1st ASEAN Tribal Games to feature spear throwing and blow guns

They are not your ordinary Filipino athletes, but on September 15, a 12-member RP contingent will represent the country in the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Indigenous Tribal Games in Sabah, Malaysia.Ranau Village in Sabah state will host the two-day Tribal Games. The RP delegation – which will be represented by Filipino indigenous tribes like the Mangyans of Mindoro, the Aetas of Pampanga and the Dumagats of Sierra Madre – is composed of nine athletes and three coaches.ASEAN Tribal Games founder Col. Jeff Tamayo, who is also the Philippine Soft Tennis Association president and a board member of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), said they have selected the best athletes to represent the country in the inaugural event.The Mangyans, Aetas and Dumagats will be up against the Kadazandusun and Murut tribes of Malaysia and other indigenous people from Indonesia.The two-day Tribal Games will have competitions in boat race, foot race, traditional dancing, spear throwing, blow gun, and archery in assault courses, like shooters aiming for targets while they're up in trees."I hope this is the start of something big," said Tamayo, who was joined by members of the team garbed in their traditional attire."They are true ambassadors of sports. And they are here to help spread the goodwill to the indigenous people of other countries, and show them what they could be missing in their traditions," Tamayo added.

Pinay DH complains of 'maid-for-rent' treatment in KSA

Isiniwalat ng isang Pinay domestic helper na naging biktima siya ng tinatawag na “maid for rent" sa Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ang hindi

matanggap ng overseas Filipino worker (OFW), kababayan niya ang amo na umano'y nagpahamak sa kanya.

Sa exclusive report ni Jiggy Manicad para sa Reporter Notebook, ikinuwento ni Judith Umayan, tubong Cebu, ang ginawang

pagpapaupa sa kanya ng kanyang amo para magsilbi sa ibang bahay sa Saudi Arabia.

Taong 2009 nang nagtungo si Umayan sa Riyadh para magtrabaho bilang kasambahay na may sahod na 700 Riyal bawat buwan (o

katumbas ng P8,000) sa hangaring mapag-aral ang kanyang mga anak. Ngunit pagdating sa nabanggit na bansa sa Gitnang Silangan,

ipinaupa umano siya ng kanyang amo sa ibang bahay sa halagang 3,000 Riyal.

“Hindi ko lang inaakala na makapunta ako sa Saudi na ‘yong amo kong babae na Pinay pa, yun pa ang magpapahamak sa’yo,"

pahayag ni Umayan sa ulat ng GMA news 24 Oras nitong Martes.

Ayon sa ulat ni Jiggy, isa lamang si Umayan sa mahigit 100 distressed OFWs na nanunuluyan sa shelter ng Philippine Overseas Labor

Office (POLO) sa KSA. Dito pansamantalang tumitira ang mga OFW habang hinihintay ang kanilang pagkakataon na makauwi ng

Pilipinas.

Bukod sa kaso ng hindi tamang pagpapasahod, marami rin umano rito ang kaso ng panghahalay sa mga kasambahay na OFWs sa

KSA.

Ayon naman kay Albert Valenciano, labor attaché, KSA, hindi madali ang magpauwi ng OFW sa bansang ito dahil kailangan muna

nilang makakuha ng exit clearance mula sa kanilang mga amo. “Ito talaga ang sistema rito, may sponsorship law sila. Yung sponsor

na employer na rin ang magbibigay sa kanilang clearance para makauwi sila," ayon sa opisyal.

Ganito ang problema ni Lola Purita Robatan, 65-anyos, na nais ng umuwi sa Pilipinas matapos magtrabaho sa KSA bilang

kasambahay mula pa noong 1992.

Nanawagan si Lola Purita kay Pangulong Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, na tulungan silang makauwi kaagad, lalo na sa kanyang

kondisyon ngayon na nabulag ang dalawang mata dahil sa catarata.

“Nananawagan ako sa ating presidente na pinakamamahal na presidente sa Pilipinas na sana matulungan niya ako na makauwi agad

at matulungan din nila ako na makapagpagamot," pakiusap niya. - FRJimenez, GMANews.TV

Members of the RP Tribal Team pose during the PSA Forum in Manila on Tuesday prior to their departure for Sabah, Malaysia to compete in the ASEAN Indigenous Tribal Games from September 15 to 16. GMANews.TV

Composing the RP athletes are Arnulfo Bernardo, Reynaldo Panagsagan, Ryan Pacifico, Marlon Luna, Ricardo Turgo, June Ablong, Manalo Ablong, Dumlao Naval and Jimmy Ablong while the coaches are Conchita Consada, Jerry Manalo and Danilo Tecson.

Consada is a Dumagat tribal official while Manalo is a Mangyan indigenous people educator from Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro. Tecson is an Aeta chieftain based in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

Luna and Turgo are the tribal athletes representing Quezon province while Bernardo, Panagsagan and Pacifico are Mangyans that will compete in the barefoot long distance race.

Tecson will be joined by the Ablong brothers – June, Jimmy and Manalo – and Naval where they are entered in the tribal archery event.

"It's a tribal competition and we hope that people, not only in the Philippines, will take notice of it. Again, these people are the

original protectors of our bio-diversities, our national heritage, our culture, our environment," said Tamayo.

The ASEAN Tribal Games will be held in conjunction with the Nunuk Ragang World Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration in Kota Kinabalu.

The Philippines will host the 2012 edition where Tamayo hopes to attract 80 different tribes in the ASEAN region. – JVP/RCJ, GMANews.TV

Google milks animated doodle mystery on Twitter

SEATTLE – For a dozen years, Google Inc. has been occasionally swapping its everyday logo for a "doodle," a sketch celebrating

holidays, inventions, artists and sporting events, and showcasing designs from contest-winning students.

Usually, Google makes it clear what's being celebrated, using the doodle as a lure to teach Web surfers more about the topic — artist

Nam June Paik on his birthday, for example, or the history of China's lantern festival, to pick just two of more than 300 past designs.

But Google has so far left Tuesday's doodle a mystery, prompting people to speculate about the meaning of this mass of blue, red,

yellow and green bouncing balls that skitter across Google.com as if allergic to the mouse pointer before settling into the familiar logo

pattern.

Google's official statement says merely that "today's doodle is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be."

Adding to the intrigue, the company also tweeted on Twitter, "Boisterous doodle today. Maybe it's excited about the week ahead..."

So what's happening this week? Online, some folks speculate that the doodle marks a celebration of Google's September birthday.

Others believe it's a way to show off emerging Web coding technology that, among other things, will speed up animations like this

one. Yet more curious searchers note that Tuesday marks the day a television pioneer transmitted an image electronically for the first

time.

Google is also holding a search-themed media event Wednesday at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.

Regardless of how the Google doodle caper shakes out, one thing is clear: In the U.S., at least, the Tuesday after a long holiday

weekend is the perfect time for a bouncy distraction. — AP

Banker Emmanuel Ledesma is new PSALM president

The Energy Department announced on Monday the appointment of investment banker Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. as president of

state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM)

Ledesma, who finished his Masters of Business Administration at the J. J. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern

University in Illinois, has been in the banking industry for more than 20 years. He replaced PSALM acting president Luz Caminero.

Before this first post in government service, Ledesma served as managing director and country head of the Royal Bank of Canada.

With the appointment of Ledesma, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras formed a technical working group to review and enhance

existing department policies.

The group will review pressing matters that need to be addressed within the energy field, including the impact of certain movements

of consumer demands, Almendras said.

He said one of the goals of the group is to obtain the lowest possible universal charge that can be passed on to electricity consumers.

—JE/VS, GMANews.TV

6 Killed, 35 Wounded In 2 Bomb Attacks In Eastern, Southern Baghdad

o (AP)  BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi officials said at least six people were killed and 35 were wounded in two separate attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday.In the first of the two attacks, three policemen and one civilian were killed when a parked car bomb exploded near a bus station in Baghdad's southern Bayaa neighborhood.

A second bomb targeting police and rescue services arriving at the blast site detonated minutes later. There were no reports on casualties from the second blast.In eastern Baghdad, two bombs near a bus station went off simultaneously, killing two civilians and wounding 12 others. Health officials confirmed the death toll.All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.Violence has dramatically subsided in Iraq since 2008, but insurgents still frequently strike with lethal force, targeting the country's security forces, government institutions and civilians.

In a separate development, a senior Iraqi military intelligence official said Wednesday that Iraq opened an investigation into an incident on the previous day when an Iraqi soldier opened fire on a group of American troops protecting one of their commanders during a visit to an Iraqi army base.Two American soldiers were killed and nine other wounded in the attack. The two were the first U.S. servicemen to die since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in Iraq last week.The initial findings show that the assailant was a Kurdish member of Iraq's special forces and has participated in joint patrols and raids with U.S. troops, the Iraqi official said.He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Officials in Guatemala have called off the search for 15 people missing after deady landslides, fearing fresh avalanches of mud after the heaviest rains in 60 years.

The decision on Tuesday came as rescuers resumed their grim task of digging for corpses in a ravine next to the Pan-American Highway.

"The search has been called off because of the condition of the ground," David de Leon, a spokesman for the government's emergency management office CONRED, told AFP news agency.

The overall toll from the torrential early season rains stands at 45 in Guatemala and three in southern Mexico, but with at least 15 still feared to be buried alive in mud off the Guatemalan highway that figure could rise.

The rains triggered almost 200 landslides and collapses, causing at least a half-billion dollars in damages, according to the Guatemalan government, which ordered three days of national mourning and declared a state of emergency.

Alvaro Colom, the president, said on Sunday that the tragedy was made worse by a shortage of government funds after Tropical Storm Agatha, which killed 165 people and left thousands homeless in May.

The United States on Tuesday offered $4.38 million in aid to Guatemala, while the United Nations said it would send 20,000 food rations to help those affected by the floods.

Bomb attack targets Pakistan police

At least 20 people were killed and 56 injured in attack targeting police headquarters in country's northwest.

At least 18 people have been killed and more than 56 injured in a car bomb attack targeting a police headquarters in Pakistan's northwestern city of Kohat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Tuesday's attack came hours after the Taliban threatened more suicide attacks on a government and security forces already overwhelmed by the worst flooding in Pakistani history.

A number of houses collapsed from the force of the blast and rescuers sought to dig out their occupants.

"Most of the victims were women and children, and 10 houses were badly damaged," Khalid Khan, a top administrative official in Kohat,  told AFP news agency.

Police official Dilawar Khan Bangash said the bomber drove a car laden with about 300 kg of explosives into the gates of the complex as people were breaking their dawn-to-dusk fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and the blast brought down several houses and damaged nearby buildings.

He said several people were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.

Shortly afterwards, a police patrol hit a roadside bomb in the nearby town of Hangu, and several policemen were wounded.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani denounced the Kohat attack as a "most heinous crime against innocent civilians.

"While the nation is passing through difficult times due to devastating floods, these coward criminals have killed innocent Muslims when they were breaking their fast in their homes," Gilani said in a statement.

Taliban threat

Armed groups have killed nearly 120 people in suicide bombings since resuming a bloody campaign last week to topple the government after a one-month lull during the floods.

A Taliban spokesman on Tuesday threatened more suicide attacks on security forces and government offices in response to US drone aircraft strikes on its members in tribal areas.

"Americans are carrying out drone attacks with the permission of Pakistan and we will take revenge with suicide attacks on security forces, police and government offices," Taliban spokesman Azim Tariq told Reuters news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"Drone attacks have killed dozens of innocent women and children but America has never expressed its regret."

Nineteen people, including policemen and children, were killed in a suicide bombing at a police station in the northwestern town of Lakki Marwat on Monday.

Kohat is a garrison town close to the tribal areas of Khyber and Orakzai, known as major refuge for armed groups linked to al Qaeda and Taliban.

South Korea unveils sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 8, 2010 -- Updated 0856 GMT (1656 HKT)

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-Sun, left, speaks on the Iran sanctions in Seoul on Wednesday.

(CNN) -- South Korea on Wednesday announced sanctions against Iran -- including government scrutiny of most financial

transactions involving the country -- as part of global efforts to quash Tehran's suspected nuclear program.

A key Iranian bank also will face "a heavy penalty," said South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun, according to state

media.

The Seoul branch of Iran's Bank Mellat has allegedly facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for Iranian nuclear,

missile and defense agencies, the Yonhap news agency said.

Korea also will expand a sanctions blacklist to limit the foreign-exchange transactions of more than 100 people and Iranian entities;

step up inspections of suspicious cargo to and from Iran; put those blacklisted on a travel ban; and limit investments in Iran's gas and

oil refinery industries.

The blacklisted entities include Bank Mellat, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines,

according to Yonhap.

The United States, a key South Korean ally, has lobbied other nations to step up sanctions against Iran. The European Union, Canada

and Japan are among those that have done so.

Iran is continuing its uranium enrichment activities in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to a report released

Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran has rebuffed international demands to halt its uranium enrichment program, saying it wants the nuclear fuel for peaceful uses.

The IAEA is not convinced.

In low concentrations, enriched uranium can be used to fuel civilian power plants, but in extremely high concentrations, it can be

used to produce a nuclear bomb.

"Based on an overall analysis undertaken by the agency of all the information available to it, the agency remains concerned about

the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organizations,

including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile," the IAEA report said.

Last month, the United States extended sanctions against Iran, saying it was targeting a number of Iranian businesses and groups

accused of helping organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Taliban.

In June, the United Nations imposed some of its toughest sanctions yet of Iran. The new sanctions include cargo inspections, new

controls on Iranian banks, restrictions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a new U.N. panel of experts to help monitor and

enforce sanctions, and asset freezes on 40 entities and individuals.

Also in June, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions targeting the country's nuclear and missile programs, identifying

more than 20 companies and several individuals allegedly involved with those programs.