Archive for December 9th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines –The United States (US) is giving the Philippines an additional $3 million in assistance for relief efforts in the wake of Typhoon Pablo, considered the worst storm to hit the country this year.

“2day US Govt. is providing additional $3 million to address Typhoon Pablo-related humanitarian needs incl support for shelter,logistics&food,” US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. said in his official twitter account Monday.

Thomas had also said in the same twitter account that the US would bring additional relief to flood victims in Mindanao, and that US marines and personnel from the US Agency for International Development (US AID) arr…Keep on reading: US offers additional $3M in assistance to ‘Pablo’ victims
Source: Inquirer.net

NEW YORK— Bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems Inc. on Sunday said it will sell most of its assets to the U.S. arm of Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp. for $256.6 million.

Wanxiang America Corp. won an auction conducted under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

A123′s government business will be sold separately, for $2.25 million, to Navitas Systems, of Woodridge, Illinois.

A hearing seeking the necessary court approval of the sale is scheduled for Tuesday. The deal must also be okayed by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal inter-agency committee that rev…Keep on reading: Chinese company wins bid for US battery maker A123
Source: Inquirer.net

ACCRA—Ghana’s John Dramani Mahama, declared winner on Sunday of presidential elections, is a writer and devotee of Afrobeat music who just five months ago had no plans to be a candidate in the December 7 polls.

The 54-year-old former vice president was vaulted into the head of state job when his predecessor John Atta Mills died suddenly in July. Weeks later, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party named him its presidential flag bearer.

His rise to the presidency came the same year he published a memoir, “My First Coup d’Etat — And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa”, in which he says he was forever changed by his boyhood exper…Keep on reading: Ghana’s Mahama: writer, music fan and president-elect
Source: Inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines—A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook the typhoon-hit southern Philippine island of Mindanao Monday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The quake struck at 5:45 am (2145 GMT) around 73 kilometres (45 miles) southeast of the city of Davao at a depth of 56 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The USGS said there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

The Hong Kong Observatory measured the tremor at a stronger 6.0.

Mindanao is still clearing up after powerful Typhoon Bopha hit the southern Philippines last week killing at least 548 people, most of the…Keep on reading: 5.6 quake shakes Philippines’ Mindanao
Source: Inquirer.net