historicans

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After dengue, Pangasinan province is now being threatened by a possible outbreak of cholera disease

Health officials said cholera is now the major concern due to the dramatic increase in the number of cases of the disease in the western and central areas of the province.

Provincial health office records shows, cholera victims have increased to 57, with one death in Bayambang town.

Bayambang town has the most number of cholera cases followed by Aquilar and Bolinao.

Unofficial record shows that there are already 6,000 cases of acute gastroenteritis or AGE in the province. AGE may lead to cholera if not immediately treated, health officials said.

The provincial health office is now providing chlorine solution to barangays with contaminated shallow tube wells to alleviate the number of cholera cases.

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Agence France-Presse
SINGAPORE - Oil prices were back up above 108 dollars a barrel in Asian trade Tuesday as underlying momentum remained strong because of the weak greenback and supply concerns, dealers said.
In late afternoon trade, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery gained 12 cents to 108.02 dollars a barrel from its record finish of 107.90 dollars in US trading hours Monday.
The contract had surged to a new trading high of 108.21 dollars in New York Monday as investors bet on oil prices to continue marching north on expectations the greenback would remain weak.
London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery rose four cents to 104.20 dollars a barrel. The contract hit a trading high of 104.42 dollars Monday and closed at a new record 104.16 dollars.
OPEC's decision last week to keep its daily production levels unchanged despite pressure from the United States, the world's biggest energy user, was also lending support to the market, dealers said.
Investors are also rushing into the commodities markets, including oil, which they regard as safe havens, they said.
"There's increased nervousness about other asset classes so I think we are seeing by default, funds flowing into commodities ," said Mark Pervan, a senior commodity strategist with ANZ bank in Melbourne.
"It is really seen as a safe haven at the moment so there is a lot of momentum which can continue to push prices higher," he said.
Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush's administration has signaled that Vice President Dick Cheney personally would urge OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to convince the cartel to boost output.
Cheney is expected to raise the issue of soaring oil prices with Saudi Arabia on his trip to the Middle East next week.
"I'm sure that energy issues will come up," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "Obviously we want to see an increase in production."
The US economy is seen as the worst hit if oil prices continue to skyrocket because of its heavy dependence on imported oil and the weak greenback exacerbates the situation, dealers said.
"The US market is really feeling the pinch," said Pervan. "One is slowing growth and they bear the full brunt of high prices in terms of US dollars."
The weak US currency, which fell to a new low of 1.5464 against the euro last week, encourages demand for dollar-priced commodities like oil because it makes them cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
In afternoon Asian trading, the euro traded around 1.5362 dollars.

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Agence France Presse The most high-profile US face on Al-Jazeera's English language service has quit the network, citing increasing editorial control by the Qatar-based management, according to reports Friday. "To put it bluntly, the channel that's on now -- while excellent, and I plan to be a lifetime viewer -- is not the channel that I signed up to do," Dave Marash, a former ABC network correspondent, told The New York Times. He said that the 24-hour Doha-based network had started exercising increasing editorial control not only over its Washington bureau, but also over the European and Asian broadcasting hubs in London and Kuala Lumpur. "They started covering the whole world very well, but from the point of view and the interests of Doha and the surrounding region," he said. Editorial input from the Washington bureau, he said, "small at the start, has gotten smaller and smaller." On Wednesday, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that Al-Jazeera's management wanted to focus resources on consolidating popularity among its core audience in the Middle East. The Guardian said that more than 15 staff had quit in recent months amid complaints of a lack of clarity over its direction, contractual disputes and speculation over a relaunch later this year. Al-Jazeera launched its English channel in 2006, bidding to become a big name in global broadcasting and taking on the long-established BBC and CNN. Among other big name Western journalists recruited by the channel were award-winning former ITV and BBC British broadcaster David Frost. It has four regional broadcasting centers in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington, as well as some 18 bureaux. The English-language network is available in more than 100 million households in 60 countries but is not carried by any major US cable provider.

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NEW YORK - Most Americans would rather use a dollar bill than a dollar coin but oppose abolishing the penny, according to a new survey.
More than three-quarters of people questioned in the Harris poll said they preferred the dollar bill to the dollar coin and 56 percent want to keep the penny in circulation.
But 68 percent said paper money should be more colorful.
"While there is a strong reluctance to abolish the penny or to use dollar coins, a large majority is in favor of using more colors in bills of different denominations to make it easier to tell them apart," Harris said in a statement.
Until recently, bills of all denominations in the United States were green. The penny's future has been in question from time to time. If it were to be abolished the nickel would be the smallest coin in the United States.
The online poll of 2,513 people showed that 24 percent favored abolishing the penny, while 18 percent were undecided. Income played a factor in the results with only 16 percent of people with household incomes of less than $35,000 voting for abolition of the coin, compared to 32 percent of people with incomes of $75,000 or more.
The poll showed 34 percent of men were in favor of getting rid of the penny, compared to 14 percent of women.
Nearly 20 percent of men said they preferred a paper dollar bill, compared to eight percent of women.
New dollar coins were introduced to the United States last year, but only 25 percent of those polled said they had seen one.
"Compared to some other countries, the United States uses bills rather than coins for relatively small denominations," Harris said.
The smallest Euro bill is equal to five euros , the smallest British bill is equal to 5 pounds , according to the poll, and the smallest Canadian bill is equal to $5 .

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Agence France-Presse
SAN FERNANDO - Jimmy Relativo's voice is full of pain, as he sits on the shoreline just metres away from the sunken Philippine ferry that is now his pregnant fiance's tomb.
He has returned to this rocky coast on central Sibuyan island hoping for word about the fate of his 22-year-old fiance Rosielyn Ligay, who was carrying his unborn child when the fateful ferry went down in Typhoon Fengshen Saturday.
He acknowledges Rosielyn is now lying somewhere in the ocean, or more likely in the sunken ship, but says he is prepared to wait for her remains to be recovered.
"I don't know if I can move on. It's very painful but the search should go on. There are still many people inside the boat, not only my wife," he said.
The couple had boarded the Princess of the Stars in Manila for the central island of Cebu last Friday to tell Ligay's father of their plans to get married and start a family.
They had taken the weekend off from their jobs in Manila, where Rosielyn works as a mall sales lady and Relativo, 26, is a bakershop employee. It appeared they had their whole lives ahead of them.
But then the typhoon changed direction and on Saturday blew right into the path of the ill-fated vessel.
"It was around nine in the morning when the ferry started to be battered by huge waves," Relativo said between sobs. "We were holding each other tightly and Rosielyn told me to prepare.
"By noon, the ferry had listed on to its side. The next thing we knew, we were sinking," he said.
Painstakingly, he recalls the last moment he saw the mother of his child.
"I thought we both jumped off the ferry but when I looked back she was still holding the rails on the side... terrified.
"I shouted at her but was hit by a wave. When I surfaced, she was gone," Relativo said, choking back the tears.
Relativo said he did not want to abandon his fiance but realised he needed to save himself. He said some people had managed to get on board a life raft and they dragged him on.
But his ordeal was far from over.
"There were 30 of us in the raft being tossed about by the sea," he said.
Some of those lucky enough to have made it onto life boats did not make it, succumbing to the massive waves.
But Relativo was one of the few lucky ones -- of the 850 passengers and crew on board the ferry, only 57 survivors have been found six days on. It is believed that most the dead are trapped in the interior of the sunken ship.
Twenty-four hours after the Princess of the Stars went down the raft Relativo was on washed up on the coast of Malunay, about 90 kilometres from the scene of the disaster.
Nearby, Alexander de la Cruz showed a picture of his eight-year-old daughter, Angeline, smiling as she sat beside her uncle, aunt and baby cousin Zayan.
De la Cruz had sent Angeline, the fourth in a brood of six, to live with the relatives in the United States so she could have a better life. The family had returned for a vacation and to visit family in the central islands.
"Her last words to me were, 'I love you, papa,'" de la Cruz said as he was consoled by relatives gathered around him.
With the search for bodies temporarily suspended after it was revealed the ferry was carrying a consignment of a deadly pesticide, de la Cruz says he will wait.
"I want to stay here until her body is found," he said, as beyond him the bow of the upturned 24,000-tonne vessel juts out from the now-tranquil bay.

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Agence France-Presse
BEIJING - Prominent Chinese rights lawyer Teng Biao was released Saturday after unidentified police kidnapped him two days ago from outside his Beijing home, he said.
"I was taken away on Thursday night. They shoved me into a car and put a bag over my head," Teng said.
"They didn't show me any identification, but they said that they were from the Beijing Public Security Bureau."
Chinese activists and international rights groups Saturday condemned Teng's kidnapping as "shocking," as fears rose of a crackdown on dissent ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Police told him he had been detained for articles he had written on protecting the rights of citizens, including an open letter to the government penned with fellow activist Hu Jia, who is currently awaiting trial for subversion, he said.
"They told me not to talk to foreign journalists," Teng said.
"I can't tell you exactly what they said. They told me that I shouldn't speak. There is a lot of pressure on me. There is no law that gives them the right to silence me, it is only their threats."
Teng, 34, said that he fears for his personal safety and that of his wife and two-year-old child. He added that he was not harmed while in custody and was given food during his detention.
Teng is a lawyer at the Beijing Huayi Law Firm and has lectured at the China University of Political Science and Law. In 2007 he received the French Presidential Award for Human Rights.
He has also been a close associate of Hu Jia, a prominent human rights campaigner who was arrested in December.
Rights groups immediately welcomed his release, but expressed grave concerns over police methods.
"China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group welcomes the release of Teng Biao," the Hong Kong-based group said in a statement.
"But we are still concerned about the way the Beijing public security officers took him away. Beijing is going to host the Olympic Games in a few months, and we hope that such an incident would not happen again."
Chinese security forces are known to swoop and detain government critics in unmarked black vehicles.
"We are extremely relieved that Teng Biao is released and apparently unharmed, but we are extremely concerned that elements of Beijing's Public Security Bureau were responsible for his abduction," said Phelim Kine of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
"This kind of thuggery against a high-profile legal rights defender is absolutely unacceptable exactly five months ahead of the official start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
Xu Zhiyong, another rights lawyer and colleague of Teng's said: "Kidnappings in Beijing like this are very rare. We believe this kind of crime cannot be accepted.
"We demand that the police authorities immediately investigate and solve this case and firmly punish the perpetrators," he told AFP.
Other rights lawyers have been allegedly harassed by police in recent days, including Li Heping, whose car was rammed on Friday by a group of unidentified men who had been following him since Hu Jia's arrest, Li told AFP.
The incidents come after rights lawyers and legal advisers such as Chen Guangcheng, Gao Zhisheng and Yang Maodong were arrested, jailed or placed under house arrest for activities aimed at protecting the rights of ordinary citizens.
"At a minimum, lawyers must be able to function independently without fear for their own or their family's safety," Sharon Hom, director of the New York-based Human Rights in China, said in a statement.
"The ongoing assault, intimidation, harassment, and politicized prosecution of rights defenders raise serious questions about the implementation of protective provisions in ."

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Agence France-Presse
Philippine share prices are likely to follow Wall Street's lead in the coming week with investors awaiting the US Federal Reserve's action on interest rates, dealers said Friday.
"The movement of the Philippine market is strongly dependent on Wall Street. If they go up, we go up, if they go down, we go down. It will continue to mirror what the Dow is doing," said Nestor Aguila of DA Market Securities.
He forecast that the market would move within the 2,900 and the 3,000-point range for the week.
Aguila said that most of 2008 "is really just for accumulating in sectors that may outperform expectations in 2009 and 2010."
However he says the market may bottom out between July and August.
"The market will continue consolidating and will be trading at a narrow range pending major catalysts like the Fed's action on interest rates," said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities.
"I believe the Fed will continue to cut interest rates since it wants not just to stimulate the economy but also to shorten the span of recession."
The US Federal Reserve is to meet on April 29-30 to decide on interest rate policy.
For the week to April 18, the composite index fell by 25.31 points or by 0.9 percent to 2,915.67 points.
Average daily turnover fell to 590 million shares worth 2.04 billion pesos this week from 765 million shares worth 2.55 million pesos in the previous week.

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WASHINGTON - Results from the National Basketball Association semi-finals Friday
Eastern Conference at Detroit
Boston 89 Detroit 81

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By Purple S. Romero /Newsbreak
Election lawyer Leila de Lima will officially assume the chairmanship of the Commission on Human Rights today amid lukewarm reception from human rights organizations which questioned her capacity to head the human rights body.
De Lima was appointed last May 12, 2008; the four other members of the commission have not yet been announced. De Lima replaced Purificacion Valera Quisumbing, who retired with the rest of the third commission last May 5. Quisumbing will start work as member of the advisory committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council this August.

The legal counsel of Genuine Opposition candidates Aquilino �Koko Pimentel III and Alan Peter Cayetano in the 2007 elections, De Lima was chosen to be the next CHR czar from a shortlist which included Cecilia Rachel �Coco Quisumbing, the executive director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee and daughter of the former CHR chair Quisumbing, former justice secretary and now newly appointed Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello, former congresswoman Loretta �Etta Rosales, and womens rights advocate Ambassador Rosario Manalo.

Outsider

Human rights groups such as Karapatan and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates questioned the appointment of De Lima, whom they say is as an outsider in human rights issues. In a statement issued last Friday, PAHRA pointed out De Limas lack of experience and knowledge on human rights.

House of Representatives committee on human rights head Rep. Lorenzo �Erin Tañada III earlier told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the selection of De Lima as the next CHR chair is a "political decision." He added that the choice for the CHR top seat should have strong background on human rights to have "continuity" in the bodys programs.

"The next CHR chair should have expertise or at least an advocacy on human rights to establish continuity in the work of the commission. Putting a greenhorn in human rights issues at the helm of CHR would force the commission to go back to zero again," he said.

The selection and appointment process for the fourth commission was hidden from the public. A nominee for the CHR headship, Senate legal counsel Carlos Medina scored the lack of transparency, which is pivotal in shaping the credibility of national human rights institutions as described in the Paris Principles.

First tasks

One of the first acts of De Lima is to participate today in the preparatory consultation workshop for the next national human rights action plan at the Manila Hotel. Around 200 representatives from various human rights groups and government agencies are expected to attend the event, which signals the start of a one-year flow of plans and consultative measures for the creation of the second national human rights action plan.

The crafting of the second national human rights action plan is viewed as a crucial step towards the improvement of the human rights situation of the country, especially in women empowerment, children rights protection, and migrant care.

Stakeholders from the government and the civil society are also expected to give more attention to the issue of extrajudicial killings, which have turned into an international concern following the report of UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston in October last year, where he stated the killings are descriptive of a �culture of impunity.

The first national human rights action plan was formed in 1996 as an outgrowth of the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993. Originally to run on a four- year timeline until 2000, its timeframe was extended until 2002. It dwelled on the protection and promotion of the rights of marginalized sectors such as the disabled, the elderly, the urban poor and the rural workers.

De Lima is also scheduled to work with the European Union for the next two weeks to establish the terms of reference and other project details of the technical assistance program offered by EU to the Philippine government, Ambassador Alistair Macdonald told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak last week.

The three-million euro program, whose main objective is to increase prosecution in cases of extrajudicial killings, will takeoff from the recommendations listed by the Needs Assessment Mission which conducted a study of the human rights situation of the country in June 2007.

In its report released last March 2008, the mission rued the lack of independence of the CHR and the Office of the Ombudsman. It also called for sharpening of investigative skills of the Philippine National Police and faster dispensation of cases of extrajudicial killings from local courts.

In the technical assistance project, the EU pledged to extend training to the police forces on forensics analysis and provide them necessary equipment for laboratory examination of evidence in cases of extralegal violence.

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ROME - The winner of a free funeral has not turned up to claim his prize after ticket number 11 was chosen in a raffle in southern Italy, an Italian newspaper reported Tuesday.

The holder of the winning ticket in the raffle -- held in the town of San Marco in Lamis -- is entitled to a free lined coffin, a tombstone, copper candlesticks and a grave site, Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno reported.

There is no deadline for claiming the prize and the winner can give it to somebody else, raffle organizers said, according to the paper.

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By ANGELO GUTIERREZ

Former assemblyman and lawyer Homobono Adaza has started to turn the table on a compañero, Raymund Fortun, who accused him of planning a coup with four former military officials.

At a press conference in Sulu Hotel on Wednesday, Adaza said it was Fortun who first mentioned a coup plan to him during a meeting sometime June.

"It was the lawyer whose name is unworthy of mention who whispered to me, since I was sitting by his side at dinner, that there was an ongoing plan to pull a coup by known personalities with active officers in the military," Adaza, who has been a lawyer for several critics of the Arroyo administration, said.

He said he thought Fortun's mention of the coup plan was a joke, "but when he asked me how much I thought it would cost to pull a coup, I thought he was serious."

Adaza quoted Fortun as saying, "Pañero I was informed that it takes four million to pull a coup, what do you think?"

The former assemblyman said Fortun was clearly lying when he told media and the police that he tried to extort $4 million from a Japanese client, a certain Motonori Sakuma.

He also denied meeting with the Japanese, as claimed by Fortun.

Adaza alleged that according to Col. Oscarlito Mapalo, one of the four former military officers who was arrested with him last July 2 in Mandaluyong City, it was Fortun who wanted Sakuma's two Filipino associates murdered.

The lawyer said Fortun "engaged" Mapalo's security service firm, the OMT Security Services, Inc., to plan the murder of Sakuma's associates, Manuel Copon and Emmanuel Galdo.

Copon is president while Galdo is vice president of the Island Country Resorts, Inc., where Sakuma is an investor.

Adaza said Mapalo refused to grant Fortun's request. "But there is no crime in planning a murder. Merely planning or inducing a murder is not a crime," Adaza said quoting Fortun as narrated by Mapalo.

Adaza said he has no immediate plans of filing counter charges against Fortun, but "surely there will be charges filed" not only against his lawyer accuser, but also against the police, including National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr., and the officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

The former assemblyman also clarified that only two cases have been filed against him in court, one was the "proposal to commit a coup" before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93 and another, an obstruction of justice case with the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 33.

He said an extortion complaint has been filed against him before the Department of Justice, which he said would be dismissed because the complainant was Asher Dolina, an official of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Adaza mentioned that instead of the Holiday Inn Hotel near the Robinson's Galleria mall in Mandaluyong City , the police mistakenly wrote in its affidavit that his arrest was made in Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Invitation to form revolutionary government
Adaza said one of the possible reasons for his arrest and the sudden coup allegation against him may be connected with his suggestion for the "organization of a revolutionary government."
The Alliance for Democratic Action , led by Adaza, came up with a pamphlet titled "Our Core Agenda" which was sent last May to heads of government, including the Office of the President, and leaders of the political opposition.

The pamphlet was an invitation for a "dialogue for change" instead of holding another senatorial and presidential election in 2010.

"We must reason together if we are to survive as a people," the invitation said. To survive, the group urged political leaders to "stop this insane preoccupation with the 2010 elections" and consider forming a "revolutionary government."

Adaza said the invitations were still unanswered, even by the political opposition.

"My message to the opposition is to sit down together and decide who is your leader. Other than the leader, create a program," he said.

Link to Adazas core agenda

'Fortun's failure'
Another reason behind the filing of cases against him, Adaza said, is Fortun's alleged failure to satisfy what his Japanese client wants.
Adaza said the Japanese client wanted their company's inter-island resort opened by May, with his full control. He said Fortun failed to do this.

"Fortun could not produce results to impress his Japanese client," he said.

Adaza said Fortun's accusations against him are "stupid" because it would be impossible for a lawyer like him and four ex-military officials to mount a coup against the Arroyo administration.

He added that the police, who had been claiming they have evidence against Adaza, should study the coup d'etat history of the Philippines .

He said not even Sen. Gregorio Honasan, with his band of young rebel soldiers from almost all the units of the military, was able to successfully take over the government through armed rebellion.

Adaza was referring to the several tries of Honasan to oust former President Corazon Aquino through coup d'etat. At least seven rebellions were launched, but Honasan's group failed.

No longer silent
Adaza, who openly fought the administrations of former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, said he had decided to retire from "fighting the battles of this country" thinking that younger ideologists would replace his vocal opposition against a corrupt administration.
"I did not choose this fight. I have been silent all these years," he said.

The former assemblyman, who was incidentally wearing red during the press conference, said he is again ready to go back to the arena of political debates and question the competency of the government.

"I have decided to be silent, but now they want me to raise issues and fight for the Filipino people," he said.

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PERMATANG PAUH - Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won a landslide victory Tuesday in a by-election to return him to parliament, and said he was on track to oust a weakened government.

The vote in his home state of Penang cemented a stunning comeback for Anwar, who was sacked as deputy premier a decade ago and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.

We declare victory, the margin is very huge, said Tian Chua, information chief of Anwar's Keadilan party which leads a three-member opposition alliance.

I think it's a landslide victory, he said, adding that Anwar's share of the vote could rise as high as 70 percent.

The official tally showed Anwar had won 27,977 votes, against 13,426 for his opponent from the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has dominated Malaysian politics for half a century.

Yes of course we have lost... we were the underdogs going into this race, said Muhammad Muhammad Taib, information chief of the United Malays National Organisation which leads the coalition.

Anwar said he had outgunned the government despite a sickening campaign that focused on new sodomy allegations against him, and was marred by allegations of vote-buying and electoral fraud.

The opposition has also accused the coalition of attempting to undermine Anwar by stoking tensions between Muslim Malays who dominate the population, and minority ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens.

This is a clear indication that people of all races have rejected the communal politics of Barisan Nasional. It is a clear endorsement of our reform agenda. We are on track to take over the government, Anwar told AFP.

Anwar had been widely expected to win back his old seat of Permatang Pauh, which was held by his wife during his political exile. She stood aside last month to allow him to contest, after a ban on holding public office expired.

However, political pundits had said the coalition's no-holds-barred campaign could have impacted on Anwar's winning margin, which will be seen as an indicator of his ability to shrug off the sodomy charges.

I thank the voters, the wisdom of the people has prevailed. The win shows the people reject the sodomy allegations thrown at my husband, Anwar's wife Wan Azizah said.

Analysts said that even after he returns to parliament, the charismatic 61-year-old faces further daunting hurdles including a looming trial on the new sexual misconduct charges.

The opposition leader has said that the accusations, levelled by a 23-year-old male aide, have been concocted by the government to thwart his ambitions of seizing power with the help of defecting lawmakers.

His original sodomy conviction was overturned by the nation's highest court in 2004, allowing him to go free after spending six years in jail.

He then spent several years behind the scenes, before storming back onto the political stage at the helm of a reinvigorated opposition.

In March general elections the opposition alliance seized control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats, in an unprecedented result that shook the coalition and put Anwar within striking distance of seizing power.

He needs to secure the support of at least 30 defectors in order to oust the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has faced calls to quit after the general elections debacle.

The ballot in Permatang Pauh was held under tight security, after both sides traded allegations of abuse and attacks on their supporters. Some 4,500 police were deployed to keep the peace.

Despite the focus on the sodomy allegations, Anwar's star power was undimmed, and he drew big crowds to nightly rallies during the intense 10-day campaign.

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JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tackles financial stability in a key speech on Friday but economists doubt he will provide solid clues about future policy action to calm the credit crunch.
Central bankers are gathering in this mountain resort for an annual symposium as financial markets tense for more losses from home loans, amid concern that U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will need government cash.
This time last year, Bernanke told the conference the Fed would take steps to shield the economy from the U.S. housing collapse, but would not bail out investors.
Since then, the Fed has slashed interest rates and lined up billions of dollars in emergency credit to prevent markets from seizing up over mountainous home loan losses. But conditions remain strained.
I think he will bend over backward not to give markets much to go on. Just ask yourself what has happened since the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting, said Bob Eisenbeis, former head of research at the Atlanta Fed.
At the Aug 5 meeting of the Fed's interest-rate setting committee, the FOMC policy-makers held the benchmark federal funds rate steady at 2 percent, and stressed the risks regarding both inflation and growth against the backdrop of an ongoing housing contraction.
Inflation has picked up, but some of the underlying components of inflation have moderated, particularly oil. What can he say? questioned Eisenbeis, who is now chief monetary economist for Cumberland Advisers.
However, with consumer inflation at a 17-year high last month, Bernanke must reassure markets of his commitment to price stability, some believe.
He's going to have to talk about inflation, said Columbia University economist Charles Calomiris. He's going to have let people understand what his logic is on the trade-offs between inflation and the risks of recession.
Bernanke speaks at 8:00 a.m local time at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank's conference. Top officials from the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and other senior policy-makers from around the world are also attending.
He will provide an outlook and describe what we've been through in the last year, said Zach Pandl, an economist at Lehman Brothers. The Fed remains quite concerned about growth.... All options are on the table.
Minneapolis Fed Bank President Gary Stern on Wednesday defended Fed support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose shares have been pounded by investors fearful that a government bailout is inevitable in the face of rising mortgage losses.
The Fed was part of a U.S. Treasury plan to provide cash and capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, granting them the right to borrow money from the central bank at its discount window for short-term liquidity.
At the same time, Congress recently gave Treasury temporary emergency powers to shore up capital at the two companies, and Bernanke may remind markets that government tools to prop the companies up are now chiefly in the hands of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
I hope we get more clarity from about the coordination between monetary and fiscal policy, said Paul McCulley, managing director bond fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co .

The Fed's done yeoman's work, but there are limits to what the Fed can deliver, McCulley said.

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KUALA LUMPUR - The Pussycat Dolls and British pop sensation Leona Lewis added a bit of glamour and sex appeal to MTV's Asia Awards show on Saturday, which showcased the best in global and regional music.

The Grammy-nominated Dolls, who shot to fame in 2005 with their worldwide hit Don't Cha, strutted their stuff at Malaysia's hilltop Genting Highlands casino resort, packed with 3,000 fans and industry A-listers.

They were just one act in a star-studded line-up that included Lewis, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco, South Korean boy band Super Junior, The Click Five and US dance crew Jabbawockeez.

Singing their latest hit When I Grow Up, the Pussycat Dolls elicited screams from the hundreds of young fans in the mosh pit with their suggestive dance moves, but the girl group said they were not trying to be provocative.

We are better prepared this time to perform in Malaysia and we have deep respect for the culture. It is about the music, not about sexy. We are going to respect the people of this country and the culture, said Jessica Sutta.

The group came under fire last year from Muslim authorities here for their raunchy performances and sexy attire, which earned concert promoters a 10,000 ringgit fine.

Lewis, a former winner of the British reality show X Factor, sang her international hit Bleeding Love, before scooping the prize for Breakthrough Artist, beating out OneRepublic, pop singer Mika and US rockers Daughtry.

I just have to thank everyone for helping me come so far. I've had such an amazing time in Asia, Lewis said.

Event host Jared Leto, a US actor who also fronts the band 30 Seconds to Mars, surprised the crowd by hinting that Lewis could be signing at the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics later this month.

I can't say anything about it yet, but there is a possibility that I will be singing there, she told a press conference after the show.

OneRepublic took home the Best Hook-up award for their collaboration with mega-producer Timbaland on Apologize, which they performed for the shrieking crowd.

In the Asian categories, Super Junior won the honors for favorite Korean artist, while the Knockout Award for the artist with the most influence among Asian youth went to The Click Five.

Thailand's favorite artist was TorSaksit, while Leo Ku won for top Hong Kong artist, besting Canto-pop idol Andy Lau.

US rockers Linkin Park were named Asia's favorite international artist, while Chicosci was named the best Philippines artist. Nicholas Teo won for Malaysia and Yovie & Nuno were tops in Indonesia.

Singapore's top act was the petite Stefanie Sun, a five-time winner of the same award and Taiwan's top pick was Show Lo.

Spiky-haired songstress Li Yuchun was China's favorite artist.

Hong Kong actress-singer Karen Mok was given a special Inspiration award for her work as a social activist.

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The Philippine Star
CEBU CITY – Unheralded Egie Geronimo took the cudgels for the young guns in the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup Cebu leg by crushing pool icon Efren "Bata" Reyes, 9-1, at the start of the knockout stage Friday at the jampacked Trade Hall of SM City Cebu.
Coming into the match with only a leg title in the Search for the New Billiards Idol, Geronimo was a hands down underdog against the man billed as the greatest cue artist ever.
"Kahit ako, hindi ko inasahang mananalo kay champ," said the 30-year-old Marilao, Bulacan native.
But it only took a scratch off Reyess break of the opening rack for Geronimo to seize the opportunity and start the carnage that earned the applause of the awestruck Cebuano crowd.
After cleaning up the first rack, Geronimo broke and ran out the next six frames before the former world champion got back to the table only to miss a shot at the money-ball, sending Geronimo to the hill at 8-0.
Two racks later, its over and another upset was recorded in this topnotch event presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports, in partnership with the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines and sponsored by Camella Communities.
Geronimo was slated to face in the Last 16 qualifier and Bugsy stablemate Michael Feliciano, who also demolished Godofredo Ducanes, 9-1.
Besides Reyes, the other big guns, who are already out of the running for the prestigious Villar Cup and the P400,000 top purse, are former world titlist Ronnie Alcano, defending Villar Cup champion Warren Kiamco and veteran internationalists Rodolfo Luat.
Alcano was booted out by young Bugsy boy Jomar De Ocampo, 9-7, in the losers bracket of the preliminary stage, while Kiamco, who lost his first match to another Bugsy boy Johann Chua, was eliminated by Benjie Guevarra, 9-5, late Friday.
Other round-of-32 matches saw other top guns former world champion Alex Pagulayan trouncing 14-year-old Cebuano Diondel Raga, 9-5; Francisco "Django" Bustamante demolishing Steve Villamil, 9-2; reigning national titlist Lee Van Corteza blasting Romar Villones, 9-5; current world No.1 Dennis Orcollo ripping John Rebong, 9-4; and Joven Bustamante blanking Arturo Pubilco, 9-0.
Also advancing were Guevarra over William Millares, 9-2; Ramil Gallego over Panfilo Damuag, 9-8, Carlo Biado, over Eduardo Villanueva, 9-5; Mike Takayama over Manolo Tanasas, 9-8, and Richard Pornelosa over Danny Otacan, 9-8.
Matches in the Last 16 up to the quarterfinals were also scheduled to be played last night, with the semifinals and finals slated today.

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Eleven Filipino fishermen are now temporarily housed at a charity hostel in the town of Kilkeel, Northern Ireland after escaping from their abusive employer's son, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported Wednesday.

Bureau chief Danny Buenafe said Kilkeel, which is three hours from the capital of Belfast, is where the Filipinos fled after fleeing fishing vessel operator John Anderson.

The runaway fishermen complained of maltreatment and physical abuse against Anderson's drunkard son, Mark.

Three of the fishermen identified as Rando Oto, Basilio Castro and Joselito Alcain had already filed a complaint with the police for physical abuse against Mark, whom they said is also a drug user.

The three showed ABS-CBN red marks on their bodies -- signs that they were physically abused.

They also complained of non-compliance of their salary contract.

Aside from the three, the other runaway fishermen were named as Paul Aranda, Mario Yumol, Jonathan Lachica, Filomar Orquillano, Melvin Balvis, Rogelio Pichon, Rolando Pichon and Nicky Monacillo.

According to Philippine labor attaché Jainal Rasul, Super Manning Agency, the complainants' recruiter, is willing to shoulder the plane fares of the fishermen should they decide to return to the Philippines.

However, only seven wish to go home. The others said they would like to remain and want a new employer despite the expiration of their visas.

The fishermen are also demanding payment of their two-week salary covering the month of April, which would amount to the equivalent of P40,000 pesos each.

As of last report, police said they will soon arrest Anderson.

The fishermen, meanwhile, are being taken cared of by an Irish priest who was stationed in Subic, Zambales for 39 years.

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AFP

STANFORD, California - Serena Williams' march toward a fourth Women's Tennis Association title of 2008 came to a premature halt Saturday, as an injured knee and Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak proved too much for the top seed.

Williams retired with a left knee injury while trailing Wozniak 2-6, 1-3 at the 600,000-dollar hardcourt event in Stanford.

The Canadian will battle for the title against sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, who defeated Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3.

Williams, ranked fifth in the world, has come up empty in Grand Slams this year, including falling to elder sister Venus in the Wimbledon final. But she has had plenty of WTA success with three titles this year.

Wozniak, currently ranked 85th in the world, showed no sign that she was intimidated by the 26-year-old American.

After Williams won the opening game, Wozniak captured the next three and quickly closed out the opening set as her opponent started limping.

Williams had her left knee wrapped, but still was laboring early in the second set and retired 47 minutes after the match had begun.

"It was hurting in practice, and I didn't really practice for too long because of it," Williams said. "It didn't bother me until this morning, and during the match, it was getting worse. After I got off the court, it was really swollen.

"I'm not sure how long it'll take to heal. I've been playing a lot of tennis since Miami, especially for me, and these hardcourts can be tough on the body.

"My main goal now is being at the Olympics," Williams added. "I hope to stay healthy. I don't have any plans of not going to Beijing."

Wozniak, 20, won 70 percent of her service points and capitalized on three of four break chances to advance to just her second WTA final.

"I tried to stay focused on me," Wozniak said. "I knew I would play a big champion.

"I just wanted to play really aggressive, to take the ball as early as I could and come in when I could.

"In the middle of the first set, I saw her watching a little bit her leg," Wozniak added. "I thought it was her ankle, but in the end it was the knee."

Wozniak will be attempting to capture her first singles title on Sunday when she takes on Bartoli.

The French player took a huge step toward getting her season revved up on Friday, when she upset second seed and defending champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the quarters, and claimed her first victory over Sugiyama after five defeats.

The 23-year-old Bartoli, a surprise finalist at Wimbledon last year, reached her first final of 2008.

Sugiyama was up a break in the opening set and leading the fourth game 40-0, when she let Bartoli back in.

The Japanese veteran lost the game, leveling the set at 2-2 after her fourth double fault of the match.

Bartoli went on to win the set, and took the second without dropping her serve.

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Reuters

HOUSTON - A Texas grand jury on Tuesday charged the jailed polygamist leader of a breakaway Mormon sect with sexually assaulting a child and indicted five followers after state officials raided a polygamist ranch near Eldorado in April.

Included in the indictments issued by a grand jury in Schleicher County, Texas, was Warren Jeffs, the controversial spiritual leader and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Jeffs has already been sentenced in a Utah court to 10 years to life in prison as an accomplice to rape for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old first cousin. He is in jail in Arizona awaiting trial on similar charges for arranged marriages there.

Texas authorities descended on the sect's Yearning for Zion ranch in West Texas in April in response to allegations that a middle-aged man there had married and fathered a child with an underage girl.

More than 400 child members of the polygamist sect were taken into custody by state officials in April, but were later returned to their families after a Texas judge in June lifted the custody order.

The indictments, announced by the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott against Jeffs and five others, totaled nine counts of sexual assault, bigamy and related charges.

Jeffs was charged with sexually assaulting a child - a first-degree felony that could carry a life prison sentence - and four other unnamed defendants were indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting young girls under the age of 17.

The last unnamed defendant was charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse.

Abbott's office did not release any more information on the case and said the indictments were part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

The case has gripped Americans with lurid allegations of adolescent brides, teenage pregnancies and a secretive sect on a remote ranch.

Plural marriage is illegal in the United States but FLDS men typically marry one legal wife while the others become their "spiritual wives."

That may be a way around the law but the sect stands accused of marrying underage brides, which is not legal.

The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon faith is officially known, renounced polygamy more than a century ago and tries to distance itself from breakaway factions that still practice it.

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By XENIA RIBAYA ABS-CBN Baguio
The Baguio City Police has set off its first ever All-Women Special Weapons and Tactics team in the Cordilleras.
The All-Women SWAT team, with 17 members, was conceived due to the need to address high-risk situations involving women and children.
To qualify, each member must be an excellent sharp shooter. The group is in its second week of a 45-day training on rappelling, sniping, tactical maneuvers, and assault exercises.
Baguio City Police spokesman PO3 Viyo Hidalgo said the All-Women SWAT Team is considered an additional workforce not only for the Women and Childrens Section of the BCP Office, but for the whole police force due to the various local, national, and international events that the city hosts yearly.
“Policewomen have more capability to manage difficult situations… Hindi sila barubal,” Hidalgo stressed.
Senior Inspector Gemma Braganza, Commander of the All-Women SWAT Team said that it is of great pride and opportunity for them to use their special skills to serve citizens. “This will prove that women can perform as well as men do,” affirmed Braganza.
Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. said the All-Women SWAT Team is another major breakthrough in the city. “Well be more at ease with regards to the peace and order situation in Baguio City,” Bautista added.
After the 45-day training, the All-Women SWAT team is expected to help retain Baguio City Polices title as one of the Best City Police stations in the country.

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BOSTON - Footage of John Lennon smoking pot, writing songs and discussing putting the hallucinogenic drug LSD in President Richard Nixon's tea is the focus of a court case starting in Boston next week over whether the video should be made public.
The case pits Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, against Lawrence, Massachusetts-based World Wide Video, which claims ownership of nine hours of raw footage of the former Beatle and Ono that was filmed just weeks before the "Fab Four" broke up in 1970.
World Wide, a New England consortium of Beatles collectors, wants to release the black-and-white footage as a two-hour film titled "3 days in the life" about Lennon during a pivotal and turbulent time for the most celebrated band of the 1960s.
Rolling Stone magazine dubs it "awesome John Lennon footage you might never see."
The company, which paid more than $1 million for the footage after legal costs and other expenses, nearly premiered it last year at the private Berwick Academy in Maine but abruptly scrapped the screening after the school received a stop order from Ono's lawyers, who assert copyright ownership of the videotapes.
World Wide has filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Boston against Ono for copyright infringement. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 30.
According to court documents, World Wide said it bought 24 original videotapes and their copyrights in 2000 from Anthony Cox, Ono's husband before her marriage to Lennon in 1969.
Cox shot the footage at Lennon's estate in England for a documentary he planned titled "Portrait."
The footage, recorded from February 8 to 11, 1970, shows Lennon composing two hits, "Remember" and "Mind Games," along with a candid discussion of his drug use and scenes that World Wide describes as "intimate and no-holds-barred."
World Wide asserts that shortly after purchasing the videotapes, along with 10 copies, they were stolen in 2000. The company filed a separate civil suit a year later against a New Hampshire man who agreed to return the copies and locate the originals, court documents show.
The original videotapes are now held by Ono, whose lawyers claim in a countersuit that she purchased them legally from World Wide through a Florida man, who has been named as a defendant in the Massachusetts company's suit.
"The decision that should be made in the case is who in fact does have the copyright," Joseph Doyle, World Wide's lawyer, said in a telephone interview. "We're saying that we legitimately own the copyright to this film."
Jonathan Albano, Ono's lawyer in Boston, declined to comment on the case.