ADDIAM

Kiamco, Corteza eye honors in Villar Cups Marilao leg

Warren Kiamco and Lee Vann Corteza both gun for honors as the third leg of the Senate President Manuel Villar Cup for billiards unfolds July 25 at the SM City in Marilao, Bulacan.

"I hope to do well in this event," said Kiamco, who beat hall of famer Efren "Bata" Reyes, 11-6, in the finals of the 1st Villar Cup in May in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

Aside from the two, Reyes is also slated to join the tournament that offers P400,000 as grand prize.

Other cue masters who have signed up are 2nd Villar Cup champ Gandy Valle, Ronnie Alcano, Francisco "Django" Bustamante and 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez.

Carlo Biado, Russian Petiza, Jharome Pena, Ramil Gallego, William Millares, Johann "Bubwit" Chua, William Chua, Godofredo Ducanes, Rodolfo Luat, Benjie Guevarra, Jundel Mazon, Panfilo Damuag, Mike Takayama, Jomar de Ocampo, Rubilen Amit, Joey Pardales, Dondon Razalan, Michael Feliciano, Richard Pornelosa, Mark Mendoza, Romar Villones and Egie Geronimo were also among those who qualified under the Pro Elite category.

NAIA 3 opens for Arroyo, but obstacles remain for commercial operations

Birthday girl Wang helps China get dive gold No. 3

BEIJING - Wang Xin gave herself a sixteenth birthday present to remember with an Olympic gold medal in the women's synchronized 10-meter platform competition on Tuesday as China claimed their third straight win in the diving pool.

Along with her 15-year-old partner Chen Roulin, Wang, who turned 16 on Monday, saw the hosts continue their dominance in the Water Cube's diving pool after victories in the men's synchronized 10m platform on Monday and the women's three-meter synchronized springboard on Sunday.

With short haircuts and baby-faced features, the two schoolgirls look barely old enough to be allowed out unaccompanied in China's capital city, let alone able to dominate an Olympic diving event.

It is a very happy day for me, my friends gave me a lot of presents for my birthday and now my dive partner has given me friendship and a gold medal, said Wang.

The teenagers have their daily scheduled planned meticulously by coaches who have drilled them to treat every competition the same - even an Olympics.

We have a whole program planned for us which includes what time we get up and when we train, said Wang.

This is all decided by our coaches, we were told we shouldn't give too much focus on the Olympics, just treat it like any other competition and be relaxed.

But when the pair were asked by a Chinese journalist about their matching boy-like haircuts, Wang swiftly clarified their appearance for him.

I can assure you, we are still girls, she replied sharply.

Despite their tender years, their technical diving dominated the field and continued China's bid for a clean-sweep as they now have three gold medals from the eight diving events.

Wang changed her name from the Chinese for 'weakness' recently, but the pair have forged into a strong partnership after barely a year together.

Chen won the gold at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne with her former partner Jia Tong before teaming up with Wang in 2007 and the duo have already won several titles including the World Cup in February this year.

Chinese divers have now dominated the women's synchronized 10m platform event since it was introduced at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

In Beijing, Wang and Chen led from the first of the five dives, building a huge lead to finish nearly 30 points ahead of silver medalists Briony Cole and Melissa Wu of Australia.

The Chinese claimed the gold with 363.54 points, Australia's Cole and Wu took silver with 335.16 and Mexico's Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz grabbed bronze with 330.06.

Having picked up a single perfect 10 score from the nine judges for both their first and second dives - the only two full-mark scores awarded in the competition - the Chinese were never threatened.

The Australian pair of Wu and Cole, who won silver in front of their home crowd at the 2007 World Championships, moved into second place after the third round and retained their grip on that position from there on in.

Oppositions Ma storms to big Taiwan presidential lead

Agence France-Presse
TAIPEI - Taiwan's opposition candidate Ma Ying-jeou stormed into a huge lead over his ruling party rival in Saturday's presidential election after 75 percent of all votes were counted, television showed.
Ma, who has vowed to heal relations with big neighbor China and to repair the stuttering economy, was a huge 17 points ahead of Frank Hsieh, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party .
Harvard-educated Ma had been seen as the frontrunner despite accusations from Hsieh that he would be soft on Beijing, with analysts saying voters were focused on the slowing economy and hopes of better cross-strait ties.
The vote is being closely watched by Beijing and Washington for signs of a new approach in the flashpoint region after eight years of recurring tensions under outgoing President Chen Shui-bian.
There was no immediate word from either of the candidates but officials at party headquarters were quick to speak out.
"We are very hopeful of the result, and we hope that the election will end in peace, reason and victory," Kuomintang manager Chan Chun-po told AFP.
"Only a change in government can stop the current political unrest."
On the small island of Matsu, where the vote count had already concluded, several hundred jubilant Ma supporters held parties on the street and let off firecrackers in celebration.
In contrast, former DPP lawmaker Cheng Wen-tsan acknowledged the scale of the looming defeat.
"Many traditional strongholds of the DPP showed expanding support for the KMT," he said.
"It means people there don't trust the DPP any more, they have rejected our administration after eight years and handed us a no-confidence vote.
"I hope our party can realize the situation and accept the fact."
Turnout was estimated at more than 80 percent of the 17.3 million eligible voters.
People were also asked to vote on two simultaneous referendums on joining the United Nations, although they may not get the required 50 percent turnout that would make them count.
After casting his ballot in a Methodist church building in Taipei, Ma said he felt confident and calm, and promised to engage with China, which insists the self-ruled island is part of its territory.
He added: "We want to normalize the trade and investment relationship with the mainland as we have done with other parts of the world."
China and Taiwan have had virtually no direct links since the island split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
"I have always said that, if I get elected, I will engage the mainland on many issues, but I will protect Taiwan's identity and also its security," he said.
Speaking earlier in the southern city of Kaohsiung, Hsieh said he also was confident.
Quizzed about how sure, he spread his arms out in an expansive gesture. "I have this much confidence," he smiled.
China's military crackdown in Tibet has allowed Hsieh to attack Ma's plan for an economic common market and peace treaty with China, but it appeared to have cut little ice.
"What is happening in Tibet is too far from me and I am not interested in one-China or common market, I just want a better life," said voter Chen Che-yu as he ran to his job as a waiter in a fast food restaurant.
China still claims Taiwan for itself and has threatened an invasion if it declares independence, confining the US-allied island to a murky limbo of de facto but unrecognized sovereignty.
Ma has been more aggressive in proposing a radical overhaul of economic ties to allow Taiwanese companies access to the vast mainland market while permitting Chinese investors to pump funds into the economy here.
Hsieh also favors closer ties but has been more cautious, warning Ma's plan may engulf Taiwan with Chinese money and laborers.
The island is the world's 17th largest economy, mainly on the back of its information technology sector, but is losing jobs and investment to mainland China, while incomes are stagnant.

Cambodia rushes to calm food price fears

Agence France-Presse
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia Thursday rushed to calm fears over spiraling food costs, as it pushed out a series of measures meant to halt price hikes as thousands of factory workers facing hunger threatened to strike for higher wages.
A lifting of the ban on imported pigs and pork products was announced earlier in the day, following moves Wednesday to bring down the cost of rice by banning exports of the staple and prevent people from stockpiling other foods.
Finance Minister Keat Chhon, in a statement released Thursday, appealed for people "to remain calm ... and not to stock up on foods, which could make the situation even harder."
The price of meat and other goods has risen by as much as 40 percent over the past year on the back of near 11 percent inflation, with rice -- Cambodia's most important staple -- now costing nearly one dollar a kilogram.
Since Wednesday, the government has released surplus rice onto the market, allowing people to buy five kilograms each at reduced prices.
While rising food prices are part of a global trend, they have hit especially hard in Cambodia, where more than a third of the country's 14 million people are mired in poverty.
Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the country's finance and commerce ministries to address "the abnormal increase of price of goods," saying rising costs are "affecting the daily livelihoods of our citizens, especially workers, farmers and civil servants."
The measures come as thousands of garment workers threaten to strike if the industry's monthly 50 dollar minimum wage is not raised by five dollars.
Garment manufacturers narrowly prevented a walkout in 50 factories Thursday morning by agreeing to talks between factory owners and workers.
While Chea Mony, head of Cambodia largest workers' group the Cambodian Free Trade Union, described this as a "positive" step, he said a strike would be called next week if negotiations failed.
"We have postponed the planned strike at the request of the manufacturers," he told AFP, but added: "The workers' current wages cannot keep up with inflation."
The garment sector is Cambodia's largest industrial employer, putting to work as many as 350,000 people, mostly young women supporting poor families in the countryside, where many live on less than 50 cents a day.
Aid agencies have warned that Cambodia's growing food crisis could threaten tens of thousands of rural Cambodians with hunger in the coming year, as even food handouts have become significantly more expensive and harder to distribute.
Faced with this recent rising tide of anger, government officials have blamed the staggering cost hikes on "opportunists" seeking to gouge prices or gain political capital ahead of national elections, now expected to be held in July.
"Bad people are hyping up the situation for their own interests," Keat Chhon said.