Our top fact of the day, Taiwan

2011-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

1/3 of Taiwanese funeral processions include a stripper.

Thaksin party wins Thai election by a landslide

2011-07-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK - Thailand's opposition won a landslide election victory on Sunday, led by the sister of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a triumph for red-shirt protesters who clashed with the army last year.

Exit polls showed Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai (For Thais) party winning a clear majority of parliament's 500 seats, paving the way for the 44-year-old business executive to become Thailand's first woman prime minister.

"I'll do my best and will not disappoint you," she told supporters after receiving a call of congratulations from her billionaire brother, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in Dubai to avoid jail for graft charges that he says were politically motivated.

"He told me that there is still much hard work ahead of us," she told reporters.

With nearly all votes counted, Yingluck's party won a projected 261 seats with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party taking 162, according to the Election Commission.

Abhisit conceded defeat. "I would like to congratulate the Puea Thai Party for the right to form a government," he said.

Cheers, gunfights in Yemen as Saleh goes to Saudi

2011-06-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

SANAA/RIYADH - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack on his palace, has flown to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, potentially offering a face-saving end to his three decade rule.

Yemeni ruling party official Tareq al-Shami said that Saleh would return to the country within days, but uncertainty about whether he would be able to maintain his grip after months of protests meant the risk of further turmoil remained high.

Some Yemenis celebrated what they hoped would be Saleh's permanent departure, but the jubilation was mixed with firefights and explosions in Sanaa, and gunbattles broke out in the city of Taiz, about 200 km (124 miles) south of the capital.

"People are worried about what will happen after Saleh's departure. They're most worried about a military coup or struggles for power within the army," said Farouq Abdel Salam, a resident in the southern port city of Aden.

Acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi met military commanders, including Saleh's powerful sons and nephews, who remain in Yemen. Hadi also met the U.S. ambassador.

Worries are mounting that Yemen, already on the brink of financial ruin and home to al Qaeda militants, could become a failed state that poses a threat to the world's top oil exporting region and to global security.

- Manila bulletin / PAtis

Our top fact of the day, Romans

2011-06-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ancient Romans e used human urine as an ingredient in their toothpaste.

Our top fact of the day

2011-05-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

You are about 1 centimeter taller in the morning than in the evening!

Lightning strikes kill 40 in Bangladesh

2011-05-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

DHAKA - Lightning strikes during a heavy rainstorm in Bangladesh killed at least 40 people and injured more than 150, most of them harvesting rice in fields or fishing,, police and officials said on Tuesday.

Manila Bulletin - The deaths, the largest number of casualties from lightning in a single day, occurred on Monday. Ten people died in northwestern Chapainawabganj district.

Rainstorms ahead of the monsoon season starting in May or June often bring electric storms that kill residents and damage crops.

-Patis

Our top fact of the day, George Washington

2011-05-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.

Obama visits family roots in Ireland

2011-05-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

DUBLIN - President Barack Obama declared solidarity between the United States and economically struggling Ireland with a symbolic gulp of beer and a rousing speech, telling a huge Dublin crowd on Monday: "Your best days are still ahead."

Manila Bulletin- Beginning a four-nation European tour with a celebration of his Irish roots, Obama came to Ireland as what one man called a long-lost cousin.

Crowds packed the streets for both a stirring speech in Dublin and a visit to the tiny village of Moneygall, where an ancestor of Obama's lived before moving to the United States.

Introduced by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny as "the American dream come home," Obama told the throng in central Dublin: "My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas."

For Ireland, Obama's arrival, and the visit of Britain's Queen Elizabeth last week, are a welcome distraction from the global attention paid to its financial woes and the ensuing international bailout.

Obama was also due to visit Britain, France, and Poland on a week-long trip whose agenda includes talks on issues as Afghanistan and Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the world economy and the "Arab spring" uprisings.

Our top fact of the day, Adolf Hitler

2011-05-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only one testicle also called as Monorchism.

Tornado kills at least 89 in Joplin, Missouri

2011-05-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

JOPLIN, Mo. — At least 89 people have died in Joplin, Missouri, and the toll is expected to climb as one of the deadliest tornadoes in state history roared through the small Midwestern city on Sunday, local officials said on Monday.

Manila Buletin - Rescue crews from throughout the region worked through the night in the town of about 50,000 people in search of the dead and injured and to aid those left homeless.

Officials said they expected to find more bodies with first light on Monday as they dig through the rubble.

The tornado blew the roof off one hospital with about 180 patients and some 2,000 other buildings were destroyed. "It is a significant tragedy," said Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. "We're working on all cylinders. We've got to get an active and complete search ... to make sure if there is anyone still alive in the rubble that we get them out."

The path of the tornado through Joplin was estimated at six miles (9.5 kilometers) long and about 1/2 mile to 3/4 (1 kilometer) mile wide. "The loss of life is incredible," said Joplin Mayor Mike Woolston. "We're still trying to find people. The outlook is pretty bleak."

A temporary morgue was set up at the Missouri Southern State University, and a local concert hall served as a shelter for people whose homes and businesses had been wiped out. The devastation surpasses that seen last month when a twister struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama, killing more than 30 in that storm.

The governor declared a state of emergency and ordered Missouri National Guard troops deployed to help state troopers and other agencies respond to storms that he said "have caused extensive damage across Missouri." Joplin City Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean, who serves as vice mayor, said the town was in a state of "chaos."

"It is just utter devastation anywhere you look to the south and the east —businesses, apartment complexes, houses, cars, trees, schools, you name it, it is leveled, leveled," she told Reuters by telephone early on Monday. Stammer estimated that about 10 percent of the city, encompassing about 2,000 structures, had borne the brunt of the storm, based on initial aerial surveillance.

President Barack Obama issued a statement expressing his "deepest condolences" to families of the victims. He said he had directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support response and recovery efforts. A White House official said Obama was briefed multiple times about the tornadoes on the Air Force One flight to Ireland.

Entire neighborhoods destroyed

The storm flattened whole neighborhoods, splintering trees, flipped cars and trucks upside down and into each other.
-Patis

Our top fact of the day, Hawaii

2011-05-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

If a native Hawaiian woman places the flower on her ear, she is available. (The bigger the flower, the more desperate!!!)

Our top fact of the day, Jedi

2011-05-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Jedi is an official religion, with over 70,000 followers, in Australia.

Kim Jong-Il in China

2011-05-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il reportedly arrived in the Chinese city of Changchun on Saturday on the second day of a secretive trip with his isolated state in desperate need of economic aid.

Manila Bulletin Publishing corporation - Experts said the visit, the third by Kim in 12 months, reflects the North's dire need for help from its main benefactor to ease economic difficulties and food shortages amid ongoing international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.

They also say it shows he is firmly in charge despite health concerns. Kim, 69, suffered a stroke in August 2008 and has since been putting in place a succession plan involving his youngest son and heir apparent Kim Jong-Un.

Kim Jong-Il's special train, which left Mudanjiang City in Heilongjiang Province late Friday, was seen pulling into the railway station in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, on Saturday morning, YTN TV said.

The frequent trips to China by the reclusive leader ''underscores the North's desperate need'' for aid from China, Professor Cho Young-Ki of Korea University told the Chosun daily.

The North's two-way trade with China rose 32 percent last year to $3.47 billion, after South Korea severed most trade ties in protest at border attacks blamed on its neighbor.

The communist regime in North Korea is desperate to improve living standards and revive the economy before the 100th anniversary next year of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung, the current leader's father.

UN agencies said six million people -- a quarter of the population -- need urgent aid in the North, where a famine in the 1990s killed hundreds of thousands.

Our top fact of the day, India

2011-05-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

It's a common practice in southern India for a man to marry his sister's daughter.

Are one in three Africans really middle class?

2011-05-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

One out of three Africans are now middle class, according to a new report, but can that really be true??

(CNN) - A report released last week by the African Development Bank AFDB said that Africa's middle class are spending 40 % more than in 2005

"The malls that you see mushrooming everywhere, the cars that you see in the roads, the traffic jams in Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi ,that speaks of a growing middle class" says Mthuli Ncube, chief economist and vice president of the AFDB.

(Vangguard) - Strong economic growth and a move towards a stable, salaried job culture and away from traditional agricultural activities have cause the number of middle class Africans to triple over the last 30 years.

(CNN) - Overall, it is economic growth that determines the rise of the middle class, but economic growth is in turn driven by social and economic factors. Africa’s middle class is strongest in countries that have a growing private sector as many middle class individuals tend to be local entrepreneurs. In a number of African countries, a new middle class has emerged due to opportunities offered by the private sector

(Vangguard) - Geographically, middle class levels vary a great deal across African countries. North Africa has the highest. Tunisia has the highest at almost 90%, followed by Morocco at almost 85% and Egypt with almost 80%. But a significant number of these belong to the ‘floating’ category with a strong danger of falling into poverty due to economic shocks.

“Other countries with high percentages of the middle class include Gabon, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Cape Verde, Kenya and South Africa. Countries at the bottom end include Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi and Liberia.

“The report maintains the growth in the middle class is good news for the future prosperity of Africa, but also points out the continued high levels of income inequality on the continent. The continent has a extremely rich elite: ‘About 100,000 Africans had a net worth of USD800 billion in 2008, or about 60% of Africa’s GDP or 80% of sub-Saharan Afeica

Our top fact of the day, Greatness of the Egyptian Empire

2011-05-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

When the Egyptians conquered Libya in the 13th century B.C. they took 13,200 penises of the ruined enemies as trophies.

-Patis

Strauss Kahn resigns as IMF managing director

2011-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

The International Monetary Fund said Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as its head following charges against him of sexual assault and attempted rape.

"I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me," Strauss-Kahn said in his letter of resignation, which was released by the IMF and dated May 18.

"I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence."

A mug shot of Strauss-Kahn, 62, taken more than 24 hours after he was pulled from a plane and detained on Saturday, showed him exhausted, his eyes downcast and half-closed and wearing a rumpled, open-neck shirt.
The photograph may fuel outrage in France over how a man who had been viewed as a strong contender for the French presidency has been paraded before the cameras before he has had a chance to defend himself in court.

He will on Thursday for a second time request release on $1 million cash bail and placement under 24-hour house arrest while he awaits trial on charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid, his lawyers said. He is being held in New York's notorious Rikers Island jail.

The woman Strauss-Kahn allegedly tried to rape, a 32-year-old widow from West Africa, testified on Wednesday before a grand jury. It will decide in secret whether there is enough evidence to formally press charges with an indictment.

Strauss-Kahn arrest has dashed his prospects to run for the French presidency in 2012 and raised broader issues over the future of the International Monetary Fund. Developing countries are questioning Europe's hold on the top IMF position, and jockeying to replace him has already begun.

-Patis

Venus our top fact of the day.

2011-05-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

The only planet that rotates clockwise is Venus.

-Patis

He becomes the new Osama bin Laden

2011-05-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Osama bin Laden has got a successor.
At least temporarily. The terrorist network Al Qaeda has chosen Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian military officer.

Osama bin Laden was killed May 2 this year, almost ten years after the terrorist attack on 11th September 2001. Now al-Qaeda chose an interim leader.

His name is Saif al-Adel and described as a strategist and experienced military leader of al-Qaeda. He has fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980's before he fled to Iran after the fall of the Taliban 2001. His location are unknown, but he is believed to be somewhere in Pakistan.

-Patis

My first and Top fact of the day!

2011-05-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

Former Rwandan army chief Augustin Bizimungu sentenced to 30 years in prison for his involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

2011-05-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

The court in Arusha, northern Tanzania, found Augustin Bizimungu guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity during the slaughter of some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus between April and June 1994.

Top News and useful facts of the day

2011-05-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today a new website Top news and useful facts of the day is BORN.

I will give you the most important news of the day and one or more useful fact of the day!

- MangTomas / Fisksås / Pinoyhalimaw
May 15, 2011