in Abidjan," France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, said in New York Friday.
The draft resolution demands an end to attacks against the UN mission and civilian populations by the Gbagbo camp and calls for UNOCI to protect civilians, according to one diplomat.
"It's saying first, 'Gbagbo has to leave.' The second point is to stop the violence against the civilians," Araud said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG), in an open letter to the Security Council, warned of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities if the UN peacekeeping mission UNOCI was not strengthened, saying "civil war in the country has been reignited".
As many as one million people have fled their homes as civilian areas are bombarded daily with rockets, mortars and shells.
Clashes between forces backing the two rivals killed 52 people in the past week, the UN estimates, with the total death toll reaching at least 462.
An attack by Gbagbo troops on a market, which killed up to 30 civilians last week in the Ouattara stronghold of Abobo, has led to widespread condemnation.
West African leaders on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to reinforce the mandate of the 10,000-strong UNOCI force.
The ICG think-tank warned the UN's reputation was at stake.
"The UN's posture in the country must change, and UNOCI must be required to use force when necessary to carry out its mandate effectively," it said.
"Gbagbo’s regime is intentionally driving the country to chaos," it added. "Gbagbo-controlled media broadcast hate speech and incite violence."
The UN refugee agency's estimates of the number of displaced nearly doubled in the past week, with spokeswoman Melissa Fleming reporting up to a million having fled the economic capital Abidjan alone — home to five million people.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned the crisis had a severe impact on access to healthcare, with a severe lack of medicines as medical personnel fled their posts in conflict zones.
UN refugee agency spokesman in Abidjan Jacques Franquin told AFP hundreds of Liberian "mercenaries" were taking advantage of the clashes in the western region of Guiglo.
"They are neither pro-Gbagbo nor pro-Ouattara, they are merely profiting from the situation. They loot, they rape, they kill," said Franquin, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Abidjan.
"Guiglo is in a lawless zone, there is no functioning police, everyone does what they want."
Franquin described an attack on an UNCHR warehouse and office, in which vehicles, motorbikes, office furniture and computers were stolen.
"There are about 20,000 displaced in Duekoue and tens of thousands in Guiglo. In the latter, between 500 and 1,000 people gathered in front of the UNOCI base to seek protection," added Franquin.
Meanwhile the UN human rights office is looking into allegations that about 200 people, nationals of the west African regional bloc ECOWAS -- from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Togo — have been killed around the town of Guiglo.
On the political front, allies of Gbagbo on Friday rejected the idea of a stronger UNOCI mandate, saying mediated talks were the only way out of the crisis.
"It is necessary to stop the violence, it is through dialogue that we can do this. Force will not solve the problem, it is a dead-end," said Ahoua Don Mello, spokesman for Gbagbo's outgoing government.
The November 28 presidential run-off vote was supposed to end a decade of political turmoil which divided the world's top cocoa producer into a rebel-held north and Gbagbo-controlled south after a failed coup in 2002. (report from Fran Blandy, Agence France-Presse)
The UN Security Council met Friday to discuss a draft resolution introduced by France and Nigeria on a weapons ban in Abidjan, as Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
Fighting with heavy weapons raged in two northern suburbs of Abidjan on Friday near a military barracks where pro-Gbagbo forces said they had repulsed an attack by rebels backing Ouattara.
"Rebels attacked our positions with heavy weapons," said a source inside FDS troops loyal to Gbagbo of the fighting in the Anyama district. "We repulsed them and they fled to neighbouring villages."
There was no independent confirmation of this.
In neighboring Abobo a resident reported heavy gunfire. "We are hiding at home," he said. Two other residents said they had seen FDS tanks.
"Law and order is collapsing, humanitarian access is more and more difficult, hospitals are closing — we are very, very close to a civil war in Abidjan," France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, said in New York Friday.
The draft resolution demands an end to attacks against the UN mission and civilian populations by the Gbagbo camp and calls for UNOCI to protect civilians, according to one diplomat.
"It's saying first, 'Gbagbo has to leave.' The second point is to stop the violence against the civilians," Araud said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG), in an open letter to the Security Council, warned of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities if the UN peacekeeping mission UNOCI was not strengthened, saying "civil war in the country has been reignited".
As many as one million people have fled their homes as civilian areas are bombarded daily with rockets, mortars and shells.
Clashes between forces backing the two rivals killed 52 people in the past week, the UN estimates, with the total death toll reaching at least 462.
An attack by Gbagbo troops on a market, which killed up to 30 civilians last week in the Ouattara stronghold of Abobo, has led to widespread condemnation.
West African leaders on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to reinforce the mandate of the 10,000-strong UNOCI force.
The ICG think-tank warned the UN's reputation was at stake.
"The UN's posture in the country must change, and UNOCI must be required to use force when necessary to carry out its mandate effectively," it said.
"Gbagbo’s regime is intentionally driving the country to chaos," it added. "Gbagbo-controlled media broadcast hate speech and incite violence."
The UN refugee agency's estimates of the number of displaced nearly doubled in the past week, with spokeswoman Melissa Fleming reporting up to a million having fled the economic capital Abidjan alone — home to five million people.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned the crisis had a severe impact on access to healthcare, with a severe lack of medicines as medical personnel fled their posts in conflict zones.
UN refugee agency spokesman in Abidjan Jacques Franquin told AFP hundreds of Liberian "mercenaries" were taking advantage of the clashes in the western region of Guiglo.
"They are neither pro-Gbagbo nor pro-Ouattara, they are merely profiting from the situation. They loot, they rape, they kill," said Franquin, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Abidjan.
"Guiglo is in a lawless zone, there is no functioning police, everyone does what they want."
Franquin described an attack on an UNCHR warehouse and office, in which vehicles, motorbikes, office furniture and computers were stolen.
"There are about 20,000 displaced in Duekoue and tens of thousands in Guiglo. In the latter, between 500 and 1,000 people gathered in front of the UNOCI base to seek protection," added Franquin.
Meanwhile the UN human rights office is looking into allegations that about 200 people, nationals of the west African regional bloc ECOWAS -- from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Togo — have been killed around the town of Guiglo.
On the political front, allies of Gbagbo on Friday rejected the idea of a stronger UNOCI mandate, saying mediated talks were the only way out of the crisis.
"It is necessary to stop the violence, it is through dialogue that we can do this. Force will not solve the problem, it is a dead-end," said Ahoua Don Mello, spokesman for Gbagbo's outgoing government.
The November 28 presidential run-off vote was supposed to end a decade of political turmoil which divided the world's top cocoa producer into a rebel-held north and Gbagbo-controlled south after a failed coup in 2002. (report from Fran Blandy, Agence France-Presse)
3 killed, 2 hurt in South Cotabato ambush
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Three persons were killed and two others were wounded when suspected bandits attacked a convoy of five dump trucks owned by the town's mayor in a hinterland village of Tampakan, South Cotabato, the military said Saturday.
Lieutenant Colonel Joel Nacnac, commander of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion, told reporters that the ambush took place around 1:30 p.m. Friday in the hinterland village of Datal Biao.
Nacnac identified those killed as Ocias Panisana, a dump truck driver, and his two helpers - Rommel Vega and Nelson Parasan. (report from Aquiles Zonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Lieutenant Colonel Joel Nacnac, commander of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion, told reporters that the ambush took place around 1:30 p.m. Friday in the hinterland village of Datal Biao.
Nacnac identified those killed as Ocias Panisana, a dump truck driver, and his two helpers - Rommel Vega and Nelson Parasan. (report from Aquiles Zonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Fire hits condo building in QC
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Fire that hit a condominium building in Quezon City earlier on Saturday was placed under control and there has been no reports of injury so far, Radyo Inquirer reported, quoting the Bureau of Fire Protection.
The blaze, which was raised to the fourth alarm, started at 9:47 a.m. at the condominium building in Project 7, the report said.
The BFP is investigating how the fire started, the report said. (report from Chona Yu/Inquirer.net & Alvin Barcelona/DZIQ-Radyo Inquirer)
The blaze, which was raised to the fourth alarm, started at 9:47 a.m. at the condominium building in Project 7, the report said.
The BFP is investigating how the fire started, the report said. (report from Chona Yu/Inquirer.net & Alvin Barcelona/DZIQ-Radyo Inquirer)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
National Grid seeks better insurance coverage from GSIS
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has sought an overhaul of its insurance policy under the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to allow the private concessionaire to better recoup losses from damage on transmission facilities.
In this way, the NGCP will not have to pass on and recover from all power consumers the full costs of repairing transmission facilities that had been damaged by natural calamities such as typhoon, according to company chief administrative officer Anthony Almeda.
In his letter to GSIS president and general manager Roberto Vergara, Almeda said NGCP wanted to have a more efficient, cost-effective and responsive package to cover the country’s power transmission assets.
The current GSIS insurance package covers transmission assets valued at $2.26 billion, with liability limits of $50 million for Industrial All Risks (IAR); $50 million for natural catastrophe; $15 million for the submarine cables; and $50 million for losses occurring from sabotage and terrorism. Last year, the NGCP paid $6.7 million in premiums for its policy with the GSIS.
Almeda cited the need for an insurance package with a lowered deductible level feature.
According to NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez Alabanza, the current policy contains a double threshold or deductible feature of an aggregate of $5 million worth of damages annually, then $2 million for each loss.
This meant that damages for a given incident should reach at least $2 million to enable NGCP to collect from insurance to pay for the cost of repairs. Anything below $2 million has to be shouldered by NGCP.
“While it appears that transmission assets have been sufficiently insured against risks, unfortunately, the cover seems to be ineffective, inefficient and unresponsive, due to its high deductible feature, which prevents NGCP from being indemnified or compensated either partially or in full for any damage to, or loss of, its transmission assets during the relevant period,” Alabanza said.
“Historically, we have never been able to collect from insurance because the threshold was too high,” Alabanza added.
An example of an instance wherein the NGCP failed to tap its insurance cover under the GSIS was in 2009 when the heavy rainfall and flooding brought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng extensively damaged the transmission lines and substations in Luzon.
The GSIS insurance package also failed to cover losses incurred by the NGCP arising from the sabotage of several transmission towers in Mindanao, also in 2009.
As a result, the NGCP then filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission seeking the recovery of these losses in the form of “force majeure event-pass through” claims that would be charged to power consumers in Luzon and Mindanao.
“It is significant to note that the NGCP is under the regulatory authority of the ERC, which protects the public interest and frowns upon applications to recover losses in the event of calamities, accidents or otherwise, when it can procure proper insurance to cover such,” Almeda said in the letter.
“As a prudent public utility entrusted by the government to operate and maintain the National Transmission Corp. assets, NGCP has the responsibility to procure and cover them with cost-effective, efficient, and responsive insurance which will prevent it from passing its losses to the public,” he further said.
Alabanza added that because the NGCP has been managing and operating facilities owned by the government, it has been required under the law to obtain insurance for these assets from the GSIS. (report from Amy R. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
In this way, the NGCP will not have to pass on and recover from all power consumers the full costs of repairing transmission facilities that had been damaged by natural calamities such as typhoon, according to company chief administrative officer Anthony Almeda.
In his letter to GSIS president and general manager Roberto Vergara, Almeda said NGCP wanted to have a more efficient, cost-effective and responsive package to cover the country’s power transmission assets.
The current GSIS insurance package covers transmission assets valued at $2.26 billion, with liability limits of $50 million for Industrial All Risks (IAR); $50 million for natural catastrophe; $15 million for the submarine cables; and $50 million for losses occurring from sabotage and terrorism. Last year, the NGCP paid $6.7 million in premiums for its policy with the GSIS.
Almeda cited the need for an insurance package with a lowered deductible level feature.
According to NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez Alabanza, the current policy contains a double threshold or deductible feature of an aggregate of $5 million worth of damages annually, then $2 million for each loss.
This meant that damages for a given incident should reach at least $2 million to enable NGCP to collect from insurance to pay for the cost of repairs. Anything below $2 million has to be shouldered by NGCP.
“While it appears that transmission assets have been sufficiently insured against risks, unfortunately, the cover seems to be ineffective, inefficient and unresponsive, due to its high deductible feature, which prevents NGCP from being indemnified or compensated either partially or in full for any damage to, or loss of, its transmission assets during the relevant period,” Alabanza said.
“Historically, we have never been able to collect from insurance because the threshold was too high,” Alabanza added.
An example of an instance wherein the NGCP failed to tap its insurance cover under the GSIS was in 2009 when the heavy rainfall and flooding brought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng extensively damaged the transmission lines and substations in Luzon.
The GSIS insurance package also failed to cover losses incurred by the NGCP arising from the sabotage of several transmission towers in Mindanao, also in 2009.
As a result, the NGCP then filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission seeking the recovery of these losses in the form of “force majeure event-pass through” claims that would be charged to power consumers in Luzon and Mindanao.
“It is significant to note that the NGCP is under the regulatory authority of the ERC, which protects the public interest and frowns upon applications to recover losses in the event of calamities, accidents or otherwise, when it can procure proper insurance to cover such,” Almeda said in the letter.
“As a prudent public utility entrusted by the government to operate and maintain the National Transmission Corp. assets, NGCP has the responsibility to procure and cover them with cost-effective, efficient, and responsive insurance which will prevent it from passing its losses to the public,” he further said.
Alabanza added that because the NGCP has been managing and operating facilities owned by the government, it has been required under the law to obtain insurance for these assets from the GSIS. (report from Amy R. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Jackson doc seeking records of Demerol treatments
LOS ANGELES — A judge said Tuesday he will review medical records from Michael Jackson's longtime dermatologist before deciding whether the documents should be turned over to defense attorneys seeking to show the singer was addicted to a powerful painkiller at the time of his death.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor will review files from Dr. Arnold Klein that cover the final nine months of Jackson's life.
Klein is fighting the release of the files to attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray, citing patient confidentiality rules. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop star.
Attorneys for Murray say they need to review the files to see if the records support a defense theory that Jackson was suffering from withdrawal from the painkiller Demerol when he died unexpectedly on June 25, 2009.
The lawyers contend Klein frequently injected Jackson with Demerol and the singer became addicted to the treatments.
"Due to Dr. Klein's actions, Mr. Jackson became physiologically and psychologically dependent on Demerol," Murray's attorneys wrote in a motion filed Monday. "Dr. Murray's right to this information in the criminal case greatly outweighs any privilege or privacy rights asserted by Dr. Klein pertaining to the records of Mr. Jackson who is now deceased."
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan has said a potential defense expert witness contends Jackson was showing signs of Demerol withdrawal before his death, and that may have complicated his reactions to other medications.
Authorities have accused Murray of giving the singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, which is normally administered in hospital settings. His attorneys have said he did not give the singer anything that should have killed him.
Klein's attorney Garo Ghazarian said during the hearing Tuesday that the defense hadn't shown any evidence that Jackson was addicted to Demerol or that any of Klein's treatments were improper.
Pastor said he will review the files on April 6 and also hear from an attorney for Jackson's estate, who have not waived any of the singer's privileges.
Some of Klein's medical records have already been turned over to coroner's officials who investigated Jackson's death.
Murray's attorneys Ed Chernoff and Nareg Gourjian said they have reviewed those files. They agreed to limit any records requests to the last nine months of Jackson's life, when the singer returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for a series of comeback concerts titled "This Is It."
Jury selection in Murray's case begins Thursday. Hundreds of potential jurors are being summoned to a downtown Los Angeles courthouse where they will begin filling out questionnaires that Pastor said currently spans 29 pages and contains 125 questions.
The judge met in closed session with attorneys to finalize the questionnaire. Opening statements are expected to begin on May 9. (report from Anthony McCartney, Associated Press)
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor will review files from Dr. Arnold Klein that cover the final nine months of Jackson's life.
Klein is fighting the release of the files to attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray, citing patient confidentiality rules. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop star.
Attorneys for Murray say they need to review the files to see if the records support a defense theory that Jackson was suffering from withdrawal from the painkiller Demerol when he died unexpectedly on June 25, 2009.
The lawyers contend Klein frequently injected Jackson with Demerol and the singer became addicted to the treatments.
"Due to Dr. Klein's actions, Mr. Jackson became physiologically and psychologically dependent on Demerol," Murray's attorneys wrote in a motion filed Monday. "Dr. Murray's right to this information in the criminal case greatly outweighs any privilege or privacy rights asserted by Dr. Klein pertaining to the records of Mr. Jackson who is now deceased."
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan has said a potential defense expert witness contends Jackson was showing signs of Demerol withdrawal before his death, and that may have complicated his reactions to other medications.
Authorities have accused Murray of giving the singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, which is normally administered in hospital settings. His attorneys have said he did not give the singer anything that should have killed him.
Klein's attorney Garo Ghazarian said during the hearing Tuesday that the defense hadn't shown any evidence that Jackson was addicted to Demerol or that any of Klein's treatments were improper.
Pastor said he will review the files on April 6 and also hear from an attorney for Jackson's estate, who have not waived any of the singer's privileges.
Some of Klein's medical records have already been turned over to coroner's officials who investigated Jackson's death.
Murray's attorneys Ed Chernoff and Nareg Gourjian said they have reviewed those files. They agreed to limit any records requests to the last nine months of Jackson's life, when the singer returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for a series of comeback concerts titled "This Is It."
Jury selection in Murray's case begins Thursday. Hundreds of potential jurors are being summoned to a downtown Los Angeles courthouse where they will begin filling out questionnaires that Pastor said currently spans 29 pages and contains 125 questions.
The judge met in closed session with attorneys to finalize the questionnaire. Opening statements are expected to begin on May 9. (report from Anthony McCartney, Associated Press)
History of camouflage wins colorful literary prize
LONDON — A history of camouflage in nature, art and warfare has won the Warwick Prize, a literary award devoted this year to books on the theme of color.
"Dazzled and Deceived," by British writer Peter Forbes, was awarded the 50,000 pound ($81,000) prize on Tuesday.
The award was established in 2009 to recognize books in any genre and from any country on a specific theme.
Forbes said the win was "a vindication of a life spent bouncing science off art and vice versa."
The other finalists were two novelists, a poet, an anthropologist and a literary historian.
The prize is awarded every two years by England's University of Warwick.
The inaugural prize, on the theme of complexity, was won in 2009 by Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine." (report from Associated Press)
"Dazzled and Deceived," by British writer Peter Forbes, was awarded the 50,000 pound ($81,000) prize on Tuesday.
The award was established in 2009 to recognize books in any genre and from any country on a specific theme.
Forbes said the win was "a vindication of a life spent bouncing science off art and vice versa."
The other finalists were two novelists, a poet, an anthropologist and a literary historian.
The prize is awarded every two years by England's University of Warwick.
The inaugural prize, on the theme of complexity, was won in 2009 by Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine." (report from Associated Press)
Ja Rule pleads guilty to $-M tax evasion in US
NEWARK, New Jersey — Rapper and actor Ja Rule admitted Tuesday that he failed to pay taxes on more than $3 million in income, pleading guilty to tax evasion in federal court in New Jersey.
The platinum-selling rapper earned the money between 2004 and 2006 while he lived in Saddle River, an upscale community in northern New Jersey.
As part of a plea agreement, the government dismissed two counts against him for unpaid taxes on income earned in 2007 and 2008.
Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is expected to be sentenced on the tax evasion charges in June. He faces up to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines on each count.
He also faces sentencing June 8 in New York on an attempted weapon possession charge that he pleaded guilty to in December. He has agreed to a two-year prison term in that case.
Police say they found a loaded gun in a rear door of his luxury sports car when it was stopped for speeding after a July 2007 concert.
Ja Rule, 35, was nominated for a 2002 best rap album Grammy Award for "Pain is Love." His movie credits include 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" and 2003's "Scary Movie 3." (report from David Porter, Associated Press)
The platinum-selling rapper earned the money between 2004 and 2006 while he lived in Saddle River, an upscale community in northern New Jersey.
As part of a plea agreement, the government dismissed two counts against him for unpaid taxes on income earned in 2007 and 2008.
Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is expected to be sentenced on the tax evasion charges in June. He faces up to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines on each count.
He also faces sentencing June 8 in New York on an attempted weapon possession charge that he pleaded guilty to in December. He has agreed to a two-year prison term in that case.
Police say they found a loaded gun in a rear door of his luxury sports car when it was stopped for speeding after a July 2007 concert.
Ja Rule, 35, was nominated for a 2002 best rap album Grammy Award for "Pain is Love." His movie credits include 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" and 2003's "Scary Movie 3." (report from David Porter, Associated Press)
HK inquest faults Philippines in hostage deaths
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong inquest has concluded that Philippine officials contributed to or caused the deaths of eight local tourists gunned down by a disgruntled former police officer who held their tour bus hostage in Manila in August.
A five-member jury at Hong Kong's coroner's court faulted Philippine authorities for not meeting the hostage-taker's demands quickly enough and lying to him. The jury said the bungled rescue operation also delayed medical treatment for two victims who might have been saved.
The panel also found that Philippine officials aggravated negotiations by failing to block media coverage of the gunman's brother's arrest, which outraged him.
Wednesday's findings do not imply criminal or civil responsibility. (report from Associated Press)
A five-member jury at Hong Kong's coroner's court faulted Philippine authorities for not meeting the hostage-taker's demands quickly enough and lying to him. The jury said the bungled rescue operation also delayed medical treatment for two victims who might have been saved.
The panel also found that Philippine officials aggravated negotiations by failing to block media coverage of the gunman's brother's arrest, which outraged him.
Wednesday's findings do not imply criminal or civil responsibility. (report from Associated Press)
Newly rich targeted as witches, South African police warn
JOHANNESBURG — Newly rich South Africans are increasingly accused of witchcraft and attacked by their neighbors, police in the northern province of Limpopo said Wednesday.
"Now you are a witch because you are driving a four-by-four. This is the mentality that people have," police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi, told the Sapa news agency.
"Once people start amassing wealth, getting bigger houses and sending their children to better schools, it means you are engaging yourself in witchcraft.
"People think something is helping you do that and then they accuse you of witchcraft."
Mulaudzi said Limpopo had seen four attacks in the past three months in villages where alleged witches were either assaulted or killed.
In the most recent incident, an 81-year-old grandmother and her 26-year-old granddaughter were stoned to death and then set alight by a mob in a small village Sunday after being accused of witchcraft, Sapa reported.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the killings.
Mulaudzi said villagers who had left home to earn money in urban areas were becoming afraid to return and build new houses in their communities. He blamed a lack of education in rural areas for misconceptions about the upwardly mobile.
"We still have a long way to go in educating people," he said. "This thing is very depressing." (report from Agence France-Presse)
"Now you are a witch because you are driving a four-by-four. This is the mentality that people have," police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi, told the Sapa news agency.
"Once people start amassing wealth, getting bigger houses and sending their children to better schools, it means you are engaging yourself in witchcraft.
"People think something is helping you do that and then they accuse you of witchcraft."
Mulaudzi said Limpopo had seen four attacks in the past three months in villages where alleged witches were either assaulted or killed.
In the most recent incident, an 81-year-old grandmother and her 26-year-old granddaughter were stoned to death and then set alight by a mob in a small village Sunday after being accused of witchcraft, Sapa reported.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the killings.
Mulaudzi said villagers who had left home to earn money in urban areas were becoming afraid to return and build new houses in their communities. He blamed a lack of education in rural areas for misconceptions about the upwardly mobile.
"We still have a long way to go in educating people," he said. "This thing is very depressing." (report from Agence France-Presse)
Senate OKs rules of procedure in impeach trial
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) The Senate has adopted the rules of procedure that will be used in the impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
The new approved rules, contained in Resolution 432, did not include the proposed imposition of a gag order on senators, who will sit as judges when the Senate convenes as an impeachment court, prosecutors, witnesses, counsels and even including the Senate President who will preside over the impeachment trial.
Instead, the rules provide that the presiding officer has “the power to make and issue by himself or by the Secretary of the Senate, all orders, mandates, and writs authorized by these rules or by the Senate, and to make and enforce such other regulations and orders in the premises as the Senate may authorize or provide.”
But Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who presented on the floor Resolution 432 containing the rules of procedures on impeachment trials, explained that the senator-judges could not still talk about the merits of the case and would not be allowed to be interviewed during the actual impeachment proceedings.
“Hindi gag order ang tawag pero (It’s not called gag order but) we are not allowed to talk about the merit of the case or we're not allowed to be interviewed during the actual proceedings,” Sotto told reporters.
Sotto, before adjourning the session, announced that the Senate will convene as an impeachment court on May 9.
He said the Senate acting as an impeachment court will be ready to accept the prosecution at 2:00 p.m. on May 9.
The approval of the impeachment rules came just hours after the House of Representatives transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday the articles of impeachment against the Ombudsman. (report from Maila Ager, Inquirer.net)
The new approved rules, contained in Resolution 432, did not include the proposed imposition of a gag order on senators, who will sit as judges when the Senate convenes as an impeachment court, prosecutors, witnesses, counsels and even including the Senate President who will preside over the impeachment trial.
Instead, the rules provide that the presiding officer has “the power to make and issue by himself or by the Secretary of the Senate, all orders, mandates, and writs authorized by these rules or by the Senate, and to make and enforce such other regulations and orders in the premises as the Senate may authorize or provide.”
But Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who presented on the floor Resolution 432 containing the rules of procedures on impeachment trials, explained that the senator-judges could not still talk about the merits of the case and would not be allowed to be interviewed during the actual impeachment proceedings.
“Hindi gag order ang tawag pero (It’s not called gag order but) we are not allowed to talk about the merit of the case or we're not allowed to be interviewed during the actual proceedings,” Sotto told reporters.
Sotto, before adjourning the session, announced that the Senate will convene as an impeachment court on May 9.
He said the Senate acting as an impeachment court will be ready to accept the prosecution at 2:00 p.m. on May 9.
The approval of the impeachment rules came just hours after the House of Representatives transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday the articles of impeachment against the Ombudsman. (report from Maila Ager, Inquirer.net)
Reconcile records on OFWs, Aquino orders
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III has ordered concerned government agencies to reconcile their records on overseas Filipino workers, especially those in Libya, according to a report on Radyo Inquirer.
The report said Aquino gave the order to the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration, and Bureau of Immigration.
Aquino expressed dismay at the different data these agencies have on OFWs and said that there was a need to reconcile them to make it easier for the government to track down these workers and provide aid, especially in strife-torn countries like Libya.
Aquino was also quoted as saying that the government was spending two million euros to rent a ship that would ferry OFWs out of conflict areas.
He cited that it has become increasingly difficult to enter Libyan ports, for example, ever since the allies launched air strikes on the country. (report from Jaemie Quinto, DZIQ-Radyo Inquirer)
The report said Aquino gave the order to the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration, and Bureau of Immigration.
Aquino expressed dismay at the different data these agencies have on OFWs and said that there was a need to reconcile them to make it easier for the government to track down these workers and provide aid, especially in strife-torn countries like Libya.
Aquino was also quoted as saying that the government was spending two million euros to rent a ship that would ferry OFWs out of conflict areas.
He cited that it has become increasingly difficult to enter Libyan ports, for example, ever since the allies launched air strikes on the country. (report from Jaemie Quinto, DZIQ-Radyo Inquirer)
Execution of 3 Filipinos on China death row set March 30
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 5) The three Filipino drugs mules on death row in China will be executed by lethal injection next Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Despite winning a rare reprieve following a high-level Philippine lobby, the death sentences on Ramon Credo, 42, Elizabeth Batain, 38, and Sally Villanueva, 32, will be carried out, the DFA said Wednesday.
"On the same day" Credo and Villanueva will be executed in Xiamen while the death penalty on Batain will be carried out in Shenzhen, said DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya at a news conference.
The three, who were convicted of heroin smuggling in 2008, were due to have been put to death last February 20 and 21 but was put on hold after Vice President Jejomar Binay went to Beijing on February 18 to seek mercy.
Philippine authorities had gone to great lengths in a bid to save the Filipinos and made repeated appeals for their sentences to be commuted to life in jail.
But the Chinese embassy in Manila last week dashed hopes for clemency, saying, “The verdict is a final verdict.”
The DFA said Manila will respect the final ruling of China’s high tribunal.
"The government respects the Chinese law and the finality of the verdict of the Chinese People's Court," Malaya told reporters.
President Benigno Aquino last week acknowledged that from the start, the government was told that the stay of execution of the three Filipinos was temporary, and “we have to conform to their laws.”
’All possible assistance’
The DFA said it provided “all possible legal and consular assistance” to the three Filipinos.
“The government ensured that their legal rights were respected and observed, and their welfare protected from the time of their arrests and throughout the judicial process, and even up to this very day,” it said.
The government had insisted that the three were from poor families and were duped into becoming drug mules by crime gangs.
The three are among 227 Filipinos jailed for drugs offenses in China. Of the total, 72 have received the death penalty with possible commutation, 38 meted life imprisonment, 78 sentenced to 15 years in prison and 35 currently on trial. Only six cases have reached the Supreme Court — two sentences overturned, three affirmed and one still being reviewed.
The DFA reiterated its warning for Filipinos “not to allow themselves to be victimized by international drug syndicates.”
“We wish to stress that vigilance is the first major step in combating the modus operandi of international drug traffickers,” it said. “We urge all our citizens to be on alert at all times in order not to be victimized by drug syndicates.”
Doomed loved ones
The DFA said the families of the Filipinos had been informed of the impending executions and will leave for China over the weekend to see their doomed loved ones for the last time.
Credo, 42, a father of five children, was arrested on December 28, 2008, at Gaoji International Airport in Xiamen after getting off a China Southern Airlines flight from Manila. A total of 4,113 grams of heroin was found in his luggage and he was formally charged with drug smuggling on January 21, 2009.
Credo is being held at Xiamen No. 1 Detention House, as is Villanueva, 32.
Villanueva, a mother of two, was apprehended on December 24, 2008, also at Gaoji International Airport, upon arrival on China Southern Airlines flight from Manila. She was found with 4,410 grams of heroin in her suitcase. Villanueva was formally charged with drug smuggling on January 23, 2009.
Batain, 38, was arrested on May 25, 2008, at the Shenzhen airport after disembarking from an Asiana Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur. A total of 6,800 grams of heroin was found “sealed inside two reams of bond paper inside her luggage.” She was charged with drug trafficking on June 30, 2009. She is being held at Shenzhen No. 3 Detention House.
Smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin or other drugs is punishable by death in China. The Philippines has no death penalty.
Jayson Ordinario, a younger brother of one of the two women, said that his sister was hired as a cellphone dealer in Xiamen and was tricked into carrying a bag that had a secret compartment loaded with heroin allegedly by her job recruiter.
Last-ditch effort
Aquino had earlier written to Chinese President Hun Jintao appealing for clemency.
In another move seeking to spare Filipinos on death row in China, Aquino did not send a representative to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December honoring a jailed Chinese dissident. Manila also deported to Beijing last month 14 Taiwanese facing fraud charges in China despite protests from Taipei.
The Chinese ambassador said the criminal cases should not harm ties between Manila and Beijing.
"I don't want our wonderful relations to be kidnapped by these drug criminals," Liu said. (reports from Dennis Atienza Maliwanag & Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer; Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press)
Despite winning a rare reprieve following a high-level Philippine lobby, the death sentences on Ramon Credo, 42, Elizabeth Batain, 38, and Sally Villanueva, 32, will be carried out, the DFA said Wednesday.
"On the same day" Credo and Villanueva will be executed in Xiamen while the death penalty on Batain will be carried out in Shenzhen, said DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya at a news conference.
The three, who were convicted of heroin smuggling in 2008, were due to have been put to death last February 20 and 21 but was put on hold after Vice President Jejomar Binay went to Beijing on February 18 to seek mercy.
Philippine authorities had gone to great lengths in a bid to save the Filipinos and made repeated appeals for their sentences to be commuted to life in jail.
But the Chinese embassy in Manila last week dashed hopes for clemency, saying, “The verdict is a final verdict.”
The DFA said Manila will respect the final ruling of China’s high tribunal.
"The government respects the Chinese law and the finality of the verdict of the Chinese People's Court," Malaya told reporters.
President Benigno Aquino last week acknowledged that from the start, the government was told that the stay of execution of the three Filipinos was temporary, and “we have to conform to their laws.”
’All possible assistance’
The DFA said it provided “all possible legal and consular assistance” to the three Filipinos.
“The government ensured that their legal rights were respected and observed, and their welfare protected from the time of their arrests and throughout the judicial process, and even up to this very day,” it said.
The government had insisted that the three were from poor families and were duped into becoming drug mules by crime gangs.
The three are among 227 Filipinos jailed for drugs offenses in China. Of the total, 72 have received the death penalty with possible commutation, 38 meted life imprisonment, 78 sentenced to 15 years in prison and 35 currently on trial. Only six cases have reached the Supreme Court — two sentences overturned, three affirmed and one still being reviewed.
The DFA reiterated its warning for Filipinos “not to allow themselves to be victimized by international drug syndicates.”
“We wish to stress that vigilance is the first major step in combating the modus operandi of international drug traffickers,” it said. “We urge all our citizens to be on alert at all times in order not to be victimized by drug syndicates.”
Doomed loved ones
The DFA said the families of the Filipinos had been informed of the impending executions and will leave for China over the weekend to see their doomed loved ones for the last time.
Credo, 42, a father of five children, was arrested on December 28, 2008, at Gaoji International Airport in Xiamen after getting off a China Southern Airlines flight from Manila. A total of 4,113 grams of heroin was found in his luggage and he was formally charged with drug smuggling on January 21, 2009.
Credo is being held at Xiamen No. 1 Detention House, as is Villanueva, 32.
Villanueva, a mother of two, was apprehended on December 24, 2008, also at Gaoji International Airport, upon arrival on China Southern Airlines flight from Manila. She was found with 4,410 grams of heroin in her suitcase. Villanueva was formally charged with drug smuggling on January 23, 2009.
Batain, 38, was arrested on May 25, 2008, at the Shenzhen airport after disembarking from an Asiana Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur. A total of 6,800 grams of heroin was found “sealed inside two reams of bond paper inside her luggage.” She was charged with drug trafficking on June 30, 2009. She is being held at Shenzhen No. 3 Detention House.
Smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin or other drugs is punishable by death in China. The Philippines has no death penalty.
Jayson Ordinario, a younger brother of one of the two women, said that his sister was hired as a cellphone dealer in Xiamen and was tricked into carrying a bag that had a secret compartment loaded with heroin allegedly by her job recruiter.
Last-ditch effort
Aquino had earlier written to Chinese President Hun Jintao appealing for clemency.
In another move seeking to spare Filipinos on death row in China, Aquino did not send a representative to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December honoring a jailed Chinese dissident. Manila also deported to Beijing last month 14 Taiwanese facing fraud charges in China despite protests from Taipei.
The Chinese ambassador said the criminal cases should not harm ties between Manila and Beijing.
"I don't want our wonderful relations to be kidnapped by these drug criminals," Liu said. (reports from Dennis Atienza Maliwanag & Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer; Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press)
Peso falls anew on reports of Japan nuke repair problems
MANILA, Philippines — The peso fell on Wednesday against the US dollar as fears over the nuclear crisis in Japan were once more sparked following a report from the Japanese government that efforts to repair reactors were being hampered by radiation levels from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The local currency closed at 43.47 against the greenback on the third trading day of the week, down by 13 centavos from the previous day's finish of 43.34:$1.
Intraday high reached 43.41:$1, while intraday low settled at 43.51:$1. Volume of trade dropped to $734.8 million from $907.78 million previously.
Traders said the news report about the nuclear situation quoting Japanese authorities made some investors worried about the potential adverse impact not only on the Japanese economy but on neighboring economies as well.
The Japanese government said efforts to avoid further damage from the disaster were being heightened, but admitted the radiation levels were posing challenge to efforts.
Reports said the Japanese government has estimated the damage and losses of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan to hit $25 trillion yen, or $309 billion.
Negative developments in Japan, a major export market, could cause unfavorable economic impact on exporting countries like the Philippines, traders said. (report from Michelle Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The local currency closed at 43.47 against the greenback on the third trading day of the week, down by 13 centavos from the previous day's finish of 43.34:$1.
Intraday high reached 43.41:$1, while intraday low settled at 43.51:$1. Volume of trade dropped to $734.8 million from $907.78 million previously.
Traders said the news report about the nuclear situation quoting Japanese authorities made some investors worried about the potential adverse impact not only on the Japanese economy but on neighboring economies as well.
The Japanese government said efforts to avoid further damage from the disaster were being heightened, but admitted the radiation levels were posing challenge to efforts.
Reports said the Japanese government has estimated the damage and losses of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan to hit $25 trillion yen, or $309 billion.
Negative developments in Japan, a major export market, could cause unfavorable economic impact on exporting countries like the Philippines, traders said. (report from Michelle Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Monday, March 21, 2011
It's official: Flordelina Macabiog's going home
Yup! This is official. Flordelina Macabiog's really going home to Davao.
In a recent post by Flor on her Facebook last March 20 at exactly 11:14pm, she's going home for a special unknown purpose and it says: "goodbye bohol..im leaving you na!..will go home tomorrow for a special purpose...will miss you guys..our laag days..the pictorial..the foodtrip and the laughters..huhuhu.i hope to see you soon..its hard to say goodbye to the people you learn to love...but i need to home na..i llove you all".
Flor is saying that she's going home but not saying that she's staying in Davao for good. She thanked her friends from Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Bohol and even Dagupan for the laughter, the time, the food trip and even the pictorials that she had from her work and her colleagues before.
Remembering that the KaJoyfulness network already reported about Flordelina willing to go home to Davao, and luckily, it's true. And Flordelina's ready to go back as a talent of the KaJoyfulness network even the graphics and the style has been changed. (report from the KaJoyfulness network)
Italy beats world record with 600-meter sausage
ROME — Italy Sunday snatched from Romania the record for the production of the world's longest sausage when a team of pork butchers crafted a delicacy more than half a kilometer long, the ANSA news agency reported.
Alberto Della Pelle from Penne, a small town in central Italy, helped by nine colleagues, created a sausage 597.8 meters (1,961 feet) long in the main street.
It was officially measured and declared to have beaten easily the previous Romanian record-holder, only 392 meters (1,286 feet) in length.
The monster sausage will be sliced to fill 6,000 sandwiches which will be sold to raise funds for the charity Caritas. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Alberto Della Pelle from Penne, a small town in central Italy, helped by nine colleagues, created a sausage 597.8 meters (1,961 feet) long in the main street.
It was officially measured and declared to have beaten easily the previous Romanian record-holder, only 392 meters (1,286 feet) in length.
The monster sausage will be sliced to fill 6,000 sandwiches which will be sold to raise funds for the charity Caritas. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Sen. Santiago lands on inspiring women’s list
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has scored a double feat after landing on the list of a website’s most inspiring women and a search engine’s list of most influential women in the Philippines.
The veteran senator was named with nine other Filipino women as recipients of the Womanity Award from Female Network.com, her office said in a statement.
The award, whose announcement of winners coincided with International Women’s Day on March 8, recognizes women for their inspiring stories in various fields.
Santiago was described as a crusader against corruption in government who had served as a lawyer, trial court judge, immigration commissioner and agrarian reform secretary before becoming a senator.
“Her efforts in and out of the Senate have earned her international recognition,” the award said.
The other awardees were Lea Salonga, Charice Pempengco, Jessica Sojo, Ana Julaton, Liz Uy, Raquel Fortun, Bing Sibal Limjoco, Daphne Oseña Paez and Tweetie de Leon Gonzales.
Close on the heels of the Womanity Awards, Santiago landed on Google’s list of the Top 20 Most Influential Filipinas of 2010, which included Philippine Daily Inquirer business reporter Doris Dumlao. (report from TJ Burgonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The veteran senator was named with nine other Filipino women as recipients of the Womanity Award from Female Network.com, her office said in a statement.
The award, whose announcement of winners coincided with International Women’s Day on March 8, recognizes women for their inspiring stories in various fields.
Santiago was described as a crusader against corruption in government who had served as a lawyer, trial court judge, immigration commissioner and agrarian reform secretary before becoming a senator.
“Her efforts in and out of the Senate have earned her international recognition,” the award said.
The other awardees were Lea Salonga, Charice Pempengco, Jessica Sojo, Ana Julaton, Liz Uy, Raquel Fortun, Bing Sibal Limjoco, Daphne Oseña Paez and Tweetie de Leon Gonzales.
Close on the heels of the Womanity Awards, Santiago landed on Google’s list of the Top 20 Most Influential Filipinas of 2010, which included Philippine Daily Inquirer business reporter Doris Dumlao. (report from TJ Burgonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
'Limitless' reaches heights of N. America box office
LOS ANGELES – Mystery thriller "Limitless," starring Bradley Cooper as an author who taps his full brain potential after sampling a revolutionary new drug, topped the North American weekend box office, preliminary data showed Sunday.
The darkly comic film benefited from a charismatic lead actor in Cooper, of 2009 smash hit "The Hangover," to make $19 million in its debut weekend, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.
In second place was Paramount's eccentric animated film "Rango," with the voice talent of Johnny Depp in a tale about a chameleon who becomes sheriff to clean up the town of Dirt, had $15.3 million in ticket sales.
Slipping from the top spot to third was "Battle: Los Angeles," which tells the story of a unit of US Marines fighting invading aliens. The film took in $14.6 million across North America.
The Matthew McConaughey-starring drama "The Lincoln Lawyer" debuted in the fourth spot, with $13.4 million, while British comic star Simon Pegg's science fiction romp "Paul" took $13.1 million, also in its opening weekend.
In sixth was "Red Riding Hood," a gothic retelling of the classic fairy tale, starring Amanda Seyfried as a strong-willed teenager in a love triangle, had $7.2 million in sales as slid three spots in its second weekend.
Thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" had $5.9 million in takings for the seventh spot, while Disney's "Mars Needs Moms!" slipped three slots for this weekend's number eight with $5.3 million in estimated sales.
Ninth place went to critically panned teen romance flick "Beastly" with $3.2 million, ahead of comedy "Hall Pass" with $2.6 million. (report from Agence France-Presse)
The darkly comic film benefited from a charismatic lead actor in Cooper, of 2009 smash hit "The Hangover," to make $19 million in its debut weekend, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.
In second place was Paramount's eccentric animated film "Rango," with the voice talent of Johnny Depp in a tale about a chameleon who becomes sheriff to clean up the town of Dirt, had $15.3 million in ticket sales.
Slipping from the top spot to third was "Battle: Los Angeles," which tells the story of a unit of US Marines fighting invading aliens. The film took in $14.6 million across North America.
The Matthew McConaughey-starring drama "The Lincoln Lawyer" debuted in the fourth spot, with $13.4 million, while British comic star Simon Pegg's science fiction romp "Paul" took $13.1 million, also in its opening weekend.
In sixth was "Red Riding Hood," a gothic retelling of the classic fairy tale, starring Amanda Seyfried as a strong-willed teenager in a love triangle, had $7.2 million in sales as slid three spots in its second weekend.
Thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" had $5.9 million in takings for the seventh spot, while Disney's "Mars Needs Moms!" slipped three slots for this weekend's number eight with $5.3 million in estimated sales.
Ninth place went to critically panned teen romance flick "Beastly" with $3.2 million, ahead of comedy "Hall Pass" with $2.6 million. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Mark Earth Hour, Filipinos enjoined
MANILA, Philippines — Environment Secretary Ramon Paje yesterday urged Filipinos to make a Lenten sacrifice for Mother Earth by participating in the observance of Earth Hour.
Paje enjoined Filipinos nationwide to switch off their electric lights and appliances for an hour on March 26 to mark Earth Hour, a global activity aimed at raising awareness of global warming.
Earth Hour 201l will be observed from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Noting that the Philippines had topped Earth Hour participation for the last two years, Paje said Filipinos should continue making a “sacrifice” to relieve Mother Earth of the stresses from carbon dioxide and fossil fuel emissions.
As part of Earth Hour, Paje said he had directed the switching off of electrical power in all offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
He also called on all local government units, educational institutions, commercial establishments, outdoor advertisers, civic groups and households to do the same. (report from Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Paje enjoined Filipinos nationwide to switch off their electric lights and appliances for an hour on March 26 to mark Earth Hour, a global activity aimed at raising awareness of global warming.
Earth Hour 201l will be observed from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Noting that the Philippines had topped Earth Hour participation for the last two years, Paje said Filipinos should continue making a “sacrifice” to relieve Mother Earth of the stresses from carbon dioxide and fossil fuel emissions.
As part of Earth Hour, Paje said he had directed the switching off of electrical power in all offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
He also called on all local government units, educational institutions, commercial establishments, outdoor advertisers, civic groups and households to do the same. (report from Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Gadhafi's compound strike hit control center — official
WASHINGTON — (UPDATE) An airstrike against an administrative building in a compound including Moammar Gadhafi's residence in Tripoli destroyed the Libyan leader's "command and control capability," a coalition official told AFP Sunday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, commented after a missile destroyed the building in the compound that includes Gadhafi's residence in Tripoli.
"The coalition is actively enforcing UNSCR (UN Security Council Resolution) 1973, and that in keeping with that mission, we continue to strike those targets which pose a direct threat to the Libyan people and to our ability to implement the no-fly zone," the official said.
The building, which was about 50 meters (165 feet) from the tent where Gadhafi generally meets guests, was flattened. It was hit by a missile, Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told journalists, who were taken to the site by bus.
"This was a barbaric bombing which could have hit hundreds of civilians gathered at the residence of Moammar Gadhafi about 400 meters away from the building which was hit," Ibrahim said.
He denounced the "contradictions in Western discourses," saying: "Western countries say they want to protect civilians while they bomb the residence knowing there are civilians inside."
Scores of Gadhafi supporters rushed towards the complex at Bab el-Aziziya in the south of the Libyan capital after a rumor spread that a plane had been shot down and crashed.
"Where is the plane?" several of them, mainly youths, cried.
An AFP journalist saw smoke billowing from the residence and barracks at Bab el-Aziziya in the south of the Libyan capital as anti-aircraft guns fired shots.
Tripoli was rocked by powerful explosions late Sunday, of which one was heard coming from the area around Gadhafi's residence.
Gadhafi's army announced a new ceasefire on Sunday, saying it was heeding an African Union call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, but the United States accused Tripoli of breaching the truce almost immediately.
"I sincerely hope and urge the Libyan authorities to keep their word," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a swift reaction during a visit to Libya's eastern neighbour Egypt.
"They have been continuing to attack the civilian population. This (offer) has to be verified and tested," he told a news conference in Cairo.
Gadhafi's regime had declared a ceasefire on Friday after UN Security Council resolution 1973 authorised any necessary measures, including a no-fly zone, to stop his forces harming civilians in the fight against the rebels.
But his troops continued attacking the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, sparking action by US, British and French forces from Saturday in line with the resolution. (report from Agence France-Presse)
The official, who asked not to be identified, commented after a missile destroyed the building in the compound that includes Gadhafi's residence in Tripoli.
"The coalition is actively enforcing UNSCR (UN Security Council Resolution) 1973, and that in keeping with that mission, we continue to strike those targets which pose a direct threat to the Libyan people and to our ability to implement the no-fly zone," the official said.
The building, which was about 50 meters (165 feet) from the tent where Gadhafi generally meets guests, was flattened. It was hit by a missile, Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told journalists, who were taken to the site by bus.
"This was a barbaric bombing which could have hit hundreds of civilians gathered at the residence of Moammar Gadhafi about 400 meters away from the building which was hit," Ibrahim said.
He denounced the "contradictions in Western discourses," saying: "Western countries say they want to protect civilians while they bomb the residence knowing there are civilians inside."
Scores of Gadhafi supporters rushed towards the complex at Bab el-Aziziya in the south of the Libyan capital after a rumor spread that a plane had been shot down and crashed.
"Where is the plane?" several of them, mainly youths, cried.
An AFP journalist saw smoke billowing from the residence and barracks at Bab el-Aziziya in the south of the Libyan capital as anti-aircraft guns fired shots.
Tripoli was rocked by powerful explosions late Sunday, of which one was heard coming from the area around Gadhafi's residence.
Gadhafi's army announced a new ceasefire on Sunday, saying it was heeding an African Union call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, but the United States accused Tripoli of breaching the truce almost immediately.
"I sincerely hope and urge the Libyan authorities to keep their word," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a swift reaction during a visit to Libya's eastern neighbour Egypt.
"They have been continuing to attack the civilian population. This (offer) has to be verified and tested," he told a news conference in Cairo.
Gadhafi's regime had declared a ceasefire on Friday after UN Security Council resolution 1973 authorised any necessary measures, including a no-fly zone, to stop his forces harming civilians in the fight against the rebels.
But his troops continued attacking the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, sparking action by US, British and French forces from Saturday in line with the resolution. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Obama woos Brazil while Libya air assault unfolds
RIO DE JANEIRO — President Barack Obama praised Brazil's rise as an emerging power on Sunday, calling the South American country an equal partner of the United States as he pressed on with a trip overshadowed by a U.S. and European air assault on Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya.
Obama took in the night view from Rio de Janeiro's famous Christ the Redeemer statue and earlier played soccer with slum kids in a show of cultural affinity on the second day of what aides call his signature first-term visit to Latin America.
In a speech at a historic theater broadcast live on television, Obama said Brazil has emerged from decades of underperformance to become a powerful economy and a flourishing democracy that has many shared values with the United States.
An old joke that Brazil would always be a "country of the future" because of its unfulfilled potential no longer holds true, he said.
"For the people of Brazil, the future has arrived," he said to applause from an audience of about 2,000 invited guests.
Obama stressed that the U.S.-Brazil relationship is a partnership of equals, carefully chosen words aimed at pleasing Brazil and other Latin American nations that have long complained of a high-handed approach by Washington.
"As you confront the many challenges you still face at home as well as abroad, let us stand together -- not as senior and junior partners, but as equal partners," Obama said.
Obama, who is seeking improved relations with Brazil after a period marked by tensions and neglect, focused heavily on the two countries' shared culture and history as former European colonies with rich, multicultural societies.
But his attention was divided by the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the Iraq invasion. The military campaign against Gaddafi's forces that was launched on Saturday intruded on Obama's schedule of diplomacy and business promotion in Brazil, Latin America's top economy.
American jobs
The White House has justified Obama's five-day Latin American tour in large part for its potential dividends of boosting U.S. exports to help create American jobs, considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
China is a rising threat to U.S. economic dominance in the region, recently becoming the top trade partner for both Brazil and Chile, which Obama visits next. Brazil, in particular, has boomed in recent years as about 20 million people have climbed out of poverty into a free-spending middle class.
Obama's talks on Saturday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff focused heavily on bolstering economic ties, though little progress was made on key disputes like trade barriers.
Conservative critics may seize the chance to chide Obama for being away from Washington -- and in a city renowned for its beaches and breathtaking views -- at a time when U.S. forces are in harm's way. Republican foes have accused him of a failure of leadership in a string of international crises.
But in keeping with his "no-drama Obama" image, the White House wants to avoid any sense that the president is being held hostage by events or unable to tend to other crucial business.
Obama was huddling with top aides in Brazil as the military operations in Libya unfolded.
His only sightseeing was to the 130-foot (40-meter) tall hilltop statue of Christ that overlooks Rio. He, wife Michelle and their two daughters stood gazing up at the illuminated statue for several minutes while mist blew past them.
They were earlier greeted by children at a youth center in the "City of God" slum with chants of "Obama, Obama, Obama" before being treated to a performance of the musical Brazilian martial art Capoeira.
In a nod to Brazil's favorite sport, Obama kicked a soccer ball around with youngsters outside as security guards scanned the area from the rooftops of dilapidated buildings.
The City of God slum inspired the 2002 movie of the same name and is now part of a drive to oust drug gangs and improve security in shantytowns as the city prepares to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
Obama is due to leave Rio on Monday for a visit to Chile and will wrap up the tour on Wednesday in El Salvador. (report from Reuters)
Obama took in the night view from Rio de Janeiro's famous Christ the Redeemer statue and earlier played soccer with slum kids in a show of cultural affinity on the second day of what aides call his signature first-term visit to Latin America.
In a speech at a historic theater broadcast live on television, Obama said Brazil has emerged from decades of underperformance to become a powerful economy and a flourishing democracy that has many shared values with the United States.
An old joke that Brazil would always be a "country of the future" because of its unfulfilled potential no longer holds true, he said.
"For the people of Brazil, the future has arrived," he said to applause from an audience of about 2,000 invited guests.
Obama stressed that the U.S.-Brazil relationship is a partnership of equals, carefully chosen words aimed at pleasing Brazil and other Latin American nations that have long complained of a high-handed approach by Washington.
"As you confront the many challenges you still face at home as well as abroad, let us stand together -- not as senior and junior partners, but as equal partners," Obama said.
Obama, who is seeking improved relations with Brazil after a period marked by tensions and neglect, focused heavily on the two countries' shared culture and history as former European colonies with rich, multicultural societies.
But his attention was divided by the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the Iraq invasion. The military campaign against Gaddafi's forces that was launched on Saturday intruded on Obama's schedule of diplomacy and business promotion in Brazil, Latin America's top economy.
American jobs
The White House has justified Obama's five-day Latin American tour in large part for its potential dividends of boosting U.S. exports to help create American jobs, considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
China is a rising threat to U.S. economic dominance in the region, recently becoming the top trade partner for both Brazil and Chile, which Obama visits next. Brazil, in particular, has boomed in recent years as about 20 million people have climbed out of poverty into a free-spending middle class.
Obama's talks on Saturday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff focused heavily on bolstering economic ties, though little progress was made on key disputes like trade barriers.
Conservative critics may seize the chance to chide Obama for being away from Washington -- and in a city renowned for its beaches and breathtaking views -- at a time when U.S. forces are in harm's way. Republican foes have accused him of a failure of leadership in a string of international crises.
But in keeping with his "no-drama Obama" image, the White House wants to avoid any sense that the president is being held hostage by events or unable to tend to other crucial business.
Obama was huddling with top aides in Brazil as the military operations in Libya unfolded.
His only sightseeing was to the 130-foot (40-meter) tall hilltop statue of Christ that overlooks Rio. He, wife Michelle and their two daughters stood gazing up at the illuminated statue for several minutes while mist blew past them.
They were earlier greeted by children at a youth center in the "City of God" slum with chants of "Obama, Obama, Obama" before being treated to a performance of the musical Brazilian martial art Capoeira.
In a nod to Brazil's favorite sport, Obama kicked a soccer ball around with youngsters outside as security guards scanned the area from the rooftops of dilapidated buildings.
The City of God slum inspired the 2002 movie of the same name and is now part of a drive to oust drug gangs and improve security in shantytowns as the city prepares to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
Obama is due to leave Rio on Monday for a visit to Chile and will wrap up the tour on Wednesday in El Salvador. (report from Reuters)
PhilHealth assures repatriated OFWs can still avail of benefits
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) today assured that Filipino workers who have been repatriated from Libya and other countries can still avail of their health insurance coverage in case their legal dependents in the country are hospitalized.
"We want to assure our OFW-members that should hospitalization needs arise, they may still avail themselves of their PhilHealth benefits, provided the period of confinement is within the effectivity period of their coverage," Rey Aquino, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Aquino said said that OFWs may still use the unexpired portion of their PhilHealth coverage as indicated in their enhanced member data records.
He, however, said that the overseas Filipino worker's contribution should be updated and their premiums are paid regularly and on time by his employer to be able to avail of the benefits.
"Employers of sea-based OFWs must ensure that they remit their employees’ premiums regularly and on time, including their counterpart contributions as employers, to ensure that these OFWs or their legal dependents, are able to avail themselves of their PhilHealth benefits when they need these most," he said.
The PhilHealth's Overseas Workers Program (OWP) covers all land-based overseas Filipino workers whose jobs are covered by appropriate job contracts with overseas-based employers. Sea-based OFWs, meanwhile, are covered under the employed sector.
Among the in-patient medical care benefits that OFWs and other PhilHealth members may avail of are allowances for hospital room and board fees, drugs and medicines, X-ray and laboratory fees, as well as allowances for the use of operating room complex and for the professional fees of attending physicians.
These benefits may be availed of in accredited institutional health care facilities in the country.
The PhilHealth said it has more than two million OFW-members. (report from Philstar.com)
"We want to assure our OFW-members that should hospitalization needs arise, they may still avail themselves of their PhilHealth benefits, provided the period of confinement is within the effectivity period of their coverage," Rey Aquino, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Aquino said said that OFWs may still use the unexpired portion of their PhilHealth coverage as indicated in their enhanced member data records.
He, however, said that the overseas Filipino worker's contribution should be updated and their premiums are paid regularly and on time by his employer to be able to avail of the benefits.
"Employers of sea-based OFWs must ensure that they remit their employees’ premiums regularly and on time, including their counterpart contributions as employers, to ensure that these OFWs or their legal dependents, are able to avail themselves of their PhilHealth benefits when they need these most," he said.
The PhilHealth's Overseas Workers Program (OWP) covers all land-based overseas Filipino workers whose jobs are covered by appropriate job contracts with overseas-based employers. Sea-based OFWs, meanwhile, are covered under the employed sector.
Among the in-patient medical care benefits that OFWs and other PhilHealth members may avail of are allowances for hospital room and board fees, drugs and medicines, X-ray and laboratory fees, as well as allowances for the use of operating room complex and for the professional fees of attending physicians.
These benefits may be availed of in accredited institutional health care facilities in the country.
The PhilHealth said it has more than two million OFW-members. (report from Philstar.com)
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