Guatemala to file charges vs. US on syphilis experiments

Guatemala threatens to file a class action lawsuit against the US government for intentionally infecting 700 patients with mental health illness and prisoners with two sexually-transmitted infections as part of medical experiments conducted between 1946 and 1948.

US authorities have until Friday to resolve the issue outside the court or face legal action, according to the BBC.

China rejects harmful US-made health products

Over the recent years, China has been the target of controversies with regard exporting a wide array of products deemed toxic for consumption--from melamine-tainted milk, to toys with toxic levels of lead and to medicines or pet foods containing unsafe chemicals.

WikiLeaks cables showed that in 2007, a Chinese official was privately criticized by two US Congressmen--Rep. Rick Larsen (D, Washington) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R, Illinois)--for exporting to several countries potentially poisonous products, Reuters said.

Prince William to visit disaster victims in Australia, NZ

Christchurch quake victims will be visited by Prince William of Wales on 17 and 18 March as announced by the St. James Palace today.

The 28-year-old heir to the throne is set to attend the National Memorial Service for the victims of the 6.3 magnitude temblor that killed over a hundred people according to the NZ Herald.

Manila woman miraculously survives 11-floor drop

A police official told the media that a woman survived falling from the 18th floor and landing on the swimming pool on the seventh floor of the Paseo Parkview Condominium in the financial capital Makati City on Wednesday in a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The drunk 20-year-old Ildelyn Montono went with her Korean national boyfriend, Sae Um Lee's condominium who left her alone inside the unit on Tuesday, a security guard was quoted by the investigators.

11 Filipinos still missing in NZ, body count 166

The body count in the devastated Christchurch city remained at 166 overnight after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck on 22 February. With nothing more they can do, the New Zealand authorities ended yesterday the search and recovery missions in the ruined Canterbury Television building.

In a telephone interview by dzMM, the family of one of the missing Filipinos who went to the damaged city accepted the fate of their loved one. The relatives are hoping for a miracle to happen although the possibility of being alive is slim.

Death toll in NZ reaches 159

Last Tuesday’s deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch city death toll has now climbed to 159 and is expected to hit 240 after all buried bodies will have been retrieved, police superintendent Dave Cliff said in a report by the New Zealand Herald.

Of the fatalities, 11 had been officially named.

Goodbye Macky

I never owned a dog. I learned to like dogs only in the past few years when I lived in Japan. I seldom like dogs in my home country because many of them are stray and bark a lot.

A few minutes ago, I received news from my apartment manager that his dog, Macky--a seven-year-old female canine--passed away. I like Macky the moment she was introduced to me exactly a year ago.

Death toll in NZ quake climbs to 148

Six days after Christchurch city was struck by 6.3 magnitude earthquake, the death toll now rose to 148, NZ authorities said in a report by the New Zealand Herald.

Two more people had died according to Superintendent Dave Cliff: 38-year-old Natasha Sarah Hadfield from Kaiapoi and 40-year-old Owen Morris Wright from Lyttelton.

Filipina nurse wanted for $17-M US healthcare scam

US authorities are hunting for a Filipina nurse who figured in what is one of the biggest scams in the healthcare industry of California, in a report by ABS CBN.

Listed in America's "Most Wanted Health Care Fugitive" is Susan Bendigo-Lim, accused of stealing $17 million in an alleged Medi-Cal scam.

Filipino actor Paquito Diaz is alive, death rumor not true

In a telephone interview from dzMM, Nena Diaz, wife of Paquito Diaz, denied rumors that the 73-year old veteran Filipino actor and movie director passed away on Saturday.

Francisco Bustillos Diaz in real life, he was often seen as a villain in Philippine cinema with the late Fernando Poe, Jr.