CHICAGO (Reuters) – People who get fewer than six hours of sleep at night are prone to abnormal blood sugar levels, possibly putting them at risk for diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Legislation to allow people in Scotland to claim for past exposure to asbestos has been passed by MSPs.

MANILA, Philippines – Eleven Filipino mothers die daily due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, a recent study by an international child welfare organization revealed yesterday.

AN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines  – Gov. Eddie Panlilio has approved the formal filing of charges against his 50-year-old provincial agriculturist after a special committee found “prima facie evidence” of sexual harassment against him based on the complaints of five women employees.

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines  – A known leader of the Bayan Muna party-list group in Central Mindanao was gunned down on a busy street here on Monday afternoon, police said.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) – The global economy is nearing the start of a rebound, top central bankers said yesterday, as Asian stocks reeled from bad news in Japan and amid concern about the future of the world’s banks.Japan, Asia’s biggest economy, announced its first current account deficit for more than a decade and new data…

MANILA, Philippines — Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines last year dropped 48 percent to $1.52 billion from $2.92 billion in 2007, the central bank reported Tuesday.

More than 200,000 jobs in the business process outsourcing industry remain to be filled today of the nearly half a million positions in the sector.

The Government Service Insurance System has condoned P41.97 million worth of penalties and surcharges from its previous housing loan programs.

The president and two other officials of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines have questioned the authority of the Commission on Higher Education to enforce a suspension order the Sandiganbayan issued against them in connection with 12 counts of graft.

SINGAPORE—Five of the world’s least expensive cities are in Asia, and these are Manila, Kathmandu, New Delhi, Mumbai and Karachi, a survey shows.

EXPORTS fell the most in 28 years in January, deepening the Philippines’ economic slowdown as demand for Asia’s electronics and other goods plunge amid a global recession.

It is amusing to watch Cebuano Boy Herrera needle fellow Cebuano Winston Garcia on Winnie da Pooh’s pooh performance as funds manager for GSIS pensioners. The former Senator pooh poohed a recent press release claiming GSIS’s assets grew nine percent to P480 billion in ’08.

Financial assets in Asia lost 9.6 trillion dollars in value in 2008, slightly more than a year’s worth of GDP, the Asian Development Bank said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the global credit crisis and its impact on most financial systems, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) is still bullish over the growth prospects of the Philippine economy and its financial system.

MANILA, Philippines – Auto sales went up by 2.7 percent to 9,027 units in February from a month ago, a good indication that the industry may grow this year despite the dismal performance of the auto industry in other countries, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – An environmental group advocating alternative energy solutions yesterday re-launched its electric-powered jeepney that it claims could help solve the pollution problem of Metro Manila.

MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday that some 3,000 jobs are available in the hotel and restaurant industry as he painted a bright picture for the country’s domestic tourism.

The global crisis wiped a staggering $50 trillion off the value of financial assets last year including $9.6 trillion of losses in developing Asia alone, the Asian Development Bank said Monday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to hasten the implementation of its emergency job creation program after only 20 percent or 100,000 of the available 500,000 jobs have been filled up in the past two months.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors’ appetite for government debt papers improved as seen during yesterday’s auction.

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino migrant groups in New Zealand have launched online petitions calling on the Wellington government to review a new ruling that automatically denies registration to Filipino nurses who obtained their degrees in the Philippines in less than four years.

MANILA, Philippines – Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza warned the nation yesterday of a corn shortage unless it boosts production and research on the second staple food of a large number of Filipinos.

NEW DELHI, India — The American professor nicknamed “Dr. Doom” for forecasting the financial crisis has said the global recession will last all of this year and probably next, India’s Mail Today reported Saturday.

MEMBERS of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will enjoy increased subsidies for hospitalization fees and professional charges of physicians for confinements starting May 1 this year.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said he could not assure Americans the recession-mired U.S. economy would start growing again later this year, The New York Times said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The IMF gave itself a scathing review for its mistakes in spotting the roots of the global crisis and acknowledged it fell short in its job as the world’s global financial overseer.

SINGAPORE (AFP) – Asian governments need to roll out fresh stimulus measures to stop their economies from sinking further as the region reels from collapsing exports, regional analysts said.

NEW YORK – Every day this week arrived with more evidence that energy usage is unlikely to bounce back soon, yet some experts believe oil prices may already have struck bottom.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund called Friday for governments to take further stimulus measures to counter a severe global economic slump it sees extending into 2010.