May20

Christians and Muslims unite in new bid to silence Lady Gaga

by webmaster on May 20th, 2012 at 2:26 PM

Christian groups in the Philippines have called for a ban on Lady Gaga’s Manila concerts, alleging that her song Judas is an offensive mockery of Jesus Christ.

Youths gathered at a rally outside the mayor’s office, chanting “Stop the Lady Gaga concerts”, while members of the Biblemode Youth Philippines group called her videos religiously offensive.

In the song, she calls herself a “holy fool” who is “still in love with Judas”, singing: “Jesus is my virtue/And Judas is the demon I cling to.” In the video, Gaga plays a biker chick riding behind a man wearing a crown of thorns, while longing for another biker with “Judas” emblazoned across his leather jacket. [full story...]

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May16

Philippines world’s call center capital

by webmaster on May 16th, 2012 at 1:13 PM

When night falls in Manila, a wave of young people scurry into the skyscrapers which criss-cross the city.

They’re call centre agents, and because most of their clients are on the other side of the world, the night shift is their busiest time.

Last year, with more than 600,000 call centre workers, the Philippines officially overtook India as the world’s call centre capital. [full story...]

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May13

How Greece could leave the eurozone in five difficult steps

by webmaster on May 13th, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Mass unemployment in Greece, inflation at 50%, a devastating recession and Greeks heading for the borders – that’s the apocalyptic scenario being painted by some economists in the increasingly likely event that Greece leaves the eurozone in coming months.

Greece is small in economic terms: it contributes only 2.2% of eurozone GDP. But withdrawal from the single currency would unleash chaos in the country, and have potentially severe knock-on effects on other euro nations. [full story...]

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May08

OWWA offers IT courses for OFWs, dependents

by webmaster on May 8th, 2012 at 2:08 PM

QUEZON CITY, MAY 8 (PIA) –The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)-National Capitol Region is offering new Information Technology (IT) courses to provide overseas Filipino workers and their families additional skills to further facilitate communication between OFWs and their families using the fastest and cheapest technology.

In a news release, OWWA also said that this is a good opportunity for OFWs and their dependents for family bonding, and to acquire new skills through IT courses being offered by the agency.

Further, the new skills may also be used in setting up a business. [full story...]

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May01

Philippines rewards the poor as Asia’s income gap widens

by webmaster on May 1st, 2012 at 11:08 PM

(Reuters) – Fe Capco and her five children live in a shack with no running water along a dirt track in eastern Manila. She earns about $100 a month washing clothes and her husband used to bring in about $70 a month driving a motorcycle taxi until he went blind.

But things are better than they used to be.

Through a program in the Philippines called Pantawid Pamilya (Family Subsistence), 3 million poor households like Capco’s get small grants from the government if they keep their children in school and take them regularly to health centers. [full story...]

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Apr30

EcoWaste alerts Quezon City government on health risks from lead in fitness

by webmaster on April 30th, 2012 at 12:34 PM

MANILA, April 30 (PNA) — The Ecowaste Coalition, a toxics watchdog, has alerted the Quezon City Government about the health risks posed by physical fitness and playground equipment at the Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) that are loaded with lead, a poison chemical that damages the brain and causes life-long health problems.

Through a letter sent to Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista last Friday, the EcoWaste requested the city government to undertake “urgent lead hazard control measures” at QMC, the city’s premier park, and other facilities frequented by children, the sector deemed most vulnerable to lead exposure due to their frequent hand-to-mouth activities. [full story...]

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Apr25

Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen

by webmaster on April 25th, 2012 at 12:33 PM

Despite assurances from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that the finding posed “no risk to the food supply or to human health”, two major South Korean retailers halted sales of U.S. beef and the government there said it may suspend quarantine inspections, a move that would effectively halt imports.

Fears of a potential backlash among consumers and big importers of U.S. beef fueled a sell-off in Chicago live cattle futures on Tuesday, with memories still sharp of the first case in 2003 that caused a $3 billion drop in exports. It took until 2011 before those exports fully recovered. [full story...]

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Apr17

US and China engage in cyber war games

by webmaster on April 17th, 2012 at 12:13 PM

The US and China have been discreetly engaging in “war games” amid rising anger in Washington over the scale and audacity of Beijing-co-ordinated cyber attacks on western governments and big business, the Guardian has learned.

State department and Pentagon officials, along with their Chinese counterparts, were involved in two war games last year that were designed to help prevent a sudden military escalation between the sides if either felt they were being targeted. Another session is planned for May. [full story...]

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Apr14

Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is lying in a coma

by webmaster on April 14th, 2012 at 3:56 PM

Robin Gibb is lying in a coma as doctors fear he only has days to live, it has been reported.

The Bee Gees star’s family were keeping a bedside vigil, praying for the 62-year-old’s survival.

He appeared to have made a recovery from liver and colon cancer this year, but doctors believe a second tumor may be present, reported The Sun.

He has also developed pneumonia.

His wife Dwina, brother Barry, 65, daughter Melissa, 37, and sons Spencer, 39, and Robin-John, 29, were at his bedside at a private hospital in Chelsea, West London. [full story...]

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Apr10

DOST chief calms Pinoys on NoKor rocket launch

by webmaster on April 10th, 2012 at 12:36 PM

MANILA, April 10 (PNA) — Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo has allayed fears about North Korea’s plan to launch a rocket between April 12 and 16 this year, saying this device has no nuclear components and it’s unlikely to contain dangerous chemicals as well.

“There’s a remote chance harmful debris from the rocket will hit us,” he said.

He gave the assurance as National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) warned the rocket will “follow a southward trajectory, reportedly along or over Republic of Korea (ROK) towards Taiwan and the Philippines.”

NDRRMC noted the eastern seaboard areas of Region 2, Polilio Island as well as Camarines Norte and Catanduanes provinces are under threat from the rocket’s expected fallout. [full story...]

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