PAL to fly to 11 new international destinations this year

Good news!

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to fly to one new domestic and 11 new international destinations this year as the flag carrier undertakes a re-fleeting program.

PAL President Ramon S. Ang said the carrier is set to mount flights to new locations in Australia, China, Malaysia, and the Middle East, and to a prime local tourist spot, Batanes.

In a briefing on Friday, Ang said PAL will start flying to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on May 2; to Darwin, Brisbane, and Perth (Australia) on June 1; Guangzhou (China) on June 2; Abu Dhabi (UAE) on Oct. 1; Dubai (UAE) on Nov. 1; Doha (Qatar) on Nov. 1; and Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam (Saudi Arabia) on Dec. 1.

Manila to Basco, Batanes flights, meanwhile, will begin on May 1.

Ang said the country's current good economic conditions are among the factors behind PAL's aggressive expansion of routes.

PAL, together with its sister carrier PAL Express, currently flies to 32 domestic and 28 international destinations.

Source: ABS-CBN news

Gwiyomi Fever in Manila!

What is Gwiyomi song?

The word “gwiyomi” simply means “cute”. The “gwiyomi song” is a cute Korean song about a girl asking his boyfriend to promise her not to look to other girls.

 

This is a K-pop single popularized by South Korean singer Hari and was released on February 18, 2013. It was inspired by a gesture from rapper South Korean Jung Ilhoon of boy group BtoB. The gesture is called 'Gwiyomi Player', which became an Internet in October 2012 followed by its first appearance on South Korean reality show by SBS MTV named MTV Diary. The gesture has also inspired many Asian netizens to upload their own versions onto the internet. On March 26, The Bangkok Post described the "Gwiyomi" song as the latest web-viral sensation that has unseated "Gangnam Style" to become the new K-pop craze.

 

Here are some videos of Filipina celebrities who joined the Gwiyomi craze:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner is.....

 

 

 

Let’s all do the Gwiyomi craze! :D

 

Other Barretto Siblings take sides; Mom Inday calls Gretchen a liar!

Hmm this issue is getting hotter and juicier!

There's a raging war between Gretchen Barretto (with sister Marjorie) on one side and their mom Inday Barretto (and daughter Claudine) on the other side.

 

Like most celebrities, Gretchen loves to post on Instagram updates on what’s going on with her life, including photos of her branded personal items. Aside from commenting on Gretchen’s messages, an unidentified netizen put in an uncalled-for comment about Julia Barretto being “maarte.” Julia is the daughter of Marjorie and Dennis Padilla being built up by ABS-CBN as a possible heiress of Claudine’s “title” as a Kapamilya Teleserye Princess.

 

Gretchen must have suspected that the comment came from Claudine. What appeared next on Gretchen’s Instagram were questions about somebody (unnamed) being very violent, who had ruined her husband’s Porsche and laptop (that’s why he left her), adding that that somebody was better off in her favorite place, the Medical City.

BREAKING NEWS: Letter addressed to Obama ''has tested positive for deadly poison ricin - ONE day after substance found in parcel meant for Mississippi senator

A letter addressed to President Barack Obama has tested positive for traces of the deadly poison ricin, it was revealed today, making it the second poison-laced letter intended for high-ranking members of the U.S. government.

The Secret Service said that the letter contained a 'suspicious substance.'
A source told ABC News that another letter has shown traces of the substance only a day after authorities intercepted a letter addressed to Mississippi Republican Sen. Rocker Wicker.

The Capitol Police did not immediately return MailOnline's request for comment. It is unclear whether the two letters containing ricin are at all related.
A suspicious letter that tested positive for ricin, a substance that is fatal when ingested, was sent yesterday to Mississippi Republican’s offices in Washington. News of the package sent shock waves throughout Capitol Hill.

The FBI and Capitol Police have not yet released the identity of the suspect to the public, but Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri said today that the person in question ‘writes a lot of letters to (Congress) members.’

Both authorities declined to comment further on the situation.



The discovery of the ricin-laced letter put politicians on edge, as its delivery came only a day after Monday’s deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon.

The letter was believed to originate in Memphis, Tennessee, and it did not have a return address, according to initial reports.

The letter tested positive for ricin three times, but due to the frequency of false-positives on ricin tests, it will undergo further testing in a Baltimore lab.

In response to the ricin letter, the House and Senate have temporarily closed their post offices.

Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310533/Obama-ricin-Second-letter-tested-positive-poison-addressed-president.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Best Summer Food Fair is Back!

Attention foodies! The country’s biggest and most delicious benefit summer food fair, Best Food Forward, is back! Now on its 3rd year, another grand, exciting, fun and food-filled weekend is waiting to happen on April 20-21, 2013 at the NBC Tent, from 10am - 8pm.

Indeed, there is more to food than meets the eye at Best Food Forward. It not only nourishes but has the power to continue bringing kith and kin together, convert strangers into friends and at the same time, happily give newcomers an avenue to prove their worth in the bustling food industry. And from a meager 2-day attraction for a few hundred people during its very first staging, Best Food Forward is predicted to surpass its attendance of over 6,000 food-lovers for its 3rd year.

Obama says he doesn't believe North Korea has nuclear missile

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama has said he doesn't believe North Korea can fit a nuclear warhead on a missile, casting strong doubt on an alarming assessment disclosed last week by the Pentagon's intelligence arm.

 

And he warned the young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that weeks of threats against the United States and South Korea had only served to isolate the regime further.

 

Asked in an NBC News interview whether North Korea could put a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile, Obama said, "Based on our current intelligence assessments, we do not think that they have that capacity."

 

According to a snippet of a document read out by a congressman at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency believes "with moderate confidence" that the North has developed nuclear weapons it could deliver on a ballistic missile, although with low reliability.

U.S. defense and intelligence officials sought to qualify the DIA's words soon after they were made public, saying North Korea hadn't "fully" demonstrated the capabilities mentioned. But Obama's comments in the NBC interview, which was recorded Monday and broadcast Tuesday, appear to be the strongest dismissal of the assessment yet.

 

Obama cautioned, though, that amid North Korea's recent dramatic threats, the United States has to "make sure that we are dealing with every contingency out there."

 

"That's why I've repositioned missile defense systems to guard against any miscalculation on their part," he said, an apparent reference to the recent decision to move missile defenses to Guam, a Western Pacific territory that is home to U.S. naval and air bases that the North has cited as possible targets for attack.

 

View the whole article here: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/17/world/asia/koreas-tensions/index.html

Top-earning hedge-fund chief takes home $2.2 billion in 2012

Last year was a tough one for hedge funds, but the 25 top-earning hedge fund managers still managed to pull in a combined $14.14 billion in 2012, according to an Institutional Investor magazine ranking.

The 12th annual "rich list" placed David Tepper, founder of the New Jersey-based Appaloosa Management, atop its ranking. Alpha magazine said he made $2.2 billion in 2012.
  

 
Three others earned more than $1 billion apiece: Bridgewater Associates' Raymond Dalio with $1.7 billion, SAC Capital Advisors' Steven Cohen with $1.4 billion and Renaissance Technologies' James Simons with $1.1 billion.

The rankings are based on combined earnings from performance fees and management fees. All managers on the list earned at least $200 million, up from a minimum of $100 million from a year earlier.

It may seem striking that managers took home such hefty paychecks, considering that the average hedge fund returned just 6.2% in 2012, according to Hedge Fund Research, in a year when the S&P 500 gained 13%.

But while the payout numbers are high, the combined $14.14 billion earned by the ranked managers is the lowest sum since 2008. Last year's number was down just slightly from 2011.

There was only one new kid on the block on this year's list: Discovery Capital Management's Robert Citrone made it into the rankings for the first time.

Several of 2011's top earners disappeared from this year's list, including Carl Icahn, after he returned his investors' money in 2011 and only invested with his fund's own capital.

Source:  http://money.cnn.com

American Airlines grounds flights due to computer fault

About 900 flights are said to be affected.

American Airlines had to ground all its flights across the US on Tuesday due to a fault with its computerised reservation system.

The carrier halted all departures from about 13:30 ET (18:30 GMT), saying that it was working "to resolve this issue as quickly as we can".

American fixed the problem three hours later, but warned that it expected to see delays and cancelations for the remainder of the day.

About 900 flights were affected.

American said it would offer refunds and allow passengers to change flights for free.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates civil aviation in the US, confirmed that American had asked to halt its flights while the problem was rectified. -BBC News

2 killed, more than 100 injured in Boston Marathon bombing

Two killed in bomb blasts near finish line of Boston Marathon, Boston police say. Area hospitals say at least 110 are injured.

Two explosions happened at about 2:50 p.m., more than two hours after the first of the race’s nearly 27,000 runners had crossed the finish line.

Boston.com journalist reports “blood everywhere,” people missing limbs.
Race called off; Red Cross and Google set up websites to help people find loved ones in the area.

Boston cell phone services were overloaded in the wake of the blast, slowing the city’s network dramatically and hampering the investigation in the early going, federal law enforcement officials told CNN.

SM, Waltermart join forces

MANILA, Philippines - One of the strategies of the Sy group to counter the aggressive expansion of Lucio Co-led retailer Puregold is proceeding well.

On Monday, April 15, SM Investments Corp (SMIC) confirmed a report quoting its chief finance officer Jose Sio that the group is wrapping up its due diligence for, as well as its investments in, the 50-50 partnership with retailer Waltermart.

"We confirm that our investment for joint venture with Waltermart is proceeding positively," SMIC told the Philippine Stock Exchange. The two announced their joint venture deal in January. They had said then they need 6 months for due diligence work.

“We are proceeding with the investment for Waltermart,” Sio was quoted as saying.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Is this the new IPAD5?

A photo of what appears to be the iPad 5, Apple Inc.'s next-generation iPad tablet, has been leaked online.

Engadget cited a photo posted on French site NowhereElse.fr indicating the front of the iPad with a narrower bezel.

"The biggest difference compared to the third and fourth generation devices is the narrower bezel that runs down the sides and those chamfered shiny edges," it said.

It added there have been many rumors circulating that the next-generation iPad will be retooled and "sporting the same design language as the iPad Mini and iPhone 5."

A translation of the NoWhereElse.fr article indicated it got its photo from a Chinese source.

The iPad has dominated the tablet market, although it is now getting more competition from Android-run devices. — TJD, GMA News

 

Kris Aquino is top PH taxpayer

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III's celebrity sister, Kris Aquino, is the country's top taxpayer, based on the list of the top 500 individual taxpayers released by the Bureau of Internal Revenue on Monday.

According to the BIR report, the "Queen of All Media" paid a total of P49,871,657.37 during the taxable year 2011.

Kobe Bryant limps off court with probable torn Achilles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant pushed his fraying body and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates relentlessly through the second half of a vital game until he felt a searing pain in his left heel.

Bryant's Achilles tendon apparently is torn. His season likely is over.
And though the Lakers held on to beat the Golden State Warriors, Bryant thinks they'll have to continue their playoff chase without their leader.

SSS relaxes rules for Educational Loan

MANILA - More members of the Social Security System (SSS) can avail of its education loan window, after the pension fund relaxed some of its rules.

In a statement, SSS president Emilio de Quiros Jr. said the pension fund has liberalized the guidelines of its SSS Educational Assistance Loan Program (Educ-Assist).

Among the changes in the rules is an increase in the qualifying salary ceiling from P15,000 a month to P25,000.

"Members can now borrow up to P20,000 per semester or trimester, up from the previous limit of P15,000 for college degrees. For voc-tech courses, we likewise increased the maximum loanable amount to P10,000 from the previous cap of P7,500 per semester or trimester," de Quiros said.

The government subsidizes half of the P7 billion Educ-Assist Fund.

The loans must be used to pay for tuition and miscellaneous fees and are intended to help students from low-income families.