UP pays tribute to 72 martyrs and heroes

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MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines paid tribute to 72 Bantayog martyrs and heroes to former UP students, alumni and faculty at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Center at Quezon Avenue corner EDSA, Quezon City.The recognition was made to honor those who died during the dark days of martial rule of dictator former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and to celebrate the National Heroes Day as part of the Centennial celebrations of the University .The University Recognition Rite "Paggunita at Parangal sa mga Iskolar ng Bayan sa Bantayog ng mga Bayani: A Centennial Tribute to UP Martyrs and Heroes" will Staff Chorale, Kontra Gapi, Becky Abraham and Susan Magno were invited for the cultural performances.The 72 martyrs and heroes at Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Center are listed as follows:Leandro L. Alejandro; Leo C. Alto; Emmanuel I. Alvarez; Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.; Merardo T. Arce; Aloysius U. Baes; Floro Balce; Lorena Barros; Manuel C. Bautista; William A. Begg; Alexander Belone III; Catalino "Lino" A. Brocka; Jose R. Calderon; Jennifer Cariño; Cristina F. Catalla; Cesar C. Climaco; Renato Constantino; Ellecer Cortes; Edward L. De la Fuente; Remberto A. De la Paz.Nimfa del Rosario; Dennis Rolando R. Deveraturda; Juan B. Escandor; Gerardo R. Faustino; Enrique Voltaire E. Garcia; Antonio M. Hilario; Rizalina R. Ilagan; Edgar M. Jopson; Emmanuel Lacaba; Ma. Leticia P. Ladlad; Hermon C. Lagman; Lourdes Garduce Lagman; Vergel E. Landrito; Lorenzo C. Lansang; Edmundo R. Legislador; Jose B. Lingad; Bayani P. Lontok; Mariano M. Lopez; Armando J. Malay; Paula Carolina S. Malay; Rodelo Manaog; Pastor R. Mesina; Cecilia Muñoz-Palma; Sedfrey A. Ordoñez; Gaston Z. Ortigas. Magnifico L. Osorio; Armando D. Palabay; Romulo D. Palabay; Benedicto M. Pasetes; Jacinto D. Pena; Nemesio E. Prudente; Eduardo T. Quintero; Ismael F. Quimpo; Arnulfo A. Resus; Jose B. L. Reyes; Francisco Soc Rodrigo; Magtangol S. Roque; Jessica M. Sales; Abraham P. Sarmiento, Jr.; Antonio S. Tagamolila; Crispin S. Tagamolila; Lorenzo M. Tañada; Carlos N. Tayag; Noel C. Tierra; Racquel E. Tiglao; Alex G. Torres; Jose Marie U. Velez; Ma. Antonia Teresa V. Vytiaco; Emmanuel D. R. Yap; Haydee B. Yorac; Rizal C. K. Yuyitung; and Calixto O. Zaldivar.Not inluded in the lists is movie director Ishmael Bernal. There are other UP martyrs which are not incuded in the lists, some relatives lament. - GMANews.TV

Children in RP's poorest 20 percent receive less education

Children in the poorest 20 percent in the Philippines receive five years less education than children from the wealthiest families, according to a latest report of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report said the children in the poorest 20 percent in the country are among the millions of children around the world who are denied opportunities to go to school, condemning them to a life of poverty.
UNESCO blamed governments and international aid donors for not taking on the task of reducing global inequalities in education.
The report warned that a "wide gulf" in educational opportunity separating rich and poor countries seriously threatens global efforts aimed at achieving the internationally agreed target of universal primary education by 2015.
"A combination of political indifference, weak domestic policies and the failure of aid donors to act on commitments is to blame for the failure developing countries are facing in educating their young," the report said.
The report noted that one in three children in developing countries, or around 193 million in total, reaches primary school age with impaired brain development and educational prospects due to malnutrition.
Some 75 million children, including almost one-third of sub-Saharan children of primary school age, are not in school, compared to over a third of children in rich countries completing university, the report said.
Children in the poorest 20 percent of countries, such as Ethiopia, Mali and Niger, are three times less likely to be in primary school as children from the wealthiest 20 percent.
In Peru and the Philippines, children in the poorest 20 percent receive five years less education than children from the wealthiest families. - Pia Lee-Brago (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
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Charity convicted in terrorism financing trial

By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer Paul J. Weber, Associated Press Writer – 28 mins ago
AP – Zaira Abu-Baker, 25, right, holds her head as Noor Elashi, 22, right, speaks during an interview at a …
Slideshow: Charity convicted of financing terrorism
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DALLAS – A Muslim charity and five of its former leaders were convicted Monday of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, finally handing the government a signature victory in its fight against terrorism funding.
U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis announced the guilty verdicts on all 108 counts on the eighth day of deliberations in the retrial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the nation's largest Muslim charity. It was the biggest terrorism financing case since the attacks of Sept. 11.
The convictions follow the collapse of Holy Land's first trial last year and defeats in other cases the government tried to build. President George W. Bush had personally announced the freezing of Holy Land's assets in 2001, calling the action "another step in the war on terrorism."
After Monday's verdict, family members showed little visible reaction until the jury left. Several women sobbed loudly.
"My dad's not a criminal!" one nearly inconsolable woman said loudly. Court personnel told the family to calm her down, and as family members rushed her out of the courtroom, she said, "They treated him like an animal."
Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land's former chairman, and Shukri Abu-Baker, the chief executive, were convicted of a combined 69 counts, including supporting a specially designated terrorist, money laundering and tax fraud.
Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh were convicted of three counts of conspiracy, and Mohammed El-Mezain was convicted of one count of conspiracy to support a terrorist organization. Holy Land itself was convicted of all 32 counts.
"I feel heartbroken that a group of my fellow Americans fell for the prosecution's fear-mongering theory," Elashi's daughter, Noor, said outside the courthouse late Monday. "This is truly a low point for the United States of America, but this is not over."
She said that she was proud of her father and that he was "paying the price" for saving lives.
"My dad was persecuted for his political beliefs," she said. "It's as pure and simple as that."
A sentencing date hasn't been scheduled, but the punishments could be steep. Supporting a terrorist organization carries a maximum 15-year sentence on each count; money laundering carries a maximum 20 years on each conviction.
Solis ordered the Holy Land leaders detained, citing the long prison terms they may face and their ties to the Middle East.
Holy Land was accused of giving more than $12 million to support Hamas. The seven-week retrial ran about as long as the original, which ended in October 2007 when a judge declared a mistrial on most charges.
Holy Land wasn't accused of violence. Rather, the government said the Richardson, Texas-based charity financed schools, hospitals and social welfare programs controlled by Hamas in areas ravaged by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The U.S. designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995 and again in 1997, making contributions to the group illegal. Government officials raided Holy Land's headquarters in December 2001 and shut it down.
Prosecutors labeled Holy Land's benefactors — called zakat committees — as terrorist recruiting pools. The charities, the government argued, spread Hamas' violent ideology and generated loyalty and support among Palestinians.
It was a "womb to the tomb" cycle, prosecutor Barry Jonas told jurors during closing arguments last week.
Holy Land supporters told a different story. They accused the government of politicizing the case as part of its war on terrorism, while attorneys for the foundation said Holy Land's mission was philanthropy and providing much-needed aid to the Middle East.
They reminded jurors that none of the zakat committees are designated by the U.S. as terrorist fronts, and that Holy Land also donated to causes elsewhere, including helping victims of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
"No one here is engaging in acts of terrorism," Theresa Duncan, attorney for Baker, said during closing arguments.
A chaotic courtroom scene ended last year's original trial, which lasted nearly two months and kept jurors deliberating for 19 days. But they deadlocked on many counts, and when a judge polled the panel about other verdicts, some disavowed their vote.
The confusing finish led U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish to declare a mistrial, and leaders of the defunct charity rushed outside to celebrate.
Observers last year panned the government for presenting a bloated case too complicated for jurors to follow. Prosecutors responded this year by dropping nearly 60 charges in the trial and tightening their narrative to jurors, even offering a kind of road map to help the panel follow the money.
But nearly 15 boxes of evidence wheeled into court on a flatbed still impressed the size of the case, as did the more than one hour that Solis needed to read aloud the indictment.
___
Associated Press writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.
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Obama has more threats than other presidents-elect

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 52 mins ago
Featured Topics:
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WASHINGTON – Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before. The Secret Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are investigating. But since the Nov. 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with any past president-elect, said officials aware of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of a president's security is so sensitive.
Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.
And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.
In the security world, anything "new" can trigger hostility, said Joseph Funk, a former Secret Service agent-turned security consultant who oversaw a private protection detail for Obama before the Secret Service began guarding the candidate in early 2007.
Obama, of course, will be the country's first black president, and Funk said that new element, not just race itself, is probably responsible for a spike in anti-Obama postings and activity. "Anytime you're going to have something that's new, you're going to have increased chatter," he said.
The Secret Service also has cautioned the public not to assume that any threats against Obama are due to racism.
The service investigates threats in a wide range. There are "stated threats" and equally dangerous or lesser incidents considered of "unusual interest" — such as people motivated by obsessions or infatuations or lower-level gestures such as effigies of a candidate or an elected president. The service has said it does not have the luxury of discounting anything until agents have investigated the potential danger.
Racially tinged graffiti — not necessarily directed at Obama — also has emerged in numerous reports across the nation since Election Day, prompting at least one news conference by a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Georgia.
A law enforcement official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly said that during the campaign there was a spike in anti-Obama rhetoric on the Internet — "a lot of ranting and raving with no capability, credibility or specificity to it."
There were two threatening cases with racial overtones:
• In Denver, a group of men with guns and bulletproof vests made racist threats against Obama and sparked fears of an assassination plot during the Democratic National Convention in August.
• Just before the election, two skinheads in Tennessee were charged with plotting to behead blacks across the country and assassinate Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxedos.
In both cases, authorities determined the men were not capable of carrying out their plots.
In Milwaukee, police officials found a poster of Obama with a bullet going toward his head — discovered on a table in a police station.
Chatter among white supremacists on the Internet has increased throughout the campaign and since Election Day.
One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an AP count. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day. On Saturday, one Stormfront poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest. God has abandoned us, this country is doomed."
It is not surprising that a black president would galvanize the white supremacist movement, said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who studies the white supremacy movement.
"The overwhelming flavor of the white supremacist world is a mix of desperation, confusion and hoping that this will somehow turn into a good thing for them," Potok said. He said hate groups have been on the rise in the past seven years because of a common concern about immigration.
___
Associated Press writers Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington and Jerry Harkavy in Standish, Maine, contributed to this report.

Perron Campaigns Election Update: lessons learned from the Obama campaign

Dear friends, colleagues and campaigners

The longest, most expensive and most professional election campaign ever is over. The result is historic: the first African American will move into the White House. To use economic terms, a start-up with an exotic name (Obama) has beaten two market leaders (Clinton, McCain). There is a lot that campaigners, politicians, parties, companies and interest groups around the world can learn from the Obama campaign.

Sure, there are at least three circumstances that have little to do with the campaign but helped Obama enormously. President Bush has done such a lousy job that more than two thirds of Americans now have a negative opinion about his work. Also, after following Bush blindly during the war in Iraq , the U.S. media, this time around, was on the side of the Democrats. Finally, if Wall Street did not collapse, it probably would have been much closer (let’s not forget that McCain was slightly ahead early September). Now, that’s all correct. But what I am focusing on in this update are the factors that the campaign could control and how it did that.

Some observers think that the impressive thing about the Obama campaign is how it used the internet and other new technology. 8’000 internet groups, 50’000 local events and 1.5 million internet volunteers are indeed impressive. But that’s only one part of the story. Politicians often think that a campaign means to produce things such as tv spots, leaflets or websites. In reality, however, a campaign can and should be seen as a series of decisions regarding the message, the strategy, fundraising and products. The Obama campaign has reached these decisions early on and based on extensive research including polling and focus group discussions.

In numerous updates, articles and speeches, I have emphasized the importance of a coherent and credible message. Politicians often think of a message as a slogan, in most cases nothing more than an empty motherhood statement. However, a good message is more than a slogan yet less than a party program. In the case of Obama, this was the message:

“Barack Obama will bring the change that America desperately needs. He will get the economy going again, not only for Wall Street but also for Main Street . In concrete, this means tax cuts for 95% of Americans and expanded health-care. Unlike the other politicians, Obama has opposed the war in Iraq since the beginning. It’s time for a new hope and to leave the divisiveness behind us. Yes, we can!”

The message was then summarized in a catchy slogan: change we can believe in and change we need. There was probably no one left in the country who did not know what Obama stood for. These are not empty motherhood statements such as “your guy”, “your friend” or “fighting for you”. It is exactly what the targeted groups wanted to hear, a perfect and well researched match between the political demand and the political offer. According to the exit polls, 71% of those who were dissatisfied with Bush voted for Obama. 63% of the voters said that the economy was their top concern and they voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Obama’s position on the war in Iraq has helped in drawing clear differences between him and Hillary during the primary.

If you are planning a campaign right now, ask yourself the following questions: have you formulated such a coherent message and written it down in a campaign plan? Are you a credible messenger for that message? Is it matching the demand of your targeted group? Are there still people in the country/district who have not heard your message? If yes, what’s your plan to change that? Even better would be to use scientific public opinion research to get objective answers to these questions.

What’s impressive in the case of Obama is the coherence, with which he defined himself and the discipline, with which the message was communicated. Talking about discipline, the top candidate plays an extremely important role. Campaigns are very chaotic and there is always a potential for internal rivalries. The candidate chooses his team and only he/she can empower his people and demand discipline. In the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John McCain (and one might add Fernando Poe Jr.), there were bitter internal rivalries and disagreement. In the case of Obama, the top candidate, the campaign manager David Plouffe, the chief strategist David Axelrod and all the thousand paid staff pushed and worked in one direction. It’s better to have a risky strategy but to have everybody on board moving in the same direction as opposed to having three clans with each pursuing its own great strategy.

There is another interesting detail: both Plouffe and Axelrod have experience in political campaigns but have never before run a Presidential campaign. This is yet another similarity between the Obama campaign and Bill Clinton’s run in 1992 (and a clear difference with the losing campaigns of Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton): young, hungry people win Presidential campaigns.

In my personal experience, European and Asian politicians focus too much on products and funds, and not enough about message, strategy and discipline. Especially in a bottom up, grassroots campaign, discipline is crucial. A movement with so many local layers and volunteers is only working if everybody believes enthusiastically in the same cause and if there is message discipline on top. The people who blogged for Obama, or those who went on facebook for Obama, did it for the same reason as the people who simply voted for him: they wanted change!

Another thing that campaigners can learn from the Obama campaign is how it carefully targeted specific groups of voters and put together its coalition of voters. From the very beginning, the Obama campaign wanted to expand its base by registering and turning out record numbers of young and black voters. And, it allocated the resources accordingly. The result: 96% of blacks voted for Obama; they made up 13% of the total electorate (+2% compared to 2004). 66% of the 18-29 year old voted for Obama. They formed 18% of the electorate (+1% compared to 2004).

From the very beginning, the campaign wanted to expand the electoral map of possible swing states so as to have multiple ways to reach the needed 270 electoral votes. Again, it allocated the resources accordingly and stayed loyal to the strategy even in difficult times. The result is a landslide win in the Electoral College.

In my opinion, a candidate running for President, Vice President or Senate in the Philippines should get a lot of inspiration from this strategy. All these elections will be multi-candidate fields where a minority of the vote will be enough to win. Hence, regional and socio-demographic targeting, the solidifying and expanding of a base will be crucial. Indeed, if one is to look at the latest SWS survey, at least five candidates seem to have a reasonable shot at winning the Presidency.

Linked to the message is also the messenger. Barack Obama is a once-in-a-generation talent in terms of communication and campaign skills. I simply don’t know of anyone who has watched an Obama speech live and who was not deeply impressed. However, this did not fall from heaven. On the one hand, he strategically used his strength, namely giving speeches. Like other great speakers before him, he has in fact built his entire career around speeches. On the other hand, he invested a lot of time and resources into becoming a better candidate. The team did extensive focus group research to explore weaknesses and find out ways to neutralize them.

I have commented on the campaign and the outcome of the election several times on Bloomberg Television. If you want to get a free CD with the interviews, kindly contact us at ktamayo@perroncampaigns.com. I have also commented on the election on Swiss national television. For those who understand German, you can watch the interviews at:

http://www.sf.tv/podcasts/feed.php?docid=club: the name of the show is „Der Club“. It’s an expert discussion on the U.S. campaign.
http://www.sf.tv/podcasts/feed.php?docid=rundschau: the name of the show is “Die Rundschau“. It’s a political show entirely dedicated to the U.S. elections the day after Election Day.

Do you want to discuss with me the lessons learned from the Obama campaign? Email me (lperron@perroncampaigns.com) or call me at: 0041 43 488 37 20 ( Switzerland ), 00639 17 33 22 900 ( Philippines , to reach Dr. des. Louis Perron), 00639 178825252 ( Philippines , to reach Atty. Kristine Jazz Tamayo).


Best regards


Dr. des. Louis Perron



PS: Please let me know if you don’t want to receive updates anymore. If this update has been forwarded to you by a friend and you would like to receive it directly, kindly email us at ktamayo@perroncampaigns.com. We’ll be glad to send you our updates.Perron CampaignsDr. des. Louis PerronSeefeldstr. 698008 ZürichSwitzerlandPhone: ++41 43 488 37 20Fax: ++41 43 488 35 00Cell: ++41 76 575 56 84There are three simple steps to winning every campaign: 1) Decide what you are going to say; 2) Decide how and to whom you are going to say it; and 3) say it - Joseph Napolitan

Critical for Manny to survive early rounds

Philstar.com - Monday, November 10
Oscar de la Hoya is expected to be a serious threat in the first three rounds which experts consider critical for Manny Pacquiao to survive in their "Dream Match" at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Events Center in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.
"Manny should show more defense than offense in the early rounds," said former WBC secretary-general Rudy Salud the other day. "But it doesn't mean Manny should pass up openings if they're there. From the fourth to the sixth round, Oscar will remain dangerous but the situation wouldn't be as critical for Manny anymore."
Salud predicted that in rounds seven and eight, Pacquiao will start taking control. But from the ninth to the final round, he said Pacquiao will dominate De la Hoya to win the decision.
Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz agreed with Salud but suggested a different ending. He said Pacquiao will stop De la Hoya in the late rounds.
"Manny is very focused in training," said Koncz in a long distance phone call from Los Angeles yesterday. "Since Jinkee arrived in Los Angeles two weeks ago, Manny has trained even harder in the gym."
Koncz said when the fight was initially confirmed, he was apprehensive about Pacquiao pulling off a win. But after seeing Pacquiao train, he is now convinced De la Hoya will fall.
"I don't think Manny has that one-punch knockout power to take out Oscar," he said. "It will be an accumulation of punches that will finally bring down Oscar. I see Oscar going down from body shots anywhere between the sixth and eighth round. Oscar will be dangerous in the first three rounds so Manny should be careful."
Koncz said Pacquiao's handspeed and his footwork will make things difficult for De la Hoya.
"Manny will move and turn Oscar who'll end up fatigued," said Koncz. "Even in Oscar's prime, he had problems with stamina. And in his last two or three fights, you saw his lack of movement. Oscar will use his jab to keep Manny away so it's important for Manny to slip the jab and go to the body."
Koncz said fighting at the ideal weight to preserve Pacquiao's speed is crucial.
"We expect Manny to weigh in less than 147 and come in for the fight no more than 150," said Koncz. "That's the gauge."
Koncz, meanwhile, admitted he wrote the WBC in Pacquiao's behalf advising the governing body of the fighter's future plans. The tenor of the letter to the WBC was polite and cordial.
"We respect the WBC and wanted to keep Mr. (Jose) Sulaiman informed of Manny's plans," said Koncz. "We mentioned that as Manny has a year to defend the lightweight title, he will likely fight Ricky Hatton or even Floyd Mayweather in the first quarter of next year. If Manny decides to defend the WBC lightweight title, I expect (Marco Antonio) Barrera or (Edwin) Valero to be named the mandatory challenger. That would be a $2 to $3 Million fight for Manny. So Manny will sit down with Bob (Arum) and determine what's really out there for him."
As to what should be the sanction fee paid to the WBC for the De la Hoya fight, Koncz said the reasonable amount would be between $20,000 and $40,000. He said the WBC's demand of $100,000 is more than 1.5 percent of Pacquiao's purse.
"I'm not authorized to disclose what is Manny's purse but I can confirm 1.5 percent is much less than $100,000," said Koncz.
Salud said if Pacquiao refuses to pay the sanction fee, the WBC will not be able to enforce payment through the courts.
"The rule is governed by practice," he explained. "It's up to Manny whether or not to comply. If he doesn't comply, the WBC will strip him of the title. Going to court is not an option. Lennox Lewis once refused to pay the sanction fee after a WBC title fight and threw his WBC belt in the trash can."
Salud said it is unfair for the WBC to assess sanction fees without a cap. "I think sanction fees should be fair and reasonable," he continued. "With the enormity of purses, there should be a limit to the amount of the fees. At present, it is three percent for title fights and 1.5 percent for non-title fights. If the extent of the WBC benefits and recognition is limited, so should there be a limit to its sanction fees."
"Sanction fees are not enforceable," he said. "If a champion refuses to pay the sanction fee, then he faces the penalty of getting stripped of the title. It's as simple as that. But I remember Don Jose once mentioning that it is the WBC's goal to sanction fights that the public wants, that money isn't the main thing. I wonder if that position has changed."
Golden Boy matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz said it was over a year ago, during the WBO convention, that he heard of the possibility of Pacquiao fighting De la Hoya.
"I thought it would never happen, that too many lawsuits would not make it happen," he said. "But it's the perfect way for Oscar to get even after Manny betrayed Golden Boy. I'm excited. Knowing Manny, you can never count him out."
Lewkowicz said if the fight were a book, it would be the best seller of the year or even the century.
"This is bigger than Mike Tyson against anyone," he said. "This isn't just about boxing. This is about emotion and love of country. We're talking about real warriors - two men who will step into the ring and put their lives at risk." - Joaquin Henson (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
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Among Obama's next challenges: his own security

AFP - Thursday, November 6
WASHINGTON, (AFP) - - Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American US president-elect, but security agents now face major challenges in protecting him, experts say, as his race may make him more of a target than his predecessors.
The 47-year-old Illinois senator who swept to victory on Tuesday has been under protection of the US Secret Service since May 2007, 18 months before the election, the earliest-ever security detail for a presidential candidate.
It is an issue few people want to address directly, but as the nation's first black commander-in-chief Obama will likely face an unprecedented number of threats on his life -- including one just last week when two white supremacists , Daniel Cowart, 20, and Paul Schlesselman, 18, were arrested in Tennessee for plotting to kill Obama.
He and his family -- as well as vice president-elect Joe Biden and family -- are under 24-hour guard by squads of elite, heavily armed agents of the Secret Service, the branch of the Department of Homeland Security tasked with protecting presidents and presidential candidates.
Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival in the battle for the Democratic party nomination, has been under Secret Service protection for years due to her status as former first lady.
In an indication of the ramped-up security around the election, Obama's lectern where he gave his victory speech was shielded by bullet-proof plexiglass -- the first time his campaign had employed such protection.
"Changes in presidential administrations necessitate a lot of operational planning and implementation in terms of our protective mission," Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told AFP, declining to provide specifics on the new security regime or say whether it would be intensified for Obama.
"We make adjustments, obviously. But at this point... we have planned for every contingency."
Yet the president-elect's skin color has only added to concerns in the country, where there are more than 200 million legally owned firearms and about 30,000 gun deaths per year, and where four sitting presidents have been murdered and two more wounded in assassination attempts.
"It's going to be a unique and challenging environment" for Obama's security detail, Fred Burton, who is vice president of counter-terrorism at geo-political intelligence analysis firm Stratfor, told AFP.
"The protective security threat and the challenges surrounding the protection for him is extremely difficult. It's going to take a lot of resources and a tremendous amount of protective and tactical analysis to stay ahead of the bad guys," said Burton, a former Secret Service agent who is publishing a Stratfor report Thursday on the issue.
While Obama spends the next months plotting his political course and assembling an administration team, extremists -- particularly from the US white hate movements -- may be plotting to kill him, especially in the chaotic months before he enters the Washington security bubble.
Burton believes protective intelligence agencies have infiltrated white hate groups, whose sympathizers are blamed for the assassinations of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X and Medgar Evers, as a means of thwarting attempts on the lives of protectees.
Evers was gunned down in 1963 by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a white-supremacy group whose website this week carried a video clip warning against an Obama administration.
"I don't want to sound like a doomsday prophet," Thomas Robb said on the Klan's WhitePride.tv. "But what will happen to this nation?
"A lot of people are concerned if Barack Obama becomes president of the United States. There may be a backlash, there may be many white people throughout this country who will become awakened."
In January, concerns were such that Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi wrote to officials who oversee the Secret Service to say Obama's profile "gives rise to unique challenges that merit special concern."
"As an African-American who was witness to some of this nation's most shameful days during the civil rights movement, I know personally that the hatred of some of our fellow citizens can lead to heinous acts of violence," Thompson wrote.
Obama spoke early this year with The New York Times about his life in the security cocoon, saying "I've got the best protection in the world," repeating a line he tells concerned supporters. "So stop worrying."
For Alnett Wooten, an 86-year-old black woman waiting in line at a Washington polling station Tuesday, Obama's fate is in God's hands.
"I never thought I would live long enough to do it," she said of voting for a black president. "I just pray that He will keep him safe."
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Palestinian state coming soon, says Rice

AFP - Saturday, November 8
TEL AVIV (AFP) - - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday Palestinians should soon have their own state, though she has made it clear she does not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House.
"They are dignified people and I am certain the day is coming soon when they have a state that will be in accordance with that great national dignity," she said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, the West Bank's political capital.
Rice has nevertheless tacitly admitted that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal by the time US President George W. Bush's mandate ends on January 20, despite earlier pledges to seek agreement by the end of this year.
"The distance to peace has been narrowed although peace has not been achieved," she said at Friday's news conference.
The top US diplomat then headed to Jordan for a brief meeting over dinner with King Abdullah ahead of a summit between the international peace mediators in Egypt on Sunday.
In the absence of an accord, Rice is pushing the two sides to define the outlines of a deal before she hands over the thorny Middle East dossier to an Obama administration.
"One of the things we must do is that we must show... that Annapolis has laid the foundation for the establishment of the state of Palestine," she said. Rice had played a key role in reviving the peace process at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, one year ago after a seven-year hiatus.
"The Annapolis process is vital, it is vibrant and it continues," she said, even though little tangible process has been achieved, with core issues dealing with the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state still to be resolved.
Rice criticised continued construction activity in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, calling it damaging to the atmosphere of negotiations -- "and the parties' actions should encourage confidence, not undermine it."
Peace efforts have also been hobbled by the division of the Palestinian territories into a West Bank where the secular Abbas holds sway and a Gaza Strip run by the Islamist Hamas movement.
The slow-moving peace process has been further affected by the political turmoil surrounding the resignation of Israel's scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that led to the scheduling of snap elections in February.
Since her arrival on Thursday, Rice has held talks with Olmert as well as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the two frontrunners in the race for the prime minister's job.
Olmert has congratulated Obama over the telephone and discussed "the need to continue and advance the peace process, while maintaining the security of the state of Israel," his office said.
Rice was set to head to Jordan for a working dinner with King Abdullah. She also plans to visit Jenin to highlight the successful deployment of Palestinian security forces in the former flashpoint city in the northern West Bank.
She will end her four-day visit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
Rice said the Israelis and the Palestinians were expected to reaffirm their commitment to a two-state solution when they brief the international mediators.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, speaking after meeting Rice on Friday, issued a thinly veiled call for the US administration not to rule out a possible military attack against Iran.
"We don't rule out any option. We recommend others don't rule out any option either," Barak said.
Israel considers Iran its main strategic threat because of its uranium enrichment programme, which it believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Tehran says its atomic project is purely peaceful.
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Presidential election night blog

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Yahoo! Newsroom – See up-to-the-minute election results
Key win for Obama 10:11 p.m.
Obama wins the battleground state of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes (AP). Heading into the election, Obama led McCain by 7 points. Ohio was considered a must-win state for McCain. However, the Obama campaign flooded the state with volunteers in March, specifically rural and suburban regions. Obama had 82 offices in Ohio, more than double the number McCain had. Ohio has voted for the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1964. Obama has also won Iowa's 7 electoral votes. According to CNN, Obama has a considerable lead in electoral votes: 206 to McCain's 89.
McCain has won Texas, West Virginia, Utah, North Dakota, and Louisiana, totaling 56 more electoral votes (AP). ABC and CBS project McCain will win Mississippi's 6 electoral votes.
NBC and Fox are also projecting Obama will win New Mexico's 5 electoral votes. Historically, the state has had close races: In 2004, George W. Bush beat John Kerry by fewer than 6,000 votes. In 2000, Al Gore squeaked by Bush with less than 400 votes. Gov. Bill Richardson was a rumored vice-presidential candidate earlier this year and is expected to be a front-runner for a Cabinet position, should Obama win the election.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Obama wins 5 more states 9:04 p.m.
Obama wins Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (AP). The big wins here are Michigan with 17 electoral votes, New York with 31, and Wisconsin with 10. Obama held a huge 16-point lead in Michigan's polls heading into Election Day. The state's hard-hit economy has been the focus of both candidates during the campaign. The last time Michigan voted Republican was in 1988.
McCain wins Arkansas, Wyoming, and Alabama adding 18 more electoral votes to his count (AP). CNN, NBC, and Fox also project McCain will win North's Dakota's 3 electoral votes.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Obama wins Pennsylvania 8:42 p.m.
Obama wins the battleground state of Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes (AP). Heading into Election Day, he held a comfortable 10-point lead in the polls over McCain. Obama's campaign invested heavily in Sen. Biden's home state, with more than 60 offices throughout the state. The last time Pennsylvania went red was in 1988. Obama has also won New Hampshire and its 4 electoral votes (AP). New Hampshire gave Obama the very first votes of Election Day, when he won the tiny town of Dixville Notch, the first Democrat to do so since 1968. The 75 or so residents of Dixville Notch began voting at midnight; the final tally: 15 votes for Obama, 6 for McCain. Since 1960, Dixville Notch has opened its polls just after midnight on Election Day.ABC, CBS, and Fox project McCain will win Arkansas' 6 electoral votes. ABC and NBC also project McCain will win Alabama and its 9 electoral votes. NBC and Fox project McCain will win the big-prize state of Georgia and its 15 electoral votes. Going into the election, McCain led Obama by a 5 percent margin, with 8 percent of voters undecided. Georgia has voted Republican in the last two presidential elections. Pres. Bush took the state twice, with huge wins over Al Gore and John Kerry.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Obama wins slew of states, McCain wins 2 8:04 p.m.
Obama wins Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey (AP). These 8 states give Obama another 72 electoral votes. Meanwhile, McCain has won Oklahoma and Tennessee, giving him 18 more electoral votes (AP).
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
TV networks project South Carolina 7:47 p.m.
NBC and CBS project McCain will win South Carolina's 8 electoral votes. While Obama's primary win gave him a big boost against Sen. Hillary Clinton, the state has not voted a Democrat for president since 1976.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
TV networks project West Virginia 7:32 p.m.
CBS and Fox project McCain will win West Virginia and its 5 electoral votes. McCain had a comfortable 9-point lead over Obama going into the vote. George W. Bush took the state handily in both 2000 and 2004./p>
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
First 2 states called 7:03 p.m.
Obama has won Vermont's 3 electoral votes while McCain has won Kentucky's 8 electoral votes (AP). In 1992, Bill Clinton turned Vermont blue after years of GOP rule, and the state has voted a Democrat for president ever since. In recent elections, Kentucky twice voted for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
First exit polls roll in
It IS the economy.
According to AP, "six in 10 voters picked the economy as the most important issue facing the nation. None of the other issues on the list -- energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care -- was picked by more than one in 10."
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Poll closing times and electoral votes (all times ET)7:00 p.m.Georgia (15) Indiana (11)Kentucky (8)South Carolina (8)Vermont (3)Virginia (13)7:30 p.m. North Carolina (15)Ohio (20) West Virginia (5)8 p.m. Alabama (9)Connecticut (5)Delaware (3)Florida (27)Illinois (21)Maine (4)Maryland (10)Massachusetts (12)Mississippi (6)Missouri (11)New Hampshire (4)New Jersey (15)Oklahoma (7)Pennsylvania (21)Tennessee (11)Washington D.C. (3)8:30 p.m. Arkansas (6)9:00 p.m.Arizona (10)Colorado (9)Kansas (6)Louisiana (9)Michigan (17)Minnesota (10)Nebraska (5)New Mexico (5)New York (31)North Dakota (3)Rhode Island (4)South Dakota (3)Texas (34)Wisconsin (10)Wyoming (3)10:00 p.m.Iowa (7)Montana (3)Nevada (5)Utah (5)11:00 p.m. California (55)Hawaii (4)Idaho (4)Oregon (7)Washington (11)1:00 a.m.Alaska (3)
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Tonight's key statesThe following states are tonight's key battlegrounds.
ColoradoFloridaIndianaMichiganMissouriMontanaNevadaNew HampshireNew MexicoNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioPennsylvaniaVirginia
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.
Yahoo! News policy: Calling the winners on election night
Yahoo! News will rely on AP to call the state winners on Election Night. The electoral count and colors of states on the Yahoo! News electoral map will only change after AP has called a race. AP’s complete Election Night guidelines can be found here.
Yahoo! News also will report when at least two networks call a state winner. But the electoral count and colors of states on the Yahoo! News electoral map will not change based on network results. Yahoo! News only will report results from networks in the National Election Pool, which includes ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News.
See more polls and results or read the latest from AP.

Islamic group to Pope: Help end Mindanao conflict

GMANews.TV - 2 hours 30 minutes ago
MANILA, Philippines - An Islamic group has sought the help of Pope Benedict XVI in ending more than 30 years of conflict in Mindanao, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said.
The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) lamented the conflict in Mindanao has worsened underdevelopment and poverty in the region.
"We hope Your Holiness could help us bring peace and justice to our brothers and sisters in Mindanao by expressing concern about the unfolding humanitarian crisis and appeal for restraint for the protection of all civilians, as well as for the opening of access for the provision of speedy humanitarian assistance to the affected population," they said in their letter, excerpts of which were posted on the CBCP website.
PCID lead convener Amina Rasul went to the Vatican last Nov. 1 to join a group invited to a dialogue with the Pope. She said she will hand over the open letter during the meeting.
The group said Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world's population in a well interconnected world.
But it said that without peace and justice between these two religious communities, "there can be no meaningful peace in the world, for the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians."
"As a concrete manifestation of how our faiths move us to help restore the dignity of our people in Mindanao by granting them their most cherished life in peace, we are making this appeal to Your Holiness to help us convince Philippine government and the MILF go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible, the group said.
"We believe that it is imperative that both government and the MILF share the responsibility for moving the peace process towards a sincere dialogue that reflects heavily the hearts and minds of all people who are affected by the escalating war in Mindanao," it added.
The group said that in the last two months, more than 100 people were killed while 600,000 became refugees as a result of the conflict.
PCID said justice has long been denied the minorities of the Philippines, including Muslims and indigenous people's communities.
"Their oppression has led to armed ethnic conflict between the Muslim minorities and government," the letter read. - GMANews.TV

Hong Kong's last governor says Bush is worst US president

AFP - Monday, November 3
HONG KONG (AFP) - - Hong Kong's last British colonial governor Chris Patten said in a radio interview Monday that he thought President George W. Bush was the worst American president he had seen.
"I think that President Bush has been the worst American president in my lifetime," Patten, who was in the former British colony this week to promote his latest book on global politics and economy, told broadcaster RTHK.
"I don't happen to think that President Bush is as foolish as lots of Europeans and others suggest. I think he's actually perfectly intelligent," he said ahead of Tuesday's US presidential election.
"But I don't think he's got a first-class temperament, put it mildly. And I think he's deeply uncurious intellectually."
Patten, a former minister under conservative British governments, said the Bush presidency was marked by "hapless unilateralism" which had led the United States and Britain into war with Iraq.
He blamed the Bush administration for feeding anti-Americanism and for what he called a fixation with taxation policies for the rich and mismanagement of the economy.
Patten admitted being a strong supporter of Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama and said he was impressed by his intelligence and the way he has run the campaign.
"People say that governing isn't like running a campaign, true. But if you run a very organised, well-ordered, well-focused campaign, it says something about the way you will run an administration."
Patten was the governor of Hong Kong between 1992 and 1997, when the city was handed back to China after 155 of British colonial rule. He later became a European commissioner and is now chancellor of England's Oxford University.
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CEOs, famous investors hit hard by market plunge

By RACHEL BECK,AP Business Writer AP - Monday, November 3
NEW YORK - Here's something that might provide a bit of solace amid the plunging values in your retirement accounts: Warren Buffett is losing lots of money, too. So are Kirk Kerkorian, Carl Icahn and Sumner Redstone.
They are still plenty rich, but their losses _ some on paper and others actually realized _ illustrate how few have been spared in today's punishing market when even big-name investors, corporate executives and hedge-fund titans are all watching their wealth evaporate.
The portfolio damage for some of these high-flyers has soared to billions of dollars in recent months. And they can't just blame the market's downdraft _ some did themselves in with badly timed stock purchases or margin calls on shares bought with loans.
"It's always hard to beat the market no matter who you are," said Robert Hansen, senior associate dean at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. "But when the ocean waters get that rough, it is hard for any boat to avoid getting swamped."
It has been a painful year for anyone exposed to the stock market. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, considered a barometer for the broad market, has lost about 36 percent since January, with every single sector _ including once thriving energy and utilities _ seeing declines of about 20 percent or more.
Such losses in the last year have wiped out an estimated $2 trillion in equity value from 401(k) and individual retirement accounts, nearly half the holdings in those plans, according to new findings by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Similar losses are seen in the portfolios of private and public pension plans, which have lost $1.9 trillion, the researchers found.
As stocks have plunged, so have the value of chief executives' equity stakes in their own companies. The average year-to-date decline is 49 percent for the corporate stock holdings of CEOs at 175 large U.S. companies, according to new research by compensation consulting firm Steven Hall & Partners.
Topping that list is Buffett, who has seen the value of equity in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, fall by about $13.6 billion, or 22 percent, so far this year, to leave his holdings valued at $48.1 billion. Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison has seen his equity stake fall by $6.2 billion, or about 24 percent, to $20.1 billion, according to the research that ran from the start of the year through the close of trading Oct. 29.
Rounding out the top five in that study were Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, whose company equity fell by $5.1 billion to $9.4 billion; Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, whose equity fell by $3.6 billion to $5.7 billion; and News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, with a $4 billion contraction to $3 billion.
News Corp. and Microsoft declined comment, while representatives from Berkshire Hathaway, Oracle and Amazon.com didn't respond to requests for comment.
Those results included the value of the CEOs' stock, exercisable and non-exercisable stock options and shares that haven't yet vested. They are drawn from each company's most recent proxy statement, which means they might not include subsequent stock purchases or sales.
"Everyone wants to see executives have skin in the game, and this shows they certainly do," said Steven Hall, a founder and managing director of the compensation consulting firm. "But in the end, we have to remember they still have billions to fall back on."
But there have been recent instances where executives' large equity positions have blown up _ not only damaging a particular CEO's portfolio but the company's shareholders, too.
A growing number of executives at companies including Boston Scientific, XTO Energy Corp. and Williams Sonoma Inc. have been forced to sell stakes in their companies to cover stock loans to banks and brokers. The company stock was used as collateral for those loans. The falling prices triggered what is known as a "margin call."
"A decrease in insider ownership is bad for corporate governance," said Ben Silverman, director of research at the research firm InsiderScore.com. "Then executives' interests are less aligned with their shareholders."
Investors in Chesapeake Energy Corp. were recently faced with the surprising news that company CEO Aubrey McClendon was forced to sell almost 95 percent of his holdings _ representing more than a 5 percent stake in the natural gas giant _ to meet a margin call. His firesale of more than 31 million shares, valued at nearly $570 million, put downward pressure on Chesapeake's stock in the days surrounding the mid-October transaction.
McClendon has called this a personal matter and said he would rebuild the ownership position, according to Chesapeake spokesman Tom Price.
Redstone, the famed 85-year-old chairman and controlling shareholder of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., was forced to sell $233 million worth of nonvoting shares in those companies. That was done to satisfy National Amusements' loan covenants, which had been violated when the value of its CBS and Viacom shares fell below required levels in the loan agreements.
National Amusements is Redstone's family holding company, and the stock sales represented 20 percent of the holding company's CBS shares and 10 percent of its Viacom shares. A spokesman for National Amusements declined to comment.
Certainly some of the biggest investors aren't happy with recent market events.
Earlier this year, billionaire Kerkorian's investment firm Tracinda Corp. paid about $1 billion, at an average share price of near $7.10, for about 141 million shares in Ford Motor Corp. That represented a 6.49 percent stake in Ford.
Those shares have tumbled as the automaker's financial condition weakened considerably amid slumping sales and tighter credit conditions. That drove Tracinda to disclose twice in recent weeks that it was selling some of its Ford stock _ one batch of 7.3 million shares sold at an average price of $2.43 each, and the other for 26.4 million shares at an average sale price of $2.01 each. That means for about a quarter of his total Ford holdings, he got $71 million.
Tracinda spokeswoman Winnie Lerner declined to comment.
Activist investor Icahn faces an equally ugly situation with his investment in Yahoo Inc. earlier this year, when he bought about 69 million shares for a nearly 5 percent ownership stake. As of June 30, those shares were valued at about $20.60 each, according to a regulatory filing.
Over the summer, he fought hard to get Yahoo's board to agree to a takeover by Microsoft Corp., a deal that never went through. As a concession, Icahn got a seat on the Yahoo board for himself and two allies.
But his Yahoo holdings are off sharply, with the company's shares trading around $13 each. That means he's down more than $500 million since late June. Icahn didn't respond to a request for comment.
As Tuck's Hansen notes, the current market conditions are serving up a reality check _ not just for individual investors but for the biggest names around.
"Fishing isn't called catching, and investing isn't just called making money," Hansen said. "We have to remember that things can go down by a lot."

British prime minister expects Saudi help for IMF

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday he expects Saudi Arabia to contribute to the International Monetary Fund's bailout reserves after he promised business leaders in the Gulf that they would have a say in any future new world economic order.
Brown is leading calls for oil-rich Middle Eastern countries to be among the biggest donors to the IMF's coffers, which at $250 billion have already been depleted by emergency cash calls from Iceland, Hungary and the Ukraine totaling some $30 billion.
"The Saudis will I think contribute so we can have a bigger fund worldwide," he said after a meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah late Saturday and business leaders early Sunday.
Analysts have argued that Gulf states will feel little impetus to bolster the IMF fund, given its domination by the United States and the G7 industrialized nations.
Kuwait's finance minister, Mostafa al-Shimali, told Al-Anbaa daily in comments published Sunday that Kuwait was prepared to listen to what Brown had to offer.
"The matter of supporting world markets depends on investment opportunities on offer and their possible returns," he said.
Any funds from Gulf states are unlikely to be pledged before a meeting of G-20 nations to hammer out potential reform of the global financial system to prevent a repeat of the current crisis, scheduled for November 15 in Washington D.C., which will also be attended by Abdullah.
"I believe that your country has a crucial role to play and your voice must be heard," Brown earlier told business leaders in a breakfast address on the first stop of a tour of the Gulf that also takes in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, who is traveling with Brown and a delegation of more than 20 senior British executives, said Brown's 20-minute one-on-one chat with Abdullah stressed the importance of the situation.
"They are getting each other on to the same page of analysis and the agreed response and Saudi Arabia's active participation in getting the world through this first financial crisis of the global age," Mandelson told reporters. "But that is a process, not an event."
Brown said that the Middle East "will want to invest both in helping the world get through this very difficult period of time but I also think people want to work with us so we are less dependent on oil and have more stability in oil prices."
Brown, who has drawn ire from some oil producing states for criticizing a recent decision by OPEC to cut production to lift prices, told business leaders here that it was in everyone's interest to have a stable crude price.
He said that the meeting of oil producers and consumers led by Saudi Arabia's Abdullah in Jeddah in July "broke new ground in recognizing ... that we have common interests as producers and consumers in more stable energy prices and the need for a sustainable transition to a more low carbon emissions economy for the longer-term."
OPEC last month cut oil production by 1.5 billion barrels per day to lift the oil price, warning that investment in key production was under threat because of the sharp drop in the price from a high of $147 at the time of the Jeddah summit in July to under $70 currently.
Britain is planning a summit in London in December to follow up that meeting. The London gathering was initially to be held at heads of state level, but amid controversy over whom had — or had not — been invited from the oil producing states, Downing St. said it would be held at ministerial level.
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WB told: Cancel RP debts instead of offer to 'protect poor'

MANILA, Philippines - Rejecting World Bank offer to protect the poor from a global financial crisis, a debt watchdog urged it to cancel onerous debts of the Philippines instead.
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), in demanding the cancellation of debts, called the World Bank offer a "cure worse than the disease."
"Truly, if World Bank is sincere in helping poor countries mitigate the onslaught of the financial crisis, the best way it can help is through the total and unconditional cancellation of all debts it is claiming, many of which are challenged as illegitimate," it said in a statement on its website.
"Lest we forget, the role of international financial institutions such as the World Bank in this unfolding economic crisis is not in anyway negligible," it added.
Earlier, the World Bank offered to protect the poor and developing countries against the financial turmoil by making available more aid and loans.
But FDC said the large debt service payment on external debts as claimed by financial institutions such as World Bank resulted in a scarcity of resources.
Needed funds that could have been used to finance important social services and productive sectors to fully develop and strengthen developing nations' real economies were siphoned to pay debts, it lamented.
"As such, developing countries in a dire need to religiously honor debts claimed from them and mobilize new resources at the same time exposed themselves to the international financial markets through massive investment and speculative trading," FDC said.
FDC also pointed out the vulnerability of many developing countries to the crisis can be significantly traced to the policies endorsed by the said financial institutions.
It said the country's implementation of trade liberalization and privatization and its firm loyalty to an export-oriented economic paradigm were the consequences of using debt, aid, access to credit and even debt relief as instruments of domination.
The group also demanded that the World Bank cease from pushing loans and false aid, which it said would only contribute to the further contraction of the said countries' social and economic spending especially during a grueling international economic crunch.
It said aid must be given as a form of reparation and as redistributive justice by World Bank to the south instead using it as tools to further aggravate the international debt burden.
FDC said as of end-2007, World Bank-claimed debts accounts for the second largest multilateral external debts the Philippines is servicing, amounting to $1.647 billion.
The group claimed many of these debts are illegitimate, including the $121.8-million Small Coconut Farms Development Project (SCFDP), the $100-million Textbook Procurement Project, and the IBRD-funded Agrarian Reform Communities Project (ARCP).
It was reported that the SCFDP had been beset with inefficiency and widespread corruption among government officials and the private contractors involved in the project.
The irregularities ranged from complete non-delivery, to the sale of fertilizers to private companies engaged in trading or manufacturing fertilizers.
Yet, FDC noted the World Bank declared it as a successful project.
Conversely, the Textbook Procurement Project under Second Social Expenditure Management Project (SEMP2) was marred by accusations of rigged bidding results, defective school textbooks, bribery and World Bank intrusion.
Meanwhile, the ARCP was reportedly implemented without a clear and thorough study much more, environmental and health protection.
It was also accused of not meeting its required targets. It was reported that only 39 percent of the total number of agrarian reform beneficiaries in the ARCs have been fully trained on ARC development. - GMANews.TV
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British security adviser coming to Manila

The security adviser of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will arrive in Manila on Monday for a two-day visit to share the UK experience in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Robert Hannigan's visit follows discussion between the United Kingdom Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and former presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza in Manila last May, according to British Ambassador Peter Beckingham.
"I am delighted that Robert Hannigan, with his intimate experience of negotiating peace in Northern Ireland, is visiting Manila. Of course there are many differences between the peace discussions in Northern Ireland and Mindanao, but if the parties in Mindanao can gain insight from Robert Hannigan's work, then his visit will be valuable," Beckingham said in a statement.
Hannigan will meet with the Cabinet's security cluster and leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the statement added.
The idea of sharing experiences was initially brought up when President Arroyo met with former British prime minister Tony Blair last December, Beckingham said.
The British embassy statement said Hannigan is responsible for giving advise to Brown on British security policy, intelligence matters, crisis coordination and civil contingency planning.
Hannigan is also responsible for the coordination and funding of the UK intelligence agencies and for the UK national security strategy.
He was the principal adviser to Blair and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the peace process until 2007, including negotiations with political parties and liaison with the Irish government and the US administration.
Hannigan, who also served as political director general in Northern Ireland, facilitated the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
He worked with Blair, his chief of staff Jonathan Powell and successive Northern Ireland Secretaries Peter Mandelson, John Reid, Paul Murphy and Peter Hain to achieve the British government's objective of establishing power-sharing institutions.
In a telephone interview, DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said he is not aware of the arrival of Hannigan.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr. did not comment on what impact Hannigan will have on the Philippine government's peace efforts in Mindanao. - Jose Rodel Clapano (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com