My Daily Inquirer

NEW DELHI – As many as 160 people were feared dead after an Air India plane arriving from Dubai crashed Saturday as it overshot a runway while trying to land in southern India.

Television images showed dense black smoke billowing from the aircraft surrounded by flames just outside the Mangalore city airport in a hilly area with thick grass and trees.



Firefighters sprayed water on the plane as rescue workers struggled to find survivors. One firefighter ran up a hill with an injured child in his arms.

Officials in the state of Karnataka said of the 169 people believed on board, only six or seven might have survived.

"This is a major calamity," Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya told CNN-IBN TV.

The aircraft overshot the runway, hit a fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport, according to the Press Trust of India.

The crash could be the deadliest in India since the November 1996 midair collision between a Saudi airliner and a Kazakh cargo plane near New Delhi that killed 349 people.

The airport's location, on a plateau surrounded by hills, made it difficult for the firefighters to reach the scene Saturday, officials said.

Pre-monsoon rains over the past two days caused low visibility in the area, officials said.

Mangalore airport is about 19 miles (30 kilometers) away from Mangalore city.

Source: News

His name used to be poison in the Philippines but Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is now talking about becoming president after elections showed him to be one of the nation's most popular politicians.

The dictator's son also insists his family has nothing to apologise for in regards to his father and namesake's 20-year rule of the country that ended in 1986 with a "people power" revolution and a humiliating escape into exile.

"My father doesn't need me to vindicate him," a relaxed Marcos told AFP on Wednesday in his first major interview since last week's national elections that saw him secure more than 13 million votes and a seat in the Senate.

"What will vindicate my father will be the academics and the historians who will look back on his time in the cold light of day and see his administration for what it was."

To many, Ferdinand Marcos Snr's reign was dominated by widespread human rights abuses, the family stealing billions of dollars from state coffers and the wholesale slaughter of a fledgling democracy aimed at holding on to power.

But Marcos Jnr said his father, who died in 1989 in US exile and now lies embalmed in the family home in the northern Philippines, committed no major crimes and was a superior president to those who succeeded him.

"To compare between him and the presidents since, he was a much better president than they have been," the 53-year-old said as he sipped on a fruit juice in an upscale Manila cafe.

He dismissed charges that his father cheated to win the 1986 elections, one of the key moments in modern Philippine history as it triggered the so-called "people power" revolution led by the democracy heroine Corazon Aquino.

Marcos was similarly black-and-white when asked if the family stole even just one dollar while in power.

"Good Lord no, of course not," he said, then emphasised that hundreds of cases had been lodged against the Marcosos in an attempt to recover alleged ill-gotten wealth, but none had succeeded.

On human rights abuses, Marcos initially said that some minor incidents -- such as a drunken soldier beating someone up -- may have occurred while his father was in power.

"But it was not part and parcel of government. It was not national policy to commit human rights abuses," he said.

Pushed further, however, on issues such as the detention of journalists, newspapers being closed and the imposition of martial law, Marcos said such measures were needed to contain "wars" against Muslim and communist rebels.

"So the war rules applied, I suppose, in that regard," he said.

Further boosting his confidence that his family will fall on the right side of history were parallel victories in the national elections by his famously flamboyant mother, Imelda, and sister Imee.

With Imelda, 80, winning a seat in the nation's lower house of parliament, and Imee the governorship of Ilocos Norte province that is their family stronghold, the clan is at its strongest politically since being overthrown.

"It's a result that we all wanted. You can't do better than that," he said.

Marcos said the trio's victories showed that ordinary Filipinos had never abandoned the family, and that its downfall was only because it fell victim to a plot by the United States and powerful local oligarchs.

"The EDSA (people power) revolution was American-inspired.

"It was a regime change... and although they'll deny it and swear on everything that's holy that they weren't involved, its very clear that they were," he said of the US government.

"In the family, we always knew that, but it's very gratifying to see that other people have come around to that way of thinking."

Marcos said he had decided to step up to the Senate -- after serving for nine years as Ilocos Norte governor and three as a lower house member -- purely to give ordinary Filipinos a voice on the national stage.

"I really felt that I could help, I really felt that I had learned very much and I could bring those lessons to a national stage," he said.

Marcos insisted that entering the Senate was not part of a well-orchestrated plan to run for the presidency in the next elections in 2016.

"We don't know what's going to happen in the next six months so I think to plan for that is actually not even a practical thing to do, a wise thing to do. Because you have to watch and wait really," he said.

Nevertheless, he said that he did want to emulate his father by becoming president.

"In the way that every foot soldier wants to be a general," he said.

Source: News

The Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program provides support to young researchers working in academic and research institutions from eligible countries preparing a doctoral thesis. Research grants cover residence costs for a 5 to 10 month period in a renowned university or research center. Fellows are expected to advance their research work mainly by using the facilities and resources provided by the host institution and by interacting with peers.


Who Can Apply?Only lecturers and researchers from eligible countries working on their doctoral thesis can apply for the fellowship. Candidates should be under 45 years, and have completed any course work or exams required for their doctoral program.

See more: Scholarship

The School for Advanced Research (SAR) supports advanced scholarship and creativity in the social sciences, the humanities, and Native American art. Since 1907, SAR has supported innovative programs that expand our knowledge of human nature, culture, and creativity.

One six-month fellowship is available for a female social scientist from a developing nation, either pre- or post-doctoral, whose work addresses women’s economic and social empowerment in that nation.

The goal of the program is twofold: to advance the scholarly careers of women social scientists from the developing world, and to support research that identifies causes of gender inequity in the developing world and that proposes practical solutions for promoting women’s economic and social empowerment.

In addition to a $4,500/month stipend and housing and office space on the SAR campus, the Campbell Fellow receives travel, shipping, and library resource funds; health insurance; and the support of a mentoring committee of established scholar-practitioners.

See more: Scholarship

BANGKOK – Buildings smoldered across central Bangkok early Thursday and troops exchanged sporadic fire with pockets of holdouts a day after the army routed anti-government protesters in a push to end Thailand's deadliest political violence in nearly 20 years.

Although the government quelled most of the violence in the battered Thai capital, it announced that a nighttime curfew had been extended in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days.

"Overall, we have the situation under control," army spokesman Col. Sansern Kawekamnerd said.

A major military operation the day before, in which at least seven people were killed and 88 wounded, was largely successful, but underlying political divisions that caused Thailand's crisis may have been exacerbated, and unrest spread to provinces in the north and northeast.

Bangkok's skyline overnight was blotted by flashes of fire and black smoke from more than three dozen buildings set ablaze — including Thailand's stock exchange, main power company, banks, a movie theater and one of Asia's largest shopping malls.

The government described the mayhem as "an organized crime. It is terrorism." Sansern, who said 122 police and army units were involved in the operation, said authorities found a cache of explosives and assault rifles during their sweep against the Red Shirts.

Troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged occasional fire Thursday morning with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.

A special police unit entered a Buddhist temple inside the former protest site where the government said 5,000 Red Shirt supporters, most of them women, old men and children, had sought shelter in recent days. Associated Press photographers said there was no resistance at the temple as police took away the group to a nearby police station.

Some cried and many were fearful that they would be incarcerated by the military. Others remained defiant.

"We won. We won. The Red Shirts will rise again," shouted one woman.

Since the Red Shirts began their protest in mid-March, at least 75 people — mostly civilians — have been killed and nearly 1,800 wounded. Of those, 46 people have died in clashes that started May 13 after the army tried to blockade their 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) camp.

Six bodies were found at the temple, but it was unclear when those people died and whether they already were included in the official death toll as collected by the government's Erawan Emergency Center.

Elsewhere in the city, municipal workers removed debris and collected piles of garbage left in the streets that had been cordoned off by authorities for the past week.

Sansern said there had been a total of 39 arson attacks, which officials said included office buildings, banks, gold shops, a hotel, government offices and convenience stores.

He said that the arson and looting were "systematically planned and organized" by Red Shirt leaders before they surrendered.

He also said that the military had been restrained in their use of deadly force.

"If we had the intention to attack civilians, the death toll would have been much higher," he said.

Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayagorn said the rioting was sparked by "disappointment, hopelessness and anger" but the scale could not have been as widespread "if there had not been prior organized planning."

While many of the rioters were believed to be members of the Red Shirts and their sympathizers, there also was an element of criminals and young hoodlums involved in the mayhem in the city of 10 million people. The violence in one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries has damaged its economy and tourism industry.

With the top Red Shirt leaders in custody, it was unclear what the next move would be for the protesters who had demanded the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of parliament and new elections. The protesters, many of them poor farmers or members of the urban underclass, say Abhisit came to power illegitimately and is oblivious to their plight.

The crackdown should silence the large number of government supporters who were urging a harder line, and the rioting that followed may extinguish some of the widespread sympathy for the protesters' cause.

But that same violence also showed a serious intelligence lapse by the military, and the failure to secure areas of the capital raised doubt over how any unrest in the protesters' heartland of the north and northeast can be stilled.

Many Thais feel that any short-term peace may have been purchased at the price of further polarization that will lead to years of bitter, cyclical conflict.

"The Reds rampaged and committed to armed resistance," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "Right now, they are just burning buildings, but later on, what if they picked up arms to fight the bureaucrats, security forces in other parts of Bangkok, and especially in the countryside? So this is just the beginning. The crackdown didn't make them retreat fully. Things will get much worse still."

Thitinan said the government will need to seek a political settlement. "The problem now is that who does the government talk to?" he said.

Some point to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and fled into exile before being sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. The government has accused him of bankrolling the protests and refuses to make any deals with him until he comes back to serve his sentence.

The crackdown began soon after dawn Wednesday, as hundreds of troops with M-16s converged on the Red Shirts' camp.

Armored vehicles crashed through barricades of piled tires and bamboo stakes, and soldiers then gradually moved toward the protesters' hub, opening fire with live ammunition and drawing return fire and grenades from militant Red Shirts, according to Associated Press reporters at the scene.

The unrest spread outside Bangkok, with Thai media reporting that protesters set fire to government offices in the city of Udon Thani and vandalized a city building in Khon Kaen. Udon Thani's governor asked the military to intervene.

TV reports also showed troops retreating after being attacked by mobs in Ubon Ratchathani, and more unrest was reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest.

In Bangkok, one of the most striking images was gray smoke pouring from Bangkok's landmark CentralWorld shopping mall, which was all but totally gutted by fire. One of Southeast Asia's largest shopping complexes, it measured 550,000 square meters (5.9 million square feet).

The 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was the first for Bangkok since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government in a crisis now known as "Black May."

Seven top Red Shirt leaders surrendered Wednesday, saying they could not stand seeing their supporters being killed.

"Brothers and sisters, I'm sorry I cannot see you off the way I welcomed you all when you arrived here. But please be assured that our hearts will always be with you," Nattawut Saikua, a key leader, said as he was arrested. "Please return home."

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, another Red Shirt leader, said the movement would go on despite the day's events.

"This is not the end," he said. "It will spread further and the situation will deteriorate. Initially, independent mass movements in Bangkok and other provinces will begin, then riots will ensue. This will be done by individuals, not by protest leaders. The crowds will reunite soon."

A bruised Bangkok awoke Thursday to scenes of burned out and looted buildings in the wake of a deadly army assault on anti-government protests in the Thai capital.

Enraged protesters went on the rampage Wednesday, setting fire to major buildings including the stock exchange after the army moved in to break up a weeks-long rally by the "Red Shirt" demonstrators.



Plumes of black smoke billowed across the skyline in the aftermath of the military crackdown on the camp that left at least seven people dead, including an Italian journalist, and forced their leaders to surrender.

While most demonstrators dispersed, some militant protesters set fires at 27 locations in the capital in an upsurge of violence that prompted authorities to declare a night-time curfew across about a third of the country.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has been under enormous pressure to end the crippling standoff, said he intended to "get through" the crisis and return peace to the country.

Timeline of Thailand's deadly unrest

"The end of the rally has dissatisfied some protesters, especially those who are armed," he said. "So they created trouble, particularly arson in some areas."

Major blazes swept through Central World, one of Southeast Asia's largest shopping centres, the Stock Exchange of Thailand, a downtown cinema, many banks and a television station where about 100 staff had to be rescued.

The bloody crackdown inflamed unrest outside the capital as supporters in northeast Thailand set fire to at least two provincial halls.

Violence also broke out in northern Chiang Mai where people tried to burn buildings and throw home-made bombs after the Bangkok protests ended, but by late evening the situation was under control, local officials said.

The government imposed an overnight curfew in Bangkok and almost a third of the country's 76 provinces, in a bid to quell the eruption of violence, admitting that parts of the capital were still outside their control.

"We are waiting until the people go back home, then we will deal with rogue protesters," Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon told AFP.

The latest unrest began when armoured vehicles backed by armed troops firing live rounds smashed through towering barricades made of tyres and razor wire that the Red Shirts had erected around their sprawling base.

A tearful protest leader later announced on stage that the Reds would end their occupation of the upscale shopping and hotel district in the heart of the capital where they have been camped for six weeks.

"I know this is unacceptable to some of you... but we cannot stand this cruelty," said top Red Nattawut Saikuar. "We will exchange our freedom with your safety. We have tried our best."

At least four top Reds later went to the police headquarters nearby to give themselves up. The government said earlier some others had already fled.

An Italian freelance photographer, Fabio Polenghi, 45, was among those shot dead during the clashes at one end of the Reds' encampment, which had stretched for several kilometres (miles).

Several other journalists were wounded in the clashes, including Dutch television reporter Michel Maas who was shot in the shoulder.

Another journalist, a Canadian, and four soldiers were also badly injured by grenade attacks inside the camp.

An AFP photographer saw two protesters lying dead on the ground after being shot in the head when troops pushed into the encampment. At least 46 people have died since the army moved to lock down the area last Thursday.

Police said elite troops had orders to shoot on sight anyone looting, committing arson or inciting unrest, following several days of intense clashes in the capital.

"Tonight will be another night of suffering," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said in an address on national television.

The United States urged Thai protest leaders to rein in their supporters following the bloody army crackdown.

Washington was "deeply concerned that 'Red Shirt' supporters have engaged in arson, targeting electricity infrastructure and media outlets and have attacked individual journalists," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.

The Reds have been campaigning for elections to replace Abhisit's administration, which they consider illegitimate because it came to power with the backing of the army in a 2008 parliamentary vote.

The crisis has left at least 75 people dead and about 1,700 wounded since mid-March, including 25 people who died in a failed army crackdown on April 10.

The Reds are mostly supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin -- accused by the government of bankrolling the protests and inciting unrest -- denied Wednesday he had undermined peace talks, saying he was not the "mastermind of the terrorists".

Source: News

An audacious gun, grenade and suicide attack on the largest NATO base in Afghanistan sparked hours of battles Wednesday, killing an American contract worker and 10 militants.

Nine US soldiers were wounded in the seven-hour gunfight at Bagram Airfield, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Kabul, a military spokesman said.

The assault by Taliban militants, one day after a suicide car bomber killed five US soldiers, a Canadian colonel and 12 Afghans in Kabul, highlighted the increasing sophistication and relentless pace of the nearly nine-year conflict.



Bagram is run primarily by the US military and is the biggest NATO base in the country.

The Taliban, which is leading the insurgency against the Afghan government and Western troops, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In website postings monitored by SITE, a US-based intelligence group, the militia said 20 of its fighters had taken part, killing 45 soldiers and wounding dozens more. Taliban claims are regularly exaggerated.

"The attack started at around 4:00 to 4:30 in the morning (and) it was concluded at around 10:30 to 11:00 am," the last six hours comprising "light and sporadic" gunfire, military spokesman Master Sergeant Tom Clementson told AFP.

He said a US civilian contractor in "the vicinity of one of the exchanges" was killed.

An ISAF spokesman in Bagram said 10 militants had died. The alliance had earlier said 11 militants were killed.

Clementson added that at least four of the attackers were armed with suicide vests and that they were killed before detonating their devices. The insurgents had not been able to "breach the base".

Another coalition spokeswoman told AFP: "They targeted a gate but couldn't enter.... Soldiers' response was pretty quick."

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the attack "included rockets, small arms and grenades".

The Pentagon in Washington said 30 militants had been involved.

With connecting flights across Afghanistan and abroad, Bagram is a transit hub for much of the 130,000-strong US-led NATO force, which is being boosted to 150,000 by August to step up the fight against the Taliban.

Witness Zemarai Malikzada said: "I saw American helicopters flying overhead, they were firing down and the terrorists were firing at them."

Ahmad Jawad, a local farmer, said he saw a man wearing a suicide vest: "I went towards him. He showed me his bombs on his chest. I ran away. He ran towards those vineyards.

"Police and the Americans followed him then he exploded, right in there," he said, pointing to a vineyard near the paved road.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location that four suicide bombers had activated their explosive belts.

Bagram has acquired notoriety as the location of a US-run prison that the military opened following the US-led invasion that brought down the Taliban regime in late 2001.

The entrance was last hit by a double attack in March 2009 that wounded three civilians.

On a busy day, the air terminal at Bagram processes around 1,650 passengers.

In addition to troops, there are around 5,000 civilians on the 2,100-hectare (5,190-acre) compound, working for companies contracted by the military.

The Taliban threatened a new nationwide campaign of attacks from May 10 targeting diplomats, members of the Afghan parliament, foreign contractors and the international military force.

Another NATO soldier was killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, bringing to at least 211 the number of foreign troops to have died in the war so far this year. Out of that number, 130 have been from the United States.

On Tuesday, eight NATO soldiers were killed -- six of them in a suicide car bomb attack in the capital, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for.

Washington believes the "surge" of extra troops can wrest back the initiative in key population centres and allow US forces to start withdrawing from the unpopular and costly conflict next year.

Source: News

Biographical Information

With a long and distinguished career in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ms. Figueres has been a member of the Costa Rican negotiating team since 1995. She represented Latin America and the Caribbean on the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism in 2007, and was then elected Vice President of the Bureau 2008-2009. One of the most skilled mediators of the Convention, she is frequently asked to chair controversial negotiations. She conceived the new financial instrument “programmatic CDM” with four groundbreaking publications that have marked global thinking on this novel concept.

She initiated her life of public service as Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn, Germany in 1982. She served as Director of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Planning in Costa Rica, and was then named Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture. Moving to the USA, she was Director of Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) and in 1995 founded the Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA) which she directed for eight years. She designed and helped to establish national climate change programs in Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, becoming a prime promoter of Latin America’s active participation in the Climate Change Convention. In 2001 she received the Hero for the Planet Award by the National Geographic Magazine.

Ms. Figueres has made important contributions to the analytic literature on the design of the climate regime, is one of the most widely published authors on the topic, and a frequent public speaker. She has a Masters Degree in Anthropology from the London School of Economics, and a certificate in Organizational Development from Georgetown University. She speaks Spanish, English and German.

WASHINGTON – Voters rejected one of President Barack Obama's hand-picked candidates and forced another into a runoff, the latest sign that his political capital is slipping beneath a wave of anti-establishment anger.

Sen. Arlen Specter became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high-profile race despite the president's active involvement, raising doubts about Obama's ability to help fellow Democrats in this November's elections.

The first three candidates fell to Republicans. But Specter's loss Tuesday to Rep. Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania's Democratic senatorial primary cast doubts on Obama's influence and popularity even within his own party — and in a battleground state, no less.

Of course, it's possible that Democrats will fare better than expected this fall. And there's only so much that any president can do to help other candidates, especially in a non-presidential election year.

See more: News

Thai protest leaders surrendered Wednesday and told thousands of "Red Shirt" supporters to end their weeks-long rally after an army assault on their fortified encampment left at least five people dead.

Gunfire crackled in clashes that erupted after military armoured vehicles smashed through barricades erected around the anti-government Red Shirts' sprawling rally base in central Bangkok and armed troops moved in.

The military later announced in a televised address that the situation was under control and it had halted operations against the protesters, whose supporters in northeast Thailand set fire to a provincial hall.

The defence minister told AFP that a night-time curfew would be imposed across the capital, which had been turned into a battle zone in recent days as troops used live ammunition against demonstrators, some of them armed.

A tearful protest leader announced on stage that the Reds would end their occupation of an upscale shopping and hotel district in the heart of the capital where they have been camped for six weeks.

At least four top Reds later went to the police headquarters nearby to give themselves up. The government said earlier some others had already fled.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen over the city as fires engulfed the huge Central World shopping centre and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, as well as several other buildings, in the chaotic aftermath of the army operation.

The causes of the blazes were not clear but there were local media reports that some hardcore anti-government protesters had lit fires because they were unhappy with the Red Shirt leaders' decision to surrender.

An Italian photographer was among those shot dead during the clashes at one end of the rally base, which stretched for several kilometres (miles) and had been fortified with barricades made with tyres, bamboo stakes and razor wire.

"An Italian man was shot and died before arriving at the hospital," said Police Hospital director Jongjet Aoajenpong.

Four more people died and "many" were wounded, said a police spokesman, Major General Piya Uthayo. The Police Hospital said 19 people were wounded, including several other foreign journalists.

An AFP photographer saw two protesters lying dead on the ground after being shot in the head when troops pushed into the encampment.

"I got shot from behind through the shoulder. It's just a flesh wound," a reporter with Dutch national TV, Michel Maas, told AFP at the hospital. The other journalist, an American, was nicked in the leg and not seriously wounded.

A third journalist, a Canadian, and four soldiers were also badly wounded by grenade attacks inside the camp, AFP witnesses saw.

Piya said police had deployed about 1,000 rapid movement officers who were authorised to shoot on sight anyone looting, committing arson or inciting unrest, following several days of urban warfare in the capital.

The "Red Shirts" had defied a government deadline to leave by Monday. A military lockdown to seal off the site that was launched last Thursday had left more than 40 dead in six days of violence.

Several thousand protesters, including many women and children, were inside the rally base when the army moved in.

Some were openly crying and others put on face masks in fear of tear gas attacks. Their leaders later asked them to disperse and walk towards an area where the government had laid on buses to take them away.

Hundreds of army and police had advanced towards the protest zone in the pre-dawn hours, with trucks dropping off troops wearing balaclavas and carrying weapons and riot shields, while a helicopter circled overhead.

The Reds are campaigning for elections to replace the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which they consider illegitimate because it came to power with the backing of the army in a 2008 parliamentary vote.

They are mostly supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup. A controversial court ruling ejected his elected allies from power, paving the way for Abhisit's government to be appointed.

Many countries have warned their nations against travelling to Thailand. Australia Wednesday said travellers should not visit Bangkok, citing the deteriorating security situation.

Philippine legislators on Wednesday launched an inquiry into allegations of fraud in last week's national elections, officials said.

The House of Representatives suffrage committee will look into allegations of irregularities surrounding vote-counting machines in the nation's first automated ballot, committee vice-chairman Matias Defensor said.

"It seems that the complaints are not isolated but came from all over the country," Defensor said.

Congress is set to convene next Monday to confirm the apparent winner, Benigno Aquino, as the next president. More than 17,000 other positions were contested from vice president to local town mayors.

While Aquino's lead is so big over his rivals that the final verdict appears not to be in doubt, some of the losing presidential candidates have alleged some of the results were already pre-programmed in the computer memory cards.

Other complaints have focused on contests for lower positions.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who lost his bid to become a city mayor, urged the government to withhold payments to the private contractors of the automated ballot, Smartmatic-TIM, until the complaints were cleared up.

"The remedy is not to pay them until the air is clear," Nograles said.

However, outgoing President Gloria Arroyo's ruling Lakas-Kampi CMD coalition, which did badly in the elections with their presidential candidate coming a distant fourth, said there had been no widespread fraud.

"Unless proven otherwise, we believe that this automated election was a big success," said Lakas-Kampi CMD's Prospero Pichay, an adviser to Arroyo.

"Maybe we should look into (the allegations), but ... the people have spoken and you have to respect that."

Independent poll monitor Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting also said it had seen few discrepancies.

Source: News

The European Union will join an international team overseeing the ceasefire between the Philippine government and Muslim separatist rebels in the south, the local EU representative said Wednesday.

EU ambassador Alistair MacDonald said the bloc would be leading the "Humanitarian, Rehabilitation and Development Component" of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) at the request of both Manila and the rebels.

"The EU's decision to join the IMT is indeed good news for both the government of the Philippines and MILF panels which now endeavour to preserve the gains of the peace talks," chief government negotiator Rafael Seguis said.

It will also allow the EU to play a more direct role in the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said MacDonald.

He stressed that promoting peace was crucial to ending "the vicious cycle of conflict and poverty" that had afflicted the southern region of Mindanao for decades.

The EU will join Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, and Japan in monitoring the ceasefire between the government and the MILF in Mindanao.

It was not stated when EU personnel would be dispatched to the troubled region and how many would be sent.

The international monitors have been credited for significantly reducing clashes between the military and the Muslim rebels in the south.

The MILF, which boasts about 12,000 fighters, has been fighting to set up a separate state in Mindanao but signed a ceasefire with Manila in 2003 to open the door to peace talks.

Despite the ceasefire, fighting has broken out sporadically, the worst case occurring in August 2008 when MILF commanders attacked communities in central Mindanao, leaving over 300 civilians and combatants dead.

More than half a million people were displaced by the fighting and tens of thousands still remain in refugee camps even though both the government and the rebels have reopened peace talks.

The separatist rebellion on Mindanao has left more than 150,000 people dead since 1978.

Source: News

We are inviting you to the 7th Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations from August 4-6, 2010.The Youth Assembly at the United Nations is a gathering of hundreds of young people (18-25 years old) from all around the world who seek future involvement with the United Nations, civil society, and ways to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Other than the Youth Assembly at the UN, there are several opportunities for youth leaders to be involved, to name a few:

1. YOUTH LEADERSHIP
SEMINAR

Session 1: July 31—August 3, 2010
* For experienced
NGO Youth Leaders
* Case Study/
Certificate-based course;
* Participants ages
18-25 with personal projects
* preferred

Session 2: August 7—11, 2010
* US—China Youth
Exchange
* What does social entrepreneurship meanto US/China
relations?
* Certificate-based
course; ages 16-19 preferred
1. JOBS and INTERNSHIPS July-August 2010
* SUMMER INTERNSHIPS/VOLUNTEERS: Internships for credit and volunteers are sought to prepare for the 7th Youth ASsembly at the UN (NYC,NY)& Leadership Seminar at Fairliegh Dickinson University (FDU; New Jersey)
* ASSISTANT PROJECT
DIRECTORS/COORDINATORS: Weekly stipend, course credit. Excellent intern/volunteer effort for retired events planner volunteer or masters level hospitality and tourism student
* Program Development, Event Planning, and
Administrative/Management interns are also sought

1. YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
· The Youth Assembly recognizes youth achievement among 16-18 year old youth leaders from academic institutions/ organizations/associations across the globe.The YA invites nominations for recognition of any and all young people who have contributed to humanitarian goals in 2009.

1. YOUTH JOURNALISTS and YOUTH FILMAKERS
· Seeking Youth Journalists and film-makers to document Youth Assembly UN

1. PARTNERSHIP YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS

* Calling for youth organizations in pursuit of the MDG's to partner with. The International Youth Council will be holding workshops to the youth delegates at the Youth Assembly this year. We are seeking to partner with youth organizations, to build the series of workshops on Millenium Development Goals for
Youth delegates at the UN.

For more information please
visit: http://www.faf.org/unyouthassembly/ya_home.htm

(CNNGo) -- Images of flaming tires, blood-covered bodies, armed soldiers and grenade-riddled buildings may dominate local and international media these days, but in the rest of Thailand -- and even most parts of Bangkok -- life is carrying on without any signs of the clashes.

That's not to say residents aren't suffering, particularly in the country's major resort areas where international tourists are scarce. CNNGo asked residents in some of Thailand's popular holiday areas what the mood is, and if they're feeling the heat from Bangkok's violent situation.



Come to Thailand, but get out of Bangkok

Alan Morrison, editor of Phuketwan.com, says Phuket is the peaceful tropical holiday island paradise it always has been, "but some people seem to think it's close enough to Bangkok to be dangerous."

"It's such a shame that travel alerts don't always distinguish between the safe parts and the spots where snipers and tire-burners do their thing," he says, referring to the many government advisories that warn their citizens to avoid travel not just to Bangkok, but Thailand on the whole.

"Rates at four- and five-star resorts on Phuket and along the Andaman coast are likely to be fantastic for travelers in the next few months. If you've ever wanted a luxury holiday with all the extras, now's the time to plan it."

Online travel guide Travelfish.org recently published a piece titled: "Should I cancel my trip to Thailand? No. Should I cancel my trip to Bangkok? Yes." Though it warns that the violence is localized to a few areas of Bangkok, the article says "the situation is extremely volatile and could spread quickly and without warning.

"If you've already got a holiday planned to Thailand, you don't need to cancel it, but you do need to rejig your holiday so as to spend as little time in Bangkok as possible." The site offers tips for travelers on how to get out of the city and suggestions on close places to go, including Kanchanaburi and Koh Samed.

CNNGo: Bangkokians using social media to track protests

Hua Hin: Bangkokian escape

Hua Hin, about 200km south of Bangkok, is one resort town that is benefiting from Bangkokians' desire to get away from the chaos, says 11-year Hua Hin resident Martin Young, who works for Asia Times Online.

"From a foreign tourism point of view the town is dead. However the loss of business by Thai establishments is being made up for by domestic tourism," Young says.

"Bangkokians are fleeing the city in droves and their favorite destination seems to be Hua Hin. Both locals and expats alike are pretty much sick of it all and want the situation to end quickly so that business can return to normal. Being a tourist town it is hurting at the moment and local businesses are counting the pennies. There is no sign of any protests or insurrection here, though."

In an interview with CNN last week, Thai Finance Minister Korn Korn Chatikavanij said the protests had taken between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent off the nation's gross domestic product for the year and would have an "incalculable impact on investor confidence."

"Clearly the impact on the economy has been the impact on tourism," Korn said. "Obviously pictures that are appearing on TV screens across the world have spooked potential tourists. Several governments have issued travel warnings for Thailand as a whole and we've seen bookings disappear at least for the months of June and July."

CNNGo: Tourists advised to stay away from Bangkok

Pattaya: Tourists growing scarce

Pattaya, Thailand's most infamous seaside resort, notorious for its go-go bars and wild nightlife, has been particularly hard hit by the ongoing situation. Pattaya resident Pojanee Muangkaew's family owns a scuba diving and tour company there. She says things have gone from bad to worse in recent weeks, with international tourists growing scarcer by the day.

"On a normal month we'd each walk away with 100,000 baht. Last month, since the protests began, that dropped. This month, it looks like we'll be losing money. If things don't improve, we're going to have to close down. Even though this is the low season, the number of tourists has dropped to less than half of what we'd usually get this time of year."

Chiang Mai: No national crisis here

Up north in Chiang Mai, where support for self-exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is prevalent, there is none of the civil unrest found in Bangkok, says long-time Chiang Mai resident and business owner Andrew Bond.

"Even the usual ongoing protest forum behind Phra Singh Temple by the UDD has been abandoned as most [red shirts] have gone to join the Bangkok group," Bond explains. "The city is going about its business and uninformed tourists wouldn't suspect there's a national crisis."

Bond notes that even though two grenades went off outside banks in the early hours of Monday, "probably in response to Seh Daeng's death," no one was hurt and other acts of civil terror haven't been reported lately.

"I'm also meeting lots of ordinary Thais in this Thaksin stronghold who express strong disapproval at what the red shirts are doing," Bond says.

Thai Chiang Mai resident Therapat Poomstitpong agrees with Bond, saying that the only evidence he's seen of the protests is what appears on TV screens and the front pages of the daily newspapers, but unfortunately the tourists are staying away.

"It's sad, as there aren't many foreign tourists. Everyone is so tired of the violence, most of us want it to stop," the ice cream vendor says. "I just wish the red shirts would stop protesting and go home, before more people have to die."

Bangkok: Life on hold, in some areas

In Bangkok itself, life has been put on hold for many. On Tuesday the government extended the public holidays for state agencies for the remaining three days of this week, reports The Nation, as the violent street clashes are unlikely to end within the next few days. The BTS skytrain and MRT subway systems remain closed, too.

That said, Bangkok is a large, sprawling city, so away from the main trouble areas life hasn't changed. CNNGo contributor Greg Jorgensen lives in Bangkok's Yaowarat neighborhood, aka Chinatown, where he says there is no sign of the unrest despite events taking place just a few kilometers away.

"My little neighborhood on the river in Chinatown is business as usual -- kids playing in the street, dogs snoozing in the shade, food being cooked and eaten, and people running to and fro with work," he says.

"Much like water, which simply moves around an immovable object, Thais have the remarkable ability to continue their routine in the most challenging of circumstances. Bangkok has several areas that are definitely dangerous, but in all others, life continues unabated."

Source: CNN

Dozens of troops waited in alleyways before dawn preparing to make a move toward the protesters. The government had warned the Red Shirts on Monday to get out by 3 p.m. local time.

On Monday the crackdown never surfaced. Then a glimmer of hope: The streets were relatively quiet as talk of negotiations surfaced on Tuesday, giving weary Bangkok residents a bit of hope this would be resolved soon and peacefully.



That didn't happen

And then on Wednesday at first light came a flurry of activity. Soldiers moved on the streets, weapons in hand. Some hid behind trees, while others crouched crouch in nearby bushes.

Then, in single file, they moved. We watched as they passed the U.S. Embassy, helmets bouncing as they picked up the pace. They ran toward the area where anti-government protesters have created a large encampment for the past six weeks.

A couple hours later came the sound of blasts and rapid gunfire in the center of the city. The protesters have refused to leave and the government wants them out. Armored personnel carriers lurched onto the street. Tanks bashed through some of the barricades made of tires and sharpened bamboo sticks.

The protesters don't budge but the troops don't push all the way in, either. Bangkok waits to see which side will blink first.

By DENIS D. GRAY and JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Writer Denis D. Gray And Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press Writer – 27 mins ago

BANGKOK – Thai troops opened fire Wednesday into the fortified encampment of anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, ramming armored vehicles into its tire-and-bamboo barricade in what appears to be a final crackdown after a week of deadly clashes.

Associated Press reporters saw the troops firing automatic rifles from an overpass overlooking the encampment. Groups of soldiers also fired from crouching positions on the tracks of an elevated light rail system that runs over the encampment. There was no word on any casualties.



"This is D-Day," said one soldier when asked if this was the final push to clear the protest zone.

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(Bonn, 17 May 2010) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Christiana Figueres as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. The appointment was endorsed by the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Monday.

In announcing her appointment the UN Secretary-General said: "Ms. Figueres is an international leader on strategies to address global climate change and brings to this position a passion for the issue, deep knowledge of the stakeholders and valuable hands-on experience with the public sector, non-profit sector and private sector."



Ms. Figueres' leadership at the helm of the UNFCCC comes at a crucial time in global efforts to take effective action on climate change.

"I am honored by the designation of the Secretary General and I am thankful to the members of the UNFCCC Bureau for their vote of confidence. Most of all, I am humbled by the opportunity of the challenging task at hand," said Ms. Figueres.

See more: UNFCCC Chief