WASHINGTON (AFP) – US home foreclosures reached a record pace in April for the second consecutive month, underscoring the deepening crisis in the housing market, private data showed Wednesday.

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) inflows slumped in February amid a global financial crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Philippine exports continued to decline for the sixth consecutive month, because of weak shipments of electronic products, the National Statistics Office reported Tuesday.

Govt sees end of global crisis for Philippines   The government admitted that unemployment figures were growing, with its data showing that jobless Filipinos numbered about 14 million in the first three months of 2009.

Men really do have an excuse for supposedly being wimpy about coughs and colds – their immune systems are not as strong as women’s, research suggests.

A “magna carta” for students is in the works in the Lower House. Party-list Representative Ulan Sarmiento, a colleague at San Beda, furnished me with a copy of one version. I will not comment on that proposal here, but on the proposal of a “magna carta” in general.

A reader asked in relation to our last feature on night cramps, “Which foods are rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium? I’m always on the go and usually have to eat out?”

During Earth Day last month, I noticed that aside from pesticide usage and a few other issues, most of us haven’t really worried much about the connections between our health and the environment. For our health, we work on our waistlines and fret over our cholesterol levels. For the environment, we recycle and maybe reduce…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines should allow more foreign products to enter the market to help badly hit nations recover from the global financial crisis, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

The World Bank said the Philippines’ two investment promotion agencies were “weak,” especially in inquiry handling and providing information to foreign companies looking to invest in the country.

With tears in their eyes, Vilma Balatbat, 39, and her husband tightly embraced each other, knowing it would be some time before they would be together again.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) warned yesterday that it will not issue a certificate of franchise to public transport operators who are not registered with the Social Security System (SSS).

A total of 59 Filipino workers are facing death penalty in various countries, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said yesterday.

In light of the latest report of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston on the state of human rights in the Philippines, a lawmaker yesterday called on President Arroyo to immediately dismantle the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) and for her government to “drop all trumped-up charges” it slapped against local activists.

Several more Third Force type movements have emerged. So far nameless, a movement led by Independent Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, actress Sharon Cuneta, Akbayan Rep. Riza Hontiveros Baraquel, Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo and former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus Acosta has surfaced. It looks pretty much like a Liberal Party faction as Pangilinan, Robredo and Nereus Acosta…

The country’s biggest trade group urged both local courts to reconsider their decision ordering the Commission on Audit (CoA) to open the financial books of the three biggest oil companies amid allegations of price fixing.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – A Saudi judge told a conference on domestic violence that a man has the right to slap his wife if she spends lavishly on such things as clothing, a Saudi newspaper reported, drawing criticism from rights activists in the conservative kingdom.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The global financial crisis is taking an increasing toll on Asia’s corporate sector with the region’s economies now among the world’s hardest hit, a senior IMF official warned Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines—An alliance of Filipino worker groups in the Middle East Monday called on the government to come to the aid of a Filipino woman who had complained that she was raped by her employer’s son but who ended up being jailed for adultery in the United Arab Emirates.

MANILA, Philippines–The level of software piracy in the Philippines remains at 69 percent in 2008 but revenue losses increased to $202 million, according to a recent global report by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Brussels (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has welcomed a new ILO Global Report on forced labour worldwide, which will be submitted to the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference in Geneva in June.

London – Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases maybe as dangerous as smoking, a new study says.

MANILA, Philippines–Several years after being mandated to set up websites, some government offices have yet to allow public to do transactions online, a National Computer Center (NCC) report showed.

BERLIN–The global economy has already passed the worst of the economic crisis and should soon pull out of its slump, led by Asia and China in particular, Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines—The semiconductor industry may be on its way to recovery, as capacity utilization of manufacturing plants worldwide have started to pick up this quarter.

Private sector economists expect price increases to slow this year but noted upside risks to inflation, particularly from the peso’s depreciation and a possible recovery of major economies, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

FILIPINO consumers have brushed off the impact of the global financial crisis as spending remained resilient in the first quarter of the year, powering the earnings of consumer businesses.

TEN-YEAR-OLD Julian Carlo Miguel “Amiel” Alcantara, a Grade 4 student, died of severe head injuries on February 24 after being run over by a Toyota Hi-Ace in the parking lot of Ateneo Grade School in Quezon City.

MANILA, Philippines – Economists have lowered their projected average inflation rate for this year from 4.5 percent to four percent, falling within the government’s official target inflation of 3.5 to 5.5 percent.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines — Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that its new assembly and test facility is now fully operational here and is “ramping production with the latest packaging technologies.”