Sun Star - Cebu

Pinoy wins hero's prize

2009-11-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

As a child, Efren Peñaflorida picked chool over gang life in Cavite and vowed to create a way for other children to make the same choice. He created a program that brings books to children in slums and on the streets, and the 10,000 members of his Dynamic Teen Co. have brought reading, writing and hygiene to 1,500 youngsters.

As the top CNN Hero of the Year, Peñaflorida received a grant of $100,000 so his program can keep giving education for Filipinos to escape from poverty. He and the other honorees also received $25,000 each.

"My message to children of all races is this: Please, embrace learning and love it, for it will embrace and love you back and enable you to change your world," said Peñaflorida, now a 21-year-old college graduate.

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Obama: Main 9/11 plotter will be convicted, executed

2009-11-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama, defending plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court, predicted the accused Sept. 11 author would be convicted and executed.

And US Attorney General Eric Holder assured lawmakers that prosecutors know "failure is not an option" and that Sheikh Mohammed would not be freed even if acquitted by a jury in New York, a city still scarred by the 2001 attacks.

Obama, speaking to NBC television during a trip to Asia, said that anger and security worries over the planned civilian trial would fall away "when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

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China is `world's top polluter'

2009-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Pollution typically declines during a recession. Not this time. Despite a global economic slump, worldwide carbon dioxide pollution jumped two percent last year, most of the increase coming from China, according to a study published online Tuesday.

"The growth in emissions since 2000 is almost entirely driven by the growth in China," said study lead author Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia. "It's China and India and all the developing countries together."

Man-made greenhouse gas Carbon dioxide emissions, the chief manmade greenhouse gas, come from the burning of coal, oil, natural gas, and also from the production of cement, which is a significant pollution factor in China.

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China censors block Obama's call to free the Web

2009-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama prodded China about Internet censorship and free speech, but the message was not widely heard in China where his words were blocked online and shown on only one regional television channel.

China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world's tightest controls over what they see.

The country is often criticized for its so-called "Great Firewall of China" -technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network.

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United Nations summit approves new approach to hunger fight

2009-11-17T01:57:00.000-08:00

World leaders at a food summit yesterday rallied around a new strategy to fight global hunger and help poor countries feed themselves, but failed to pledge funds sought by the United Nations.

The summit approved its final declaration during its first hours in a show of broad consensus.

Countries pledged to substantially increase aid to agriculture in developing nations, so that the world's one billion hungry can become more self-sufficient. The summit did not commit to a specific figure of $44 billion a year for agricultural aid that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says will be necessary in the coming decades.

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`Bring on Floyd'

2009-11-16T02:56:00.000-08:00

One Fan at the MGM grand said it all for everyone.

He had a poster with an "x" and reeled off Pacquiao's victims.

Oscar dela Hoya.

Ricky Hatton.

Miguel Cotto.

Then a warning.

"Floyd Mayweather, you're next."

Just a little after Pacquiao sealed his historic feat seven world titles in seven weight divisions the fans at the MGM also sent a message: "We want Floyd! We want Floyd!" The undefeated Mayweather, who unretired to face Juan Marquez last September has continually belittled Pacquiao and the Pacman's fans made it known--they want him next.

But Pacquiao, isn't taking the bite, yet.

"We will just leave it to our manager," Pacquiao said when he was asked in the post-fight interview of the prospect of facing Mayweather. "Right now, I will have a vacation and spend time with my family."

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After fire razed houses: University of the Philippines to bar use of lot

2009-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

As if losing their homes to a fire Tuesday night were not enough, more than 250 residents of Barangay Lahug won't be able to rebuild their homes if the property owner makes good its plan to fence off the area.

Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos received a letter yesterday from the University of the Philippines Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) seeking the barangay's help in securing its property, upon the recommendation of its committees and in observance of university rules and policies.

The problem, however, is that the property it seeks to secure is within an area that was struck by a fire Tuesday night that left 65 families homeless.

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Thousands cheer 20 years since collapse of Berlin Wall

2009-11-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

Ulrich Sauff and his wife stared at the mammoth domino pieces marking the path where the Berlin Wall once stood and reminisced about life in the barrier's shadow.

"It was like a prison," said Sauff, 73, who lived on the Western side of the wall. "For us `Wessis,' the few kilometers from our old home to our new home (in the East) was unthinkable." The Sauffs were among those who gathered on Monday to celebrate 20 years of unity, marking the day the wall came down.

Cheering crowd Thousands cheered as 1,000 colorfully-decorated dominoes along a mile-long route were top pled to symbolize both the moment the wall came crashing down and the resulting fall of communist governments in Eastern Europe.

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House health care bill `nowhere to go in Senate'

2009-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House of Representatives has nowhere to go in the Senate.

Speaking from the White House about 14 hours after the late Saturday vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people."

The problem is that the Senate won't run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate.

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Webmasters bag Sweet 16 slot

2009-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

THE University of Cebu Webmasters got a shot in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League Sweet 16 round after picking up two victories to bounce back from their first day debacle of the PCCL Cebu Zonals.

The Webmasters pulled off a 74-66 win over the San Sebastian College Baycats Saturday night and scored a 103-86 victory over the University of San Jose Recoletos at the Cebu Coliseum yesterday.

In last Saturday's game, the Webmasters banked on the three-point savvy of Robinson Mohammad, who badgered the basket to help UC build up a good lead en route to their victory over the two-time Naascu champions.

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23 United States agents convicted, 2 others cleared in Italy

2009-11-06T00:19:00.000-08:00

An Italian judge convicted 23 US and two Italian secret agents for the CIA's kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003, as Washington expressed dismay over the ruling.

The Milan station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency in Milan at the time, Robert Seldon Lady, was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday to eight years in prison and the other Americans to five years, in the landmark trial.

Two Italians were given three-year prison terms following the first trial involving the transfer of a "war on terror" suspect by CIA operatives thought to have sent scores of people to countries known to practice torture.

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Cotto's advantage

2009-11-04T00:56:00.000-08:00

While a lot of experts believe that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will win his Nov. 14 date with World Boxing Organization welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto, three-division world champion Felix Trinidad thinks otherwise and is betting on his countryman to come out victorious on the much-anticipated super fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Trinidad believes that the 28-year-old Cotto has the edge over the smaller Pacquiao because the Puerto Rican world champion is a natural welterweight.

"On the night of the fight, Pacquiao will still not be a full welterweight. And Cotto is very strong. As the fight plays out, around rounds 7, 8, 9 is when Cotto starts taking over.

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Karzai secures second term

2009-11-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

President Hamid Karzai effectively secured a second term on Sunday when his only challenger dropped out of the race.

The Obama administration said it was prepared to work with the man it has previously criticized to combat corruption and confront the Taliban insurgency.

President Barack Obama has been waiting for a new government in Kabul to announce whether he will send tens of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, where the war has intensified.

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2T children knock on White House door

2009-11-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on Saturday doled out presidential M&Ms and dried fruit mixes to more than 2,000 trick-or-treaters, marking their Halloween at a White House event partly aimed at honoring military families.

Dressed as superheroes, pirates, fairies and skeletons, the kids came in with their parents from Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., and lined up on the orange-lit White House driveway.

Standing outside the White House front door, the Obamas smiled, chatted and passed out cellophane goody bags that were also filled with a sweet dough butter cookie made by White House pastry chef Bill Yosses.

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Car bomb kills 105 in Pakistan market

2009-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Suspected militants exploded a car bomb in a market crowded with women and children on Wednesday, killing 105 people and turning shops selling wedding dresses, toys and jewelry into a mass of burning debris and bodies.

The attack in Peshawar City was Pakistan's deadliest since 2007 and came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the country to offer support for its fight against a strengthening al-Qaeda and Taliban-led insurgency based along the Afghan border.

Three hours drive away Clinton was three hours' drive away in the capital meeting with Pakistani government leaders when the bomb went off in Peshawar.

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Winston for mayor?

2009-10-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia is expected to transfer his voter registration records to the Cebu City poll office for the north district tomorrow, fueling speculations he may run for office in the city.

The administration party Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) said Garcia's transfer has long been expected, while the opposition Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Kusug) said it is a welcome development.

Atty. Garcia, 51, is a registered voter of Barangay Cabancalan, Mandaue City and previously served in the Cebu Provincial Board.

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Senate health care bill to include public option

2009-10-28T01:11:00.000-07:00

Health care legislation heading for the Senate floor will give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Monday, although he stopped short of claiming the 60 votes needed to pass a plan steeped in controversy.

Reid, D-Nev., said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program.

His announcement was cheered by liberal lawmakers, greeted less effusively by the White House and noted with a noncommittal response by Democratic moderates whose votes will be pivotal.

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147 killed in Baghdad blasts

2009-10-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

A pair of suicide car bombings on Sunday have devastated the heart of Iraq's capital, killing at least 147 people in the country's deadliest attack in more than two years.

The bombs targeted two government buildings and called into question Iraq's ability to protect its people as US forces withdraw.

The bombings show that insurgents still have the ability to launch horrific attacks even as violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq.

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`Mermaid' girl dies, she was 10

2009-10-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fused legs, a rare condition often called "mermaid syndrome," and gained a wide following on the Internet and national television, has died. She was 10.

Doctors had predicted she would survive only for days after her birth at the most, but the girl, described by her mother as "a tough little thing," died at Maine Medical Center last Friday afternoon, hospital spokesman John Lamb said. She had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly a week.

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21 die in India train collision

2009-10-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

A passenger train crashed into another train's rear carriage reserved for women and disabled passengers, killing 21 people and injuring 17 who remained trapped for hours yesterday near the Taj Mahal in northern India, police said.

Rescuers used gas cutters to open the wrecked compartment to free trapped passengers following the collision near Agra, the site of the famed white-marble monument about 210 kilometers, southeast of New Delhi, said Rajesh Bajpai, a railway spokesman.

Rescuers recovered 19 bodies during a rescue operation that lasted nearly seven hours, said Rajesh Dikshit, a police spokesman.

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Scientist accused of spying

2009-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

A scientist credited with helping discover evidence of water on the moon was arrested on Monday on charges of attempting to pass along classified information to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer.

Stewart David Nozette, 52, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information, the Justice Department said.

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United States execs in Pakistan as it wages offensive

2009-10-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Pakistani soldiers killed at least eight advancing Taliban fighters as they waged a major offensive against militants along the Afghan border on Monday, intelligence officials said, while a top US senator and general met with officials in the nuclear armed nation.

The United States has rushed to send equipment, such as night-vision goggles, to aid the offensive.

US Central Command Chief David Petraeus, who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was in Pakistan on Monday visiting top officials, while Sen. John Kerry was also meeting with political and military leaders, the US Embassy said.

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Group seeks suspension of `no permit, no exam' policy

2009-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

A youth group yesterday called on schools and colleges in areas struck by typhoons to extend the deadline of payment for students and to suspend the "no permit, no exam" policy.

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino aired the appeal, as students are preparing for the final examinations with the semestral break set to begin next week.

"I appeal to our school administrators to allow students to take the final examination even if they haven't settled their payments yet. The massive flooding left most of our students in these areas with nothing," Palatino said.

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Obama seeks $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors

2009-10-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year.

The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce on Thursday that there will be no cost of living increase next year. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.

It would mark the first year without an increase in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

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RP Patriots gun for second win vs. Singapore

2009-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Philippine Patriots will gun for their second straight win when they face the Singapore Slingers on Sunday in the 1st ASEAN Basketball League Invitational Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Patriots are still ecstatic over their hard-earned opening game against Indonesia's Satria Muda Britama, 76-69, last Saturday but need to raise their play a notch higher if they want to make it two in a row in the inaugural staging of the league.

It's nice to win your first game because it gives you more confidence. But in this case, we have to be more aggressive and smarter," said co-team owner Dr. Mikee Romero of Harbour Centre.

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