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<p>The protests have now spread to other cities, with violence reported in parts of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.</p> <p>Great Britain and other parts of the world are experiencing unrest at a time of global economic uncertainty and stock market volatility.</p>

Philippine President Benigno Aquino pledged on Sunday to push for the passage of a reproductive health bill in Congress as a tool to fight poverty even at the risk of excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Efforts to enact a law that would promote access to sex education and contraception have been blocked since the 1990s by powerful Roman Catholic bishops. Around 80 percent of the country's 94 million people are Catholic. "I remain committed to push the passage of a law for responsible parenthood," Aquino told graduates of the country's premier state university. "I know there are those who...

MANILA, Philippines—Standing amid an array of foreign assault rifles and local shotguns at one of the Philippines' largest shopping malls, firearms aficionados celebrated the rise of the nation's new president. Benigno Aquino, who took office on June 30, is an avid sports shooter and clips on YouTube show him using a semi-automatic pistol with great skill at a target shooting competition. "The feeling is that he is one of us. He also inhales gunpowder," said Johnmuel Mendoza, head of PRO-Gun, the country's largest firearms-rights group, at the twice-yearly gun show in Manila's vast "Megamall." Indeed Aquino, the Supreme Court chief...

A study has found that passive smoking is not only bad for lungs and heart but also has a negative impact on mental health. It is already known that passive smoking can lead to problems like respiratory illnesses and heart trouble. Now a close link between passive smoking and mental health has been found by the researchers. Researchers analyzed 5,560 non-smoking and 2,595 smoking adults from Scotland aged between 50 and 45 years. All the people did not suffer from any mental health problems. These people were queried about psychological distress and admissions to psychiatric hospitals and these people were...

(RTTNews) - Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III has been declared winner of the Philippines presidential election, almost a month after the polls. A Congressional Committee concluded Tuesday its official tally of votes count from the May 10 election. The final count showed that Aquino secured more than 15 million votes, five-and-a-half million more than his nearest rival, former President Joseph Estrada. However, his running mate Mar Roxas lost in a close fight to Estrada's Vice-President candidate Jejomar Binay. Binay garnered 14.6 million votes against the Aquino ally, who managed to win only 13.9 million votes. The Committee will present its report...

As vote counting continues in the Philippines, all indications are that Liberal Party candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino will become the next president. With more than half the votes counted by mid-day Tuesday, Aquino holds an almost unassailable lead over his nearest rivals. Former President Joseph Estrada trails a distant second while businessman Manny Villar has conceded defeat in Monday's election. An Aquino victory is in line with expectations. The son of former President Cory Aquino, who died last year, led the opinion polls throughout the campaign. Pete Troilo is director of business intelligence for risk consultancy Pacific Strategies and Assessments....

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has a sizeable lead over rival Joseph Estrada in the Philippine presidential election, early results indicate. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Mr Aquino, son of former President Corazon Aquino, had about 40% of the vote with 38% of ballots counted. Millions of Filipinos have been voting for a president, vice-president and more than 17,000 other official posts. Voting was marred by the deaths of at least six people in political violence. Mr Estrada had about 25.76% of the vote, said Comelec chair Jose Melo, and property tycoon Manny Villar was trailing in third with just...

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is seen here surrounded by supporters a... People stop outside the house of the late Philippines president Corazon Aqu... File photo of Corazon Aquino, the wife of slain Philippines opposition lead... Benigno Aquino called Wednesday for another round of Philippines people power as he announced he would run for president to continue the work of his famed mother who overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Vowing to fight against corruption that pervades the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, Aquino said he would be a leader for all sectors of society and not just the rich. "I will be...

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino has passed away. She was 76. Her son Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III confirmed that she died of cardio-respiratory arrest at exactly 3:18 a.m. Saturday at the Makati Medical Center. Mrs. Aquino has been diagnosed with colon cancer early in 2008 and has been confined at the Makati Medical Center for more than a month. Mrs. Aquino, widow of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., will be remembered as an icon of democracy, having led a military-backed popular revolt in 1986 that ousted a dictator who ruled the country for 20 years. At about...

Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, whose "People Power" movement pushed out longtime strongman Ferdinand Marcos less than three years after her husband's assassination, has died at age 76, her family announced Saturday. Aquino, the first woman to lead the Philippines, had been battling colon cancer since March 2008 and died of cardio-respiratory arrest at 3:18 a.m. Saturday (3:18 p.m. Friday ET), said Mai Mislang, a spokeswoman for her son, Philippine Sen. Benigno Aquino III. Funeral arrangments were being set up, Mislang said. And Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has announced a 10-day mourning period for the former president, said Ray...

Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino has died at the age of 76, her family has said. She had been suffering from colon cancer for more than a year and recently announced she was refusing further treatment. Her family had said she was leaving her fate to God, prompting church services offering prayers for her health. Mrs Aquino became president when the 1986 "people power" uprising deposed former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "Our mother peacefully passed away at 0318 [1918 GMT Friday] of cardio-respiratory arrest," Mrs Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr, told the media. "She would have wanted us to thank...

The online free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, informs that noted Philippine publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer was murdered on November 24, 2000 by members of the police force. According to Wikipedia, “Bubby Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, were abducted in Makati, the business district of Manila. They were later killed, and their vehicle dumped. In 2001, a number of arrests were made. One of the accused, police colonel Glenn Dumlao, named Cesar Mancao and Michael Ray Aquino as the organisers of the murders. Mancao and Aquino both fled the country. Dumlao later disappeared.” “The ultimate reasons for Dacer’s murder remain a...

Marine fatally shot at Miramar barracks SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES 10:37 a.m. January 19, 2006 MIRAMAR – A Marine was found dead of a gunshot wound Tuesday in his barracks at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.Sgt. Francisco D. Aquino, 25, of Hidalgo, N.M., was declared dead in his room at 8:32 a.m. Tuesday, according Sgt. Nathan LaForte.The Naval Criminal Investigative Service was handling the probe, LaForte said.Aquino was an auto mechanic assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1, Marine Air Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, he said.Aquino was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from February to March...

THE UNITED STATES is concerned classified documents allegedly stolen by Leandro Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino may have ended up in the hands of communists, according to an official of the National Bureau of Investigation. Ricardo Diaz, chief of the NBI’s Interpol division, said at a recent meeting that US officials noted that known leftists were at the forefront of so-called destabilization efforts and mass actions in the country. “They said there was a possibility that the classified government information from the White House and FBI [the Federal Bureau of Investigation] are now in the hands of the local...

Break silence, US urged Solons want brains of spy case named THREE senior administration lawmakers urged the United States government yesterday to break its silence on the espionage case of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and immediately identify the brains so they could be charged before Philippine courts. Representatives Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City), Marcelino Libanan (Eastern Samar) and Monico Puentevella (Bacolod) made the call as Malacanang reiterated its fear that the spying scandal could impair the Philippines' relations with the United States. The case involves the alleged theft of secret FBI files dealing with the Philippines, some of which...

Thursday, September 29, 2005 Jimenez eyes Atienza’s post By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter CONTROVERSIAL former representative Mark Jimenez of Manila is planning to run as mayor for Manila when he returns to the country in November after serving out his two-year community service in the United States owing to criminal charges. A congressman on Thursday gave this information to The Manila Times, but added that Jimenez may choose not to return to the country. The source, who refused to be identified, said the businessman’s “family and relatives” are convincing Jimenez to stay in the Bahamas for good. The former...

NEWARK, Sept. 12 - A Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence analyst and a former top Philippines law enforcement official were charged in federal court on Monday with espionage. Arrested were the F.B.I. analyst, Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, of Woodbury, N.J., a naturalized United States citizen who was born in the Philippines, and Michael Ray Aquino, 39, of Queens, a former deputy director of the Philippines National Police under the government of the former president Joseph Estrada. The two men are accused of passing classified agency information to government officials in Manila in a case that appeared related to the Philippines' fractious...

P.J. O'Rourke on John KerryThe following selection written by P.J. O'Rourke revolves around the behavior of U.S. Congressional observers in the 1986 elections in the Philippines between Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino. From Republican Party Reptile: Most of the Potomac Parakeets were a big disappointment. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry was a founding member of Vietnam Veterans against the War, but he was a bath toy in this fray. On Sunday night, two days after the election, thirty of the computer operators from COMELEC walked off the job, protesting that vote figures were being juggled. Aquino supporters and NAMFREL volunteers took...