Obama Fights False Links to Islam
WASHINGTON (Feb. 28) - For Barack Obama, it is an ember that he has doused time and again, only to see it flicker anew: links to Islam fanned by false rumors, innuendo and association.
Rumors Dog
Barack Obama
Rumor: Obama turns his back on the Pledge of Allegiance, an allegation fueled by the fact that his hand is not over his heart in this photo.
Response: “Whenever I’m in the United States Senate, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,” Obama said.
-AP
Snake Eats Family Dog as Kids Watch
A 16-foot python swallows a pet terrier-Chihuahua mix near Kuranda, Australia, Monday. A boy and girl, ages 5 and 7, watched in horror after coming upon the python when the family dog was already half-eaten.
BRISBANE, Australia (Feb. 27) - A 16-foot python stalked a family dog for days before swallowing the pet whole in front of horrified children in the Australian tropics, animal experts said Wednesday.
The boy and girl, ages 5 and 7, watched as the scrub python devoured their silky terrier-Chihuahua crossbreed Monday at their home near Kuranda in Queensland state.
Stuart Douglas, owner of the Australian Venom Zoo in Kuranda, said scrub pythons typically eat wild animals such as wallabies, a smaller relative of the kangaroo, but sometimes turn to pets in urban areas.
“It actively stalked the dog for a number of days,” Douglas said.
“The family that owned the dog had actually seen it in the dog’s bed, which was a sign it was out to get it,” he added.
“They should have called me then, but (the snake) got away and three or four days later, I was called and went around and removed it” after the dog had been killed, Douglas said.
By the time Douglas arrived, all that could be seen of the dog was its hind legs and tail.
The zoo manager, Todd Rose, said pythons squeeze their prey to death before swallowing it whole. The 5-year-old dog would have been suffocated within minutes.
“The lady who was there threw some plastic chairs at the snake, but you’ve got to remember that this is about 110 pounds of aggressive muscle,” Rose said.
Removing the half-swallowed dog could have harmed or even killed the python, Rose said, because dogs have sharp teeth and claws that could do the snake internal damage if it were wrenched out.
The snake was still digesting the dog at the zoo Wednesday. It will soon be relocated to the bush, Douglas said.
-Ap
Dave Clark Five Singer Dies of Pneumonia
LOS ANGELES (Feb. 29) - Mike Smith, the lead singer of the 1960s British band the Dave Clark Five, died on Thursday of pneumonia at an English hospital, his U.S. agent said.
Smith, 64, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday morning with a chest infection resulting from complications of a 2003 spinal cord injury that had left him paralyzed from the waist down, his New York agent, Margo Lewis, said in a statement.
His death at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, north of London, came just two weeks before the Dave Clark Five — one of the leading bands of the 1960s “British invasion” — was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York.
The Dave Clark Five, whose hits included “Glad All Over,” “Bits and Pieces” and “Because,” were one of the first British bands to find major success in the United States after the Beatles.
According to a biography of the band on the Web site allmusic.com, it was the Dave Clark Five who knocked the Fab Four’s hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the British charts with “Glad All Over.”
And they made more appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” than any other English act of their era.
Despite a string of more than 10 other hits, the group disbanded in 1970. It had sold more than 50 million albums by the end of 2007.
The Dave Clark Five was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a March 10 ceremony in New York that Smith had hoped to attend despite his September 2003 injury.
Smith, who was both lead singer and keyboard player with the quintet, had spent the years since his injury hospitalized until December 2007, when he moved into a specially prepared home with his wife, Arlene, the statement said.
“These last five years were extremely difficult for Mike, Lewis said.
“He was extremely excited and honored to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I am glad that he will be remembered as a Hall of Famer, because he was in so many ways,” she added.
Waukegan Explosion Rocks Illinois Shopping Plaza
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (Feb. 28) - An explosion possibly caused by a gas leak ripped through a suburban Chicago shopping plaza Thursday, injuring at least eight people and rattling nearby buildings, fire officials said.
Five people were taken to Vista East Medical Center, none with life-threatening injuries, and four were discharged by Thursday evening, hospital spokesman Adam Beeson said. He said he didn’t know the remaining patient’s condition.
Three people were treated for injuries at the scene, Deputy Fire Chief Dan Young said. Authorities believe the incident was caused by a gas explosion, and some shop owners said they smelled gas for the last couple of days, he said.
Officials were “99.99 percent” sure the rubble had been cleared, and there was no reason to believe anyone was missing, Young said.
“The whole back of the building was pancaked,” Young said.
The blast struck around lunchtime in the business district about 40 miles north of Chicago, shattering windows and collapsing the roof of the plaza, which housed a cell phone shop, a tuxedo store and a hair salon, among other businesses.
Candi Rixie said she was taking orders at Leno’s Submarine Shop a block away from the shopping plaza when the blast hit.
“We felt like an earthquake, like somebody had hit the building with a car,” she said.
Rixie said she ran out of the restaurant to see what had happened. She and others said they first thought they saw bodies in the street, but quickly realized it was clothes and mannequins that had been on display in a store and blown outside by the blast.
Gary Podyma was taking inventory at the Living Foods Pantry health food store across the street from the shopping building when he heard a loud explosion and his windows blew out.
Then he saw a big, brown cloud and debris coming toward him.
“To see a building coming toward you like that — words can’t describe the feeling you get,” he said. “It was frightening, it was ominous.”
He said he also smelled a strong odor of gas immediately after the blast.
“It’s amazing that anybody survived,” he said.
People’s Gas spokeswoman Bonnie Johnson said a crew was at the scene but hadn’t been able to get close enough to say what might have caused the explosion.
David Motley, a spokesman for the city of Waukegan, said the brick building was decades-old.
“The roof blew up and off and fell back down,” he said.
George Sanchez, general manager of Chicago-based Mena Travel agency, said his company’s Waukegan branch was adjacent to the explosion and employees inside felt the vibrations. But the store wasn’t damaged by the blast.
“Our folks are OK. They were asked to vacate the premises for safety reasons,” he said.
-Ap
Fil-Am Idol contender’s magic fades
MANILA, Philippines - After her impressive performance last week, Filipino American Ramiele Malubay seemed to have lost her ‘magic’ on the Idol judges during American Idol’s Top 20 performance Wednesday evening (US time).
Ramiele’s rendition of Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” only managed to register an “OK” from Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, a far-cry from last week’s stand out performance that unanimously wowed the judges.
“This was a little rough for me because I really thought you were really good last week. This was really just OK for me vocally. You can really sing but the song choice for me is weird,” Jackson remarked.
“To choose that and sing that, it wasn’t my favorite choice for you, it was just OK,” he said.
Abdul, who admitted that the Fil-Am had one of the “most amazing vocals”, said that the song choice failed to show Ramiele’s full range as a singer.
“I feel like you didn’t get to perform your magic,” said Abdul.
Cowell panned Ramiele’s performance, having heard of the song “so many times at ghastly weddings and stuff like that” while she wasn’t able to give anything new to it.
“I thought you were much, much better last week. I thought you showed more personality, I thought you stood out more. This was one of those performances which I’m not gonna remember so well,” said Cowell as he was hounded by boos from the audience.
However, Ramiele was visibly surprised when Cowell added: “I think you’re terrific. I think you’re one of the top three best singers in the competition. It just wasn’t one of your best.”
Ramiele admitted later on that she had to change songs from the 70s list four times as she tried to veer away from the ballads that she had been widely praised for in her past performances.
“People would have started calling me ‘lullaby’ instead of ‘Malubay’ I heard,” Ramiele told Idol host Ryan Seacrest on why she opted to go disco on her song choice.
Ramiele was the fourth to perform in the 70s-themed round of eliminations. She was preceded by Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado and Brooke White and was followed by Kristy Lee Cook, Amanda Overmyer, Alaina Whitaker, Alexandrea Lushington, Kady Malloy and Asia’h Epperson.
Filipino dancing
Before her top 20 performance, Ramiele revealed on Idol that she had been dancing Polynesian and Filipino cultural dances for 12 years.
“You might see me dancing on stage if I do a fast song. Maybe,” said Ramiele.
The hit reality show airs on QTV-11 every Wednesday and Thursday via Satellite Feed at 6 p.m., with one-hour replays at 8:00 pm on the same days. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
China Railway’s HK, Shanghai IPOs could raise $5.4B
SHANGHAI, China - Major contractor China Railway Construction Corp. began subscriptions Friday for an initial public offering in Hong Kong that along with a Shanghai share offering is expected to raise up to $5.4 billion (€3.6 billion).
The state-owned company, responsible for building more than half the country’s modern railways, raised 22.3 billion yuan ($3.1 billion; €2.1 billion) in its IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange earlier this week.
The company’s shares begin trading in Shanghai on March 10.
If priced at 10.70 Hong Kong dollars ($1.37; €.91) each, the top of the Hong Kong IPO’s price range, the 1.706 billion shares in the second offering could raise about HK$18.3 billion ($2.34 billion; €1.6 billion).
That would bring the total raised in the dual IPOs to nearly $5.4 billion.
China Railway Construction said it would use 80 percent of the funds raised in the Hong Kong offering for equipment purchases, with the remainder to be used for construction of a cement plant in Nigeria and for working capital. - AP
Binibining Pilipinas 2008 candidates take the ramps
Kapuso network now casting other roles for Dyesebel
Ngayon may formal announcement na kung sino ang gaganap na Dyesebel, hinahanapan na ng GMA-7 ang magiging cast of the upcoming primetime soap.
Magsasamang muli ang tambalan nina Marian Rivera (Dyesebel) at Dingdong Dantes (Fredo) in this first television serialization of the classic Mars Ravelo mermaid character based in a comics in the ‘50s. Ito ang magiging next project nila pagkatapos na pagkatapos ng Marimar.
Bale si Marian ang magiging unang Dyesebel sa TV, the same way Edna Luna was the first Dyesebel in the big screen in two successive movies, Dyesebel (1953) and Anak Ni Dyesebel (1964). Although Ara Mina made a special appearance as Dyesebel noon sa Darna ni Angel Locsin.
Ang iba pang mga aktres na gumanap bilang Dyesebel ay sina Vilma Santos (1973), Alma Moreno (1978), Alice Dixson (1990), at Charlene Gonzalez (1996).
Dingdong, meanwhile, is the first TV incarnation of Fredo na unang ginampanan ni Jaime dela Rosa. Other actors who played Fredo in Dyesebel films were Romeo Miranda, Mat Ranillo III, and Matthew Mendoza. Sa 1990 version ng Dyesebel, Fredo’s name was changed to Edward, na ginampanan naman ni Richard Gomez.
Nagpa-final casting na ang GMA-7 for the other memorable characters of Dyesebel. Although may mga pangalan nang nababanggit, hindi pa ito puwedeng mailabas dahil ang iba sa kanila, hindi pa raw kasi nakakausap. So baka magulat sila na mas nauna pa nilang malaman ang balita in print kaysa personal.
Ang ilan sa mga sure co-stars of Marian and Dingdong will be the pair of Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal fresh from their Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan. Mga tao ang papel nila rito.
Another sure-cast is Jean Garcia na tao rin ang gagampanang papel.
May nai-cast na bilang si Betty, ang ex girlfriend ni Fredo na magiging kalaban ni Dyesebel sa pag-ibig, at ang syokoy na in love naman kay Dyesebel ngunit as mentioned, hindi pa sila puwedeng mapangalanan. Ang tunay raw na wala pang final cast ay ang mga magsisiganap na mga taong dagat na kasama ni Dyesebel from Banak (ang sirena na kumupkop kay Dyesebel) to Diangga (ang sirenang reyna ng karagatan). - Philippine Entertainment Portal
Dollar falls to nearly 3 year low against yen in Asia
TOKYO - The dollar dropped to its lowest against the yen in almost three years Friday in Asia after data released in the US overnight reinforced the view that the country may be facing a recession.
The dollar drooped to its lowest level since May 6, 2005, as Asian players sold the greenback.
The dollar was trading at 104.79 yen midafternoon in Tokyo Friday, down from 105.36 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro fell to $1.5183 from $1.5229.
Data showed jobless claims increased more than expected in the week ended Feb. 23 while economic growth for the fourth quarter was left unrevised at a low level. Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke supporting a weaker dollar added to the selling.
”These data and remarks have underscored the US economy’s weakness and doubts about the dollar,” said Minoru Shioiri, senior manager of foreign exchange at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
The dollar was mixed against other Asian currencies. It rose 0.52 percent against the Philippine peso to 40.480 while dropping 0.17 percent against the Indonesian rupiah to 39.880. - AP
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