W. Visayas workers seek P50 hike in daily wage
Demand for OFWs drops 14 percent this year, says POEA
OFW deployment up 11.7%
Fireworks with 'PS' mark certified safe by DTI
IF SENATORS IN CA SAY NO: Cuenco won't insist taking post as ambassador to Italy
Cebu City South District Representative Antonio Cuenco said he will not insist on taking his ambassadorial post in Italy if the Senator-members of the powerful Commission on Appointments don't want him to get the post.
Cuenco won't back Erap to get post
REP. ANTONIO Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) said he will not insist on his bid to become an ambassador if it would mean supporting the candidacy of former president Joseph "Erap" Estrada.
Senate oks Guadalupe split
The Senate has finally approved the bill creating barangay Banawa-Englis in Cebu City, said Rep. Antonio Cuenco who authored the bill in the House of Representatives.
Another dialog set on UP lot row
A new set of dialog will be held between the residents of San Jose, Barangay Lahug and the University of the Philippines in the Visayas-Cebu College this January 4 at the Lahug barangay hall.
Violations to access to information continue at Ombudsman's office
VIOLATIONS against access to information continued at the anti-graft office yesterday, with reporters getting barred from a conference involving conflicting parties from Barangay Luz.
Vidal wants a Cebuano to replace him
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal hopes that when he retires, a Cebuano would replace him to continue the legacy of serving the Lord and the Church.
SFI says Sinulog sa Kabataan winners will get bigger prizes
At least 17 contingents from the different schools in Cebu City, nine for the elementary and eight for the secondary divisions, will compete in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan on January 10, 2010.
Comelec: 2010 automated polls 'on track'
Real reason for poll counting machines delay bared
Comelec chair Jose Melo earlier said that Smartmatic-TIM could only deliver 30,000 this month because of the high shipping costs due to the holidays.
But in Thursday's hearing of the joint Congressional oversight committee on automation, it was disclosed that Smartmatic has only manufactured 30,000 units this month, not 40,000 as earlier announced.
Initially, Comelec officials stuck to the alibi that the first batch of 40,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines may not arrive as scheduled because of delivery problems.
"It is actually a delivery problem because of the lack of maritime vessels that would bring the PCOS from Shanghai to Manila. It is Christmas season and everything comes from China," Comelec executive director Jose Tolentino said when asked whether it is delivery or manufacturing problem that causing the delay in the automation project.
But when pressed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman whether the 40,000 to be delivered this December were already manufactured and ready for shipping, Tolentino backtracked.
Tolentino admitted that only 30,000 have been produced so far, and that the 10,000 units are still to be manufactured.
"We have a team that went to Shanghai, and based on the production run that was conducted, the spare parts available at the manufacturing plant, it's correct that more or less about 30,000 will be available by December," Tolentino said.
Under the P7.1 billion contract signed between Comelec and Smartmatic, the latter is supposed to produce 82,200 PCOS machines for the country's first ever nationwide polls.
The machines were supposed to be delivered in two batches, with the first batch of 40,000 last November.
However, only 9,800 would be delivered this month, and another 20,200 units after the holiday rush.
Revised timetable
Smartmatic, however, maintains that the delays in the automation project pertained only to delivery problems.
In spite of the apparent production problems, Comelec is optimistic that Smartmatic would be able to complete the manufacture of machines by February.
Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that based on a revised timetable, Smartmatic will be able to beat the deadline of the delivery of machines by one week.
Concerns have been raised over Smartmatic's failure to beat its deadline in the delivery of machines, which is causing a domino effect on Comelec's timetable.
The field testings and mock elections should have been held last November and this month, but the lack of machines prompted Comelec to revise its schedule.
The Comelec has also yet to start training teachers and poll officials on poll automation.
BOPK asks Comelec: Remove nuisance bets
Lawyers of the Bando Osmena Pundok-Kauswagan are expected to file today before the Commission on Elections in Manila a petition urging the poll body to remove the names of some candidates in Cebu City that they believe will affect the candidacy of some BOPK candidates for varied reasons.
Kusug is still a registered party: Comelec squelches talk it's delisted
TALKS that opposition party Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Kusug) is not in the list of accredited political parties for 2010 circulated yesterday, but officials from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Manila corrected the information.
Lito says he is convinced there is 'foul play' in his disqualification by Comelec
FORMER Cebu governor Emilio Mario "Lito" Osmeña said he is convinced something is amiss in his disqualification by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from running for senator.
.58M absentee voters register for 2010 polls
Comelec bans armed bodyguards for 2010 candidates
Comelec junks 'Ladlad' appeal to join 2010 polls
Comelec urged to declare Madrigal a nuisance
4 Cabinet execs, AFP, PNP chiefs face rap over martial law
"They misused the information that they received from the ground to rationalize the declaration of martial law," Akbayan partylist Representative Risa Hontiveros said in her complaint on Thursday.
The respondents in the 10-page complaint were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Victor Ibrado and Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa.
Hontiveros urged the Ombudsman to charge them criminally and administratively and suspend them from office.
CHR eyes re-autopsy in massacre probe
SC fully backs QC judge in Ampatuan murder trial
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes was picked Thursday after the case was raffled off for the second time at the Quezon City regional trial court.
Reyes of Branch 221 will replace Judge Luisito Cortez of Branch 84 who refused to take on the case involving Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., citing fears for his safety and that of his family.
Tight security for Ampatuan Jr. at DOJ on Friday
Ex-child assassin: Andal Jr. abused even married women
Another Maguindanao mayor surrenders guns to Army
Major Mayon eruption weeks away—volcanologists
Albay declares state of calamity
Pakistan annuls amnesty for corrupt politicians
China: Climate talks 'too important to fail'
US signals support for $100-B climate fund
Arroyo: RP most in danger from climate change
Late pope John Paul II moving towards sainthood
Too early to declare end to swine flu pandemic: WHO official
SEAG: Philippines jumps to 4th in medal tally
Kris Aquino thrilled over Piolo Pascual's Ninoy portrayal
Cory in TIME Magazine's 'Fond Farewells'
Pacquiao in TIME 'Person of the Year' list
Studio 23 launches 'Catch Up TV'
Sharon Cuneta is Ciara Sotto's matron of honor
Tiger Woods's wife wants divorce: People
Charice tops Oprah's best musical performance poll
Breast flasher run over by distracted driver
Scientists crack gene code of common cancers
The maps have exposed the DNA mutations that lead to skin and lung cancers, in a discovery scientists said could transform the way these diseases are diagnosed and treated in coming years.
All cancers are caused by damage to genes—mutations in DNA—that can be triggered by environmental factors such as tobacco smoke, harmful chemicals, or ultraviolet radiation, and causes cells to grow out of control.
Scientists from Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators have mapped this genetic damage from the tumors of two patients suffering from lung cancer and malignant melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.
"This is a fundamental moment in cancer research. From here on in we will think about cancers in a very different way," said Professor Mike Stratton who led the institute's cancer genome project.
"Today for the first time, in two individual cancers, a melanoma and a lung cancer, we have provided the complete list of abnormalities in DNA in each of those two cancers," he told the BBC.
"We now see uncovered all the forces that have generated that cancer and we now see all the genes that are responsible for driving those two cancers."
The scientists' research, published in the journal Nature, also gained deeper insights into the way the body tries to repair the damage caused by the cancers and stop the disease spreading.
Stratton said the research could in future change the way cancers are treated—by using genetic maps to find the defects that caused them.
"Now that we have these comprehensive complete catalogues of mutations on individual cancers, we will be able to see how each cancer developed, what were the exposures, what were the environmental factors and that's going to be key to for our understanding generally of how cancers develop," he said.
"And for our individual patients, we will see all the genes that are abnormal and are driving each cancer and that's really critical, because that will tell us which drugs are likely to have an effect on that particular cancer and which are not."
Peter Campbell, a cancer-genomics expert involved in the research, said the number of mutations discovered—33,345 for melanoma—and 22,910 for lung cancer—was remarkable.
"It is amazing what you can see in these genomes," he said.
The research shows most mutations could be traced to the effects of chemicals in tobacco smoke (in the lung tumor) or ultraviolet light (in the melanoma tumor), supporting the idea that they are largely preventable.
"Every pack of cigarettes is like a game of Russian roulette," he said.
"Most of those mutations will land where nothing happens in the genome and won't do major damage, but every once in a while they'll hit a cancer gene."
Stephen Leacock - "I detest life-insurance agents: they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so."
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