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Mike Tyson Arrested After Airport Scuffle With Photographer

November 12, 2009 by ·

mike tyson_The former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested yesterday after a brawl with a celebrity photographer at Los Angeles International Airport in which he allegedly injured the man’s head.

The paparazzo told police that Tyson struck him once. The photographer, who was not immediately identified, was also arrested. He suffered a cut to his forehead and was taken to hospital, police said.

“There’s a lot of different versions to the story,” Sergeant Jim Holcomb, of Los Angeles Airport Police, said. “That’s all going to come out later. But, in this particular case, both individuals are going to be pressing charges for battery.”

The Los Angeles Times, citing an unnamed source, said that Tyson told police that the photographer struck him in an attempt to provoke him. The photographer claimed that Tyson punched him in the face and tried to take the film from his camera.

Tyson’s spokeswoman, Tammy Brook, said that the boxer was travelling with his wife and 10-month-old child when he was attacked by an overly aggressive paparazzo. The 43-year-old acted in self-defence to protect his child, she said.

The scuffle is the latest incident between celebrities and aggressive paparazzi at the LA airport, where photographers camp out to get lucrative shots of celebrities in transit. Last year the rapper Kanye West had an airport altercation with a photographer. He was cleared of charges last month.

“I’ve heard people were following him into the men’s room and trying to take his picture there,” said Tyson’s defence attorney, David Chesnoff. “My advice to him is going to be to vigorously press charges against what everyone agrees are ridiculously aggressive photographers.”

Tyson was cooperative as he waited in a holding cell at the airport police station and was later released.

Tyson won his first championship title at age 20 and his reputation as a ferocious boxer earned him the nickname “Iron Mike” during his heyday in the 1980s.

But he has had a troubled history. As a boy, he was involved in criminal gang activity in Brooklyn, New York, and he eventually went to a school for troubled youth in upstate New York where he began boxing.

In 1988, as his career soared, he married the actress Robin Givens. The pair fought publicly, with Givens claiming that he physically hurt her, and eventually they divorced.

In 1991 Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. He was convicted of sexual assault in 1992 and spent three years in prison.

Tyson’s career never regained the lustre of his early years after he bit off a portion of boxer Evander Holyfield’s ear during a 1997 championship bout. He retired from boxing in 2005. The Times

Filed Under: Boxing, Celebrity, News, Sports ·

140 Die In Philippine Storm, Toll Expected To Rise

October 2, 2009 by ·

philippine storm_Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers as residents started to dig out their homes from under carpets of mud after flooding left 140 people dead in the Philippine capital and surrounding towns.

Overwhelmed officials called Monday for international help, warning they may not have sufficient resources to withstand another storm that forecasters said was brewing east of the island nation and could hit as early as Friday.

Authorities expected the death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana, which scythed across the northern Philippines on Saturday, to rise as rescuers penetrate villages blocked off by floating cars and other debris. The storm dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours, fueling the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years. At least 140 people died, and 32 are missing.

Troops, police and volunteers have already rescued more than 7,900 people, but unconfirmed reports of more deaths abound, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

He told a news conference that help from foreign governments will ensure that the Philippine government can continue its relief work.

“We are trying our level best to provide basic necessities, but the potential for a more serious situation is there,” Teodoro told a news conference. “We cannot wait for that to happen.”

The extent of devastation became clearer Monday as TV networks broadcast images of mud-covered communities, cars upended on city streets and reported huge numbers of villagers without drinking water, food and power.

In Manila’s suburban Marikina city, a sofa hung from electric wires.

Since the storm struck, the government has declared a “state of calamity” in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

Resident Jeff Aquino said floodwaters rose to his home’s third floor at the height of the storm.

Aquino, his wife, three young children and two nephews spent that night on their roof without food and water, mixing infant formula for his 2-year-old twins with the falling rain.

Among those stranded by the floodwaters was young actress Christine Reyes, who was rescued by movie and TV heartthrob Richard Gutierrez from the rooftop of her home near Manila after she made a frantic call for help to a local TV network with her mobile phone.

Gutierrez, a close friend and Reyes’ co-star in an upcoming movie, heard of her plight, borrowed an army speedboat and ferried Reyes, her mother and two young children to safety.

Rescuers pulled a mud-splattered body of a woman from the swollen Marikina river Monday. About eight hours later, police found three more bodies from the brownish waters.

The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the country’s south, where they have been providing counterterrorism training. The United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Program have also provided food and other aid. The Star.

Filed Under: Climate Change, News, Weather ·

UN Reopens Probe Of Pinoy Peacekeeper’s Death

September 23, 2009 by ·

un reopens probe of pinoy peacekeeper's death_The United Nations has agreed to reopen an inquiry into the 2007 death from malaria of a Filipino UN peacekeeper in Sudan who Manila alleges was denied prompt medical attention.

The UN agreed to review the case after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro raised the matter last week with UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy, the foreign department said.

Lt. Col. Renerio Batalla died of cerebral malaria in October 2007 while serving as a military observer with the UN Mission in Sudan.

A UN investigation released seven months later recommended a reprimand for a UN doctor due to negligence and for not administering immediate treatment, but Manila’s demand for the unnamed doctor’s removal from UN service was denied.

“A review will go a long way in assuaging whatever doubts or apprehensions that have come about as a result of the tragic death of one of our own,” the statement quoted Teodoro as telling Le Roy.

Batalla was one of 11 Filipino military officers serving in Sudan. Journal Online

Filed Under: Documentary, Foreign Policy, News ·

RP To Send Battalion To Golan Heights

September 23, 2009 by ·

rp to send battalion to golan heights_DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr., arriving early yesterday, said he has assured the UN it will send a 336-strong peacekeeping battalion to the Golan Heights in Syria to help the world body keep the peace in the conflict area.

Briefing the media upon his arrival at the NAIA, Teodoro said he assured UN Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy of continuing Philippine commitment to UN peace-keeping missions during the former’s visit at the UN headquarters in New York City late last week.

“It is a great honor for the Philippines to be given the opportunity to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations,” Teodoro said. “Despite our own constraints and requirements, we can be expected to continue to fulfill our obligations as a responsible and reliable troop-contributing country.”

Teodoro also revealed that he met with Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN, during his UN visit that capped his six-day official mission to the United States.

Earlier in Washington, DC, Teodoro held talks with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, setting the course for a stronger RP-US security alliance and defense engagement and cooperation, which Teodoro said is moving to a “high gear.”

The two leaders acknowledged the clear and present danger posed by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)-Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and MILF rogue elements in Southern Mindanao. Teodoro stressed, however, that the Philippine government has significantly weakened the ASG, the Armed Forces troops having captured a major ASG training camp after recent clashes with the terrorist group in Southern Philippines.

Teodoro also reported that the 1st Philippine battalion to the Golan Heights will start deploying at the end of this month beginning with a 12-man advance party. The entire contingent is expected to be on the ground and take over the peacekeeping responsibilities of the Polish Battalion in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission area before the end of October.

Teodoro said the Philippines is looking forward to its participation in the UNDOF in the Golan Heights, which Manila considers to be its biggest and most challenging mission since it took part in UN operations in Timor Leste almost a decade ago.

“The UNDOF is a big step forward for the Philippines and is a mark of confidence in the country’s ability to send larger units to support UN peacekeeping operations abroad,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro said he assured Le Roy the Philippines will strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy against misconduct and select only the best personnel for the mission. He said he will also look into how to increase the number of female personnel for deployment overseas.

For his part, Undersecretary General Le Roy expressed his gratitude for Philippine contributions and the important role Filipino peacekeepers play in helping the UN bring peace and stability in conflict areas across the globe, specifically in Haiti, Liberia and Timor Leste. He said the United Nations is looking forward to more contributions from the Philippines in the future.

The Philippines has gone a long way since it first participated in UN peacekeeping operations with the deployment of an Air Force squadron in the Congo in the 1960s, Davide, who gave Teodoro a warm welcome, told the Defense secretary.

Since then, Manila has contributed military and police personnel to UN missions in Cambodia, Burundi, Georgia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo and Nepal.

At present, the Philippines is the 29th largest troop contributor to UN peace operations with a total of 611 Filipino peacekeepers, made up of 295 troops, 22 military observers and 294 police officers serving in Afghanistan, Cote d’ Ivoire, Darfur, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan and Timor Leste..

The number does not include the three military officers who were sent this month to serve with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in the disputed Kashmir region.

Filed Under: News, Policy, Politics ·

RP-China Ties Chill Over Spratlys Law

September 22, 2009 by ·

rp-china ties chill over spratly's law_A Philippine law passed last year that spelt out Manila’s claims to parts of the disputed Spratly Islands has had a “negative” effect on relations with China, Beijing’s envoy said Tuesday.

The “baselines act” signed by President Gloria Arroyo spells out Manila’s claims to parts of the group of islands and atolls in the South China Sea that is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Signing the law “turned out to be very negative for bilateral relations,” Ambassador Liu Jianchao told foreign correspondents.

“Our stand is indisputable sovereignty by China over the islands in the South China Sea and adjacent waters,” Liu said. He said Beijing had made its stand “very clear” to the Philippine government and was expecting Manila to resolve the issue.

The baselines law “encroaches” on China’s sovereignty and was a violation of a code of conduct adopted by all claimants to refrain from making unilateral moves that could disturb the status quo in the area.

Liu however said China was still for the “peaceful settlement” of the overlapping claims, even as he acknowledged this could take a long time to resolve. The ambassador said claims to the islands were a bilateral issue between China and the countries involved.

“We are opposed to the internationalization of the dispute, or its regionalization,” he said. “We are ready to work with countries on a bilateral basis.”

Liu said the rival claimants were however on the right track by agreeing to jointly conduct studies in the area and to possibly share vast natural resources or oil reputed to be lying under the islands.

China was ready to listen to proposals by its smaller neighbors on joint cooperation and development in the area, he said. “I think it will take some time. We can’t do it very soon, so we are ready to have very serious and business-like consultations with other countries concerned,” he said.

There have been deadly armed confrontations among naval forces by claimants to the Spratlys, called Nansha islands by China, in the past.

Filed Under: Facts, News, Political ·

Watermelons Seen As Source Of Fuel

September 9, 2009 by ·

watermelons_An Oklahoma-based chemist for the Department of Agriculture said his research suggests that sugars in the juice of watermelons can be used to make ethanol.

Wayne Fish works with the department’s research service laboratory in Lane. He said his research began two years ago during a study on how to enrich watermelons for their effect on human health.

“Then some watermelon producers asked us to find something they could do with their cull watermelons,” he said.

Joel Tumblson, a watermelon producer in Rush Springs, said finding a use for cull or discarded watermelons would be “amazing.” He said he sometimes has to leave as much as one-fourth of his crop in the field each season because the melons are overripe, cracked, sunburned or misshapen.

“Right now we just feed them to the animals or plow them under,” Tumblson said.

Fish said there are advantages to using watermelons. Unlike corn, in which starch must be broken down before it can be fermented, researchers working with watermelons were able to begin the process at fermentation.

But a disadvantage: cost.

Fish said the picking and transporting the fruit, along with returning the finished product to a farm, can be pricey. He said the first step toward using watermelons for ethanol “is to invent a mobile fermentation unit” that could be moved from grower to grower.

Such a unit might not be far from completion. Jim Rausch, the president of Common Sense Agriculture, a Texas-based company, said he hopes to finish a pilot project next year that would simplify the ethanol processing sequence.

“We’re looking at a mobile unit that could be moved from grower to grower, that in a three-month season could turn out 20,000 gallons,” he said. “The whole production process can eliminate transportation costs.”

He said the goal is to turn a waste crop into something that is profitable for farmers. Associated Press.

Filed Under: Fruits & Vegetables, News ·