Court ruling brings down Thai government

BANGKOK, Thailand – A court dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud Tuesday and temporarily banned the prime minister from politics, bringing down a government that has faced months of strident protests seeking its ouster.

The Constitutional Court ruling set the stage for thousands of protesters to end their weeklong siege of the country's two main airports, but also raised fears of retaliatory violence by supporters of the government, which could sink the country deeper into crisis and cripple its economy.

Protest leaders said a decision on whether to end the airport protests — and allow hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers to leave the country — would be made later Tuesday.

However, the government said the main Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok will remain closed to passenger flights until Dec. 15, although the airport reopened to cargo flights Tuesday.

Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, occupying Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport, cheered and hugged after they heard news of the ruling.

"My heart is happy. My friends are very happy," said Pailin Jampapong, a 41-year-old Bangkok housekeeper choking back tears as she jumped up and down.

Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-kau said Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his six-party ruling coalition would step down.

"We will abide by the law. The coalition parties will meet together to plan for its next move soon," he told The Associated Press.

Somchai had become increasingly isolated in recent weeks. Neither the army, a key player in Thai politics, nor the country's much revered king had offered him firm backing. Since Wednesday, he and his Cabinet had been working from the northern city of Chiang Mai, a government stronghold.

Somchai accepted the ruling with equanimity.

"It is not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen," he told reporters in Chiang Mai.

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Source said

Thai army chief wants elections to end crisis

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's army commander urged protesters Wednesday to leave Bangkok airport and called for elections to end the country's political crisis after a day of chaos in which thousands of travelers were stranded.

A protest spokesman said new elections alone would not solve the crisis, calling for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsarat to resign unconditionally. He added that they would not leave the airport.

All flights were canceled and frustrated passengers bused to hotels, as protesters shut down Suvarnabhumi Airport in a major escalation of their four-month campaign to oust Somchai.

"The government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election," Gen. Anupong Paochinda said at a news conference after meeting with high-level government officials, academics, economists and security officials.

Somchai returned to Thailand on Wednesday from a summit in Peru, but there was no response from the government to the army chief's call for new elections.

However, government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said, based on the prime minister's previously stated positions, "it is unlikely he will change his position by resigning or dissolving Parliament."

He stressed that he had not spoken to the prime minister since Somchai landed. Somchai is expected to speak later Wednesday night.

The protest group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, known as the PAD, appears intent on forcing the military to intervene and bring down the elected regime.

"We sympathize with the passengers but this is a necessary move to save the nation," top protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said on a makeshift stage at the besieged airport amid resounding applause. "If he doesn't resign, I will not leave."

Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the alliance, added later that the group would also continue to hold the other two locations they have overrun, the prime minister's office compound and another airport.

He added: "Dissolving the Parliament does not solve the problem.... We do not want Somchai's government, even as acting government before a fresh election is called."

By late afternoon, most of the 4,000 travelers, some who had been camped out since the night before, had left, a Thai tourism official said.

That left the protesters, a sea of matching yellow shirts, and they appeared to be settling in for the long haul.

They spread blankets on the floor, used luggage trolleys to carry boxes of water around the sprawling terminal and set up stands selling food and the plastic hand-clappers they use at rallies.

There was no word on when flights might resume. The U.S. Embassy advised Americans to stay away from the airport, while the Philippines and Singapore recommended that nonessential travel to Thailand be canceled.

Tempers frayed at sprawling Suvarnabhumi Airport, a major hub in Asia that averages 700 flights a day.

"I understand nothing, nothing, nothing," said French tourist Denis Hapard. "We don't understand what's happening. We're really upset."

Among those stranded were Americans trying to get home for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

Cheryl Turner, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had asked neighbors to pull an 18-pound turkey from her freezer a day ahead of time to defrost so she could cook it for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

"My turkey is sitting in the sink at home," she said.

Protesters distributed flyers trying to explain their action.

After reading the flyer, Clay Judd, 30, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said he didn't know what to make of the situation.

"For us to be upset because we can't have a huge turkey dinner — so what?" Judd said, waiting in a crowd inside the terminal to get bused to a hotel.

Support for the protesters has been waning, and the group appears to be edging toward bigger confrontations — involving fewer though more aggressive followers — to challenge the government.

Early Wednesday, assailants threw four explosives at anti-government demonstrators, including one targeting a group about a half-mile (one kilometer) from the airport.

A second was tossed into a crowd of anti-government supporters gathered at the domestic Don Muang airport, injuring three others, police said. Two other explosives were thrown in Bangkok, but no one was injured. It is unclear who staged the attacks.

The bold takeover — carried out while the prime minister was abroad — raised the stakes in a standoff that has seen a spike in violence in recent days and has given the tourism-dependent country a massive black eye.

Airport director Serirat Prasutanont, who had tried to negotiate with the protesters to allow passengers to fly out, said the takeover "damaged Thailand's reputation and its economy beyond repair."

The airport, the 18th-busiest in the world, handled over 40 million passengers in 2007.

Demonstrators had swarmed the international airport overnight, breaking through police lines and spilling into the passenger terminal.

Group Capt. Chokchai Saranon, a control tower official, said 50 masked protesters armed with metal rods demanded to enter the control tower Wednesday, seeking the prime minister's flight schedule. Three were allowed in, but with flights canceled, there were no controllers to provide the information and the protesters eventually left.

The People's Alliance for Democracy has been trying to topple Somchai, accusing him of being the puppet of a predecessor, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of corruption and other charges. The alliance said protesters would keep the airport closed until Somchai quits.

The alliance has staged a number of dramatic actions in recent months. It took over the prime minister's office in late August and twice blockaded Parliament — one time setting off street battles with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.

The airport blockade is a fresh blow to Thailand's $16 billion-a-year tourism industry, already suffering from months of political unrest and the global financial crisis.

"We don't have an estimate of financial loss, but it is greatly damaging," said Vijit Naranong, honorary chairman of Tourism Council of Thailand.

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Associated Press writers Ambika Ahuja, Jocelyn Gecker and Michael Casey contributed to this report.

news source

Obama to name Geithner, Summers to economic postsNEW YORK – President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming

NEW YORK – President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, president of the New York Federal Reserve, would be the top Cabinet official in charge of leading the administration's response to the global economic crisis. Word of his likely selection Friday helped send the Dow Jones Industrials soaring 500 points after several days of steep losses.

One top Democrat said John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.

Geithner (pronounced GITE-ner) served as a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, where he played a major role in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.

Summers, 53, a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and one-time president of Harvard University, will advise Obama from the White House. Officials said he would coordinate the federal response to the economic meltdown across several agencies, including a plan Obama announced Saturday to create or save 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding infrastructure and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

During the Clinton administration, Summers helped craft the U.S. support program for Mexico during its 1995 financial crisis. He later helped lead the U.S. response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Geithner and Summers were scheduled to appear with Obama at a press conference in Chicago Monday morning.

The announcement comes as Obama moves quickly to fill slots for his incoming administration. On Saturday, he named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

Ellen Moran will be director of communications in charge of getting Obama's message out. Her deputy in the White House will be Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director for Obama's presidential transition team.

In other positions, Obama is virtually certain to offer Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag the job of directing the White House Office of Budget and Management, and Orszag is likely to accept, Democratic officials said Saturday.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also is in line to become secretary of state, while Obama's choice for attorney general is Eric Holder. He held the No. 2 slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Officials said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state. Like Clinton, he was a rival of Obama's for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the anticipated appointments.

The president-elect has largely stayed out of public view since his election on Nov. 4, preferring to work quietly with aides and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in a suite of offices in downtown Chicago.

Obama faces unusual challenges and has moved quickly in assembling his team. Former President George H.W. Bush made his first Cabinet pick the day after his election in 1988, but former President Clinton did not name any members until after Thanksgiving. President George W. Bush's transition was delayed by the contested result in Florida.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama's choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has been chosen as secretary of health and human services and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is likely to be named as secretary of the Homeland Security Department.

Napolitano was an early supporter of candidate Obama among the ranks of Democratic governors, as was Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Sebelius has figured prominently in recent days in speculation as possible secretary of labor.

Additionally, retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was among those under consideration for national security adviser. James Steinberg, an Obama campaign aide who served in Clinton's White House, was another possibility, according to officials.

Obama has repeatedly referred to the economic crisis as the top priority for his new administration.

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. source

Bolante son seeks father’s house arrest

Bolante son seeks father’s house arrest

MANILA, Philippines -- The son of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante has asked the Court of Appeals to allow his father to be placed under house arrest.

In his omnibus motion and compliance report, Owen Vincent Bolante told the appeals court that pending its decision on the petition for habeas corpus he filed on behalf of his father, the former agriculture official be placed under house arrest instead of being detained at the Senate.

The young Bolante also submitted a compliance certificate from his father’s doctor, Dr. Romeo Saavedra, that the former official was confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center from October 28 to November 8.

It also indicated the medical examinations conducted on Bolante and their results.

In his petition, Owen Bolante claimed his father's detention is unlawful and his immediately release is necessary.

He said the arrest order issued by the 13th Senate in 2005 is no longer valid because the chamber is not a continuing body.

Bolante added that while the Senate has the power to cite in contempt and order the arrest of individuals, this power is not absolute.

He said at present, the Senate is not conducting any inquiry and is not even in session. source

Obama calls for swift action on economy

CHICAGO – President-elect Obama assembled his economic team Friday and soberly told the nation that strong action is needed to confront "the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime."

In his first news conference since being elected Tuesday, Obama called on Congress to extend unemployment benefits and pass a stimulus bill. But his more ambitious remedies, he said, must wait until he takes office Jan. 20.

Obama displayed an air of authority and confidence, standing before a dozen economic advisers and rows of American flags as he spoke for 20 minutes. He mixed lighthearted remarks about family pets (even calling himself a "mutt") with grim-faced assessments of the nation's economic predicament.

"Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult," he said, reading a statement before taking several questions. "It is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in. But America is a strong and resilient country."

Obama urged Congress to pass an economic stimulus measure and extend unemployment benefits either before or just after he takes office. As for bigger decisions, he said, the nation has "only one government and one president at a time," and now it is President Bush.

However, he said, "immediately after I become president, I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity."

"I'm confident a new president can have an enormous impact," he said.

Obama said he would focus on producing jobs, and he mentioned actions to help the auto industry, small businesses and state and local governments.

He left open the possibility that economic conditions might prompt him to change his tax plan, which would give a break to most families but raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 annually.

"I think that the plan that we've put forward is the right one," he said, "but, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we're going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what's taking place in the economy as a whole."

Obama said he will review a congratulatory letter from Iran's leader and respond appropriately. It's not something "that we should simply do in a knee-jerk fashion," he said. Obama said he wants to be careful to send the signal to the world that "I'm not the president and I won't be until Jan. 20."

He said he appreciated the cooperation Bush has offered in smoothing his transition to the White House and the president's "commitment that his economic policy team keep us informed." He expressed gratitude to Bush for inviting him and his wife, Michelle, to the White House on Monday.

Obama said he expected to have a substantive conversation with Bush. "I am not going to anticipate problems," he said.

As he prepares to join an exclusive club of presidents, Obama said, "I've spoken to all of them that are living."

"I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances," he said with a grin, an apparent exaggerated reference to the former first lady's fondness for astrology.

Also in a lighter vein, the president-elect said his family is looking for a dog that will not trigger his daughter Malia's allergies. Ideally, he said, it would come from an animal rescue shelter, "but obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me."

He presumably was referring to his heritage: his father was from Kenya, his mother was from Kansas.

Obama and Biden met before the news conference with the transition economic advisory board, a high-powered collection of business, academic and government leaders. They included Lawrence Summers, who some have mentioned as a candidate for Treasury secretary, a post he held in the Clinton administration; Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose state has been hit hard by losses in the auto industry; Google CEO Eric Schmidt; and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Others attending included executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc.; and the Hyatt hotel company. Investor Warren Buffett called in by telephone.

Obama has been meeting privately with his transition team, receiving congratulatory phone calls from foreign leaders and intelligence briefings, and making decisions about who will help run his government.

One person frequently mentioned for a Cabinet post, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, will not be available until 2011, officials close to him said Friday. Rendell has two years left of his term, and Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, a Democrat, is ailing. Next in line to be governor is the Republican president pro tempore the state Senate.

Rather than take the chance that the GOP would gain control of the governor's office, Rendell has signaled he will stay put for the time being.

On Friday morning, Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended a parent-teacher conference at the University of Chicago Lab School where their daughters, Malia and Sasha, are students.

Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign. He is planning a family getaway to Hawaii in December before they move to the White House, and to honor his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died Sunday at her home there. source

Obama, McCain both promise change on election eve

TAMPA, Fla. – Barack Obama radiated confidence and John McCain displayed the grit of an underdog Monday as the presidential rivals reached for the finish line of a two-year marathon with a burst of campaigning across battlegrounds from the Atlantic Coast to Arizona.

"We are one day away from change in America," said Obama, a Democrat seeking to become the first black president — a dream not nearly as distant on election eve as it once was.

McCain, too, promised to turn the page of the era of George W. Bush, and he warned about his opponent's intentions. "Sen. Obama is in the far left lane" of politics, he said. "He's more liberal than a guy who calls himself a Socialist and that's not easy."

Republican running mate Sarah Palin was even more pointed as she campaigned in Ohio. "Now is not the time to experiment with socialism," she said. "Our opponent's plan is just for bigger government."

Late-season attacks aside, Obama led in virtually all the pre-election polls in a race where economic concerns dominated and the war in Iraq was pushed — however temporarily — into the background.

Early voting, more than 29 million ballots cast in 30 states, suggested an advantage for Obama as well. Official statistics showed Democrats who have already voted outnumbered Republicans in North Carolina, Colorado, Florida and Iowa, all of which went for President Bush in 2004.

Democrats also anticipated gains in the House and in the Senate, although Republicans battled to hold their losses to a minimum and a significant number of races were rated as tossups in the campaign's final hours.

By their near-non-stop attention to states that voted Republican in 2004, both Obama and McCain acknowledged the Democrats' advantage in the presidential race.

The two rivals both began their days in Florida, a traditionally Republican state with 27 electoral votes where polls make it close.

Obama drew 9,000 or so at a rally in Jacksonville, while across the state, a crowd estimated at roughly 1,000 turned out for McCain.

One day before the election, no battleground state was left unattended.

But Virginia, where no Democrat has won in 40 years, and Ohio, where no Republican president has ever lost, seemed most coveted. Together, they account for 33 electoral votes that McCain can scarcely do without.

Democratic volunteers in Maryland, a state safe for Obama, called voters in next-door Virginia, where McCain trailed in the polls. The Democratic presidential candidate's visit to Virginia during the day was his 11th since he clinched the nomination.

Unwilling to concede anything, McCain's campaign filed a lawsuit in Richmond seeking to force election officials to count late-arriving ballots from members of the armed forces overseas. No hearing was immediately scheduled.

Several hundred miles away in Ohio — the state that sealed Bush's second term in 2004 — voters waited as long as three hours in line to cast ballots in Columbus, part of heavily contested Franklin County. Poll workers handed out bottles of water to sustain them.

Lori Huffman, 38, a supervisor at UPS Inc., took the day off to vote early for her man, McCain. "It's exciting isn't it?" she asked, gesturing toward the long line of waiting voters.

"This is happening all over the state, from Cleveland to Dayton," said Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat trying to deliver his state to Obama.

Obama hoped so, after more than a year building an elaborate get-out-the-vote operation, first for the primary campaign, now for the general election.

The Democrat flew from Florida to North Carolina to Virginia, all states that went Republican in 2004, before heading home to Chicago on Election Eve.

Twenty-one months after he launched his campaign, he allowed, "You know. I feel pretty peaceful ... I gotta say."

On a syndicated radio program, the Russ Parr Morning Show, he said, "The question is going to be who wants it more," he added. "And I hope that our supporters want it bad, because I think the country needs it."

If wanting it were all that mattered, the race would be a toss-up.

McCain, behind in the polls, set out on a grueling run through several traditionally Republican states that he has failed to secure. Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada were on his itinerary, as was Pennsylvania, the only state that voted Democratic in 2004 where he still nursed hopes. His last appearance of the long day, past midnight, was a home state rally in Prescott, Ariz. Obama has been running television commercials in Arizona in the campaign's final days.

The surrogate campaigners included Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democrats and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republicans. Both lost races for their party's presidential nomination earlier in the year, and both could be expected to try again if their ticket loses the White House.

Not so, President Bush.

Deeply unpopular, the man who won the White House twice was out of public view, an effort to help McCain.

Palin was racing through five Bush states Monday — Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada — in an effort to boost conservative turnout for McCain. The Alaska governor has been a popular draw for many GOP base voters, and already, there was speculation about a future national campaign should Republicans lose in 2008.

Joe Biden, Obama's running mate, campaigned in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. "We are on the cusp of a new brand of leadership," he assured supporters.

Biden didn't say so, but he was as close to guaranteed a victory as any politician in America. Whatever the fate of the Democratic presidential ticket, he was heavily favored to win a new Senate term from Delaware on Tuesday. source

Obama's grandmother dies a day before election

HONOLULU – Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86. Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died peacefully late Sunday night after a battle with cancer.

They said: "She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances."

Obama learned of her death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He planned to go ahead with campaign appearances.

The family said a private ceremony would be held later.

Last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with Dunham as her health declined.

Obama said the decision to go to Hawaii was easy to make, telling CBS that he "got there too late" when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at 53, and wanted to make sure "that I don't make the same mistake twice."

The Kansas-born Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised their grandson for several years so he could attend school in Honolulu while their daughter and her second husband lived overseas. Her influence on Obama's manner and the way he viewed the world was substantial, the candidate himself told millions watching him accept his party's nomination in Denver in August.

"She's the one who taught me about hard work," he said. "She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me."

Obama's nickname for his grandmother was "Toot," a version of the Hawaiian word for grandmother, tutu. Many of his speeches describe her working on a bomber assembly line during World War II.

Madelyn and Stanley Dunham married in 1940, a few weeks before she graduated from high school. Their daughter, Stanley Ann, was born in 1942. After several moves to and from California, Texas, Washington and Kansas, Stanley Dunham's job landed the family in Hawaii.

It was there that Stanley Ann later met and fell in love with Obama's father, a Kenyan named Barack Hussein Obama Sr. They had met in Russian class at the University of Hawaii. Their son was born in August 1961, but the marriage didn't last long. She later married an Indonesian, Lolo Soetoro, another university student she met in Hawaii.

Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and stepfather at age 6. But in 1971, her mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with her parents. He stayed with the Dunhams until he graduated from high school in 1979.

In his autobiography, Obama wrote fondly of playing basketball on a court below his grandparents' 10th-floor Honolulu apartment, and looking up to see his grandmother watching.

It was the same apartment Obama visited on annual holiday trips to Hawaii, a weeklong vacation from his campaign in August, and his pre-election visit in October. Family members said his grandmother could not travel because of her health.

Madelyn Dunham, who took university classes but to her chagrin never earned a degree, nonetheless rose from a secretarial job at the Bank of Hawaii to become one of the state's first female bank vice presidents.

"Every morning, she woke up at 5 a.m. and changed from the frowsy muumuus she wore around the apartment into a tailored suit and high-heeled pumps," Obama wrote.

Obama warns of more attacks to come

WASHINGTON — Democrat Barack Obama held onto his solid lead in the polls and appeared confident of capturing the US presidency in the historic race, but steeled his supporters for a crescendo of vicious attacks in the final hours of the campaign.

With just four days to go after a marathon contest, the Obama campaign went on the offensive in several solidly Republican states Friday. Democrats announced they would air television ads in Georgia, North Dakota and even Arizona, which Republican John McCain has represented in the US Senate for 22 years.

"We are four days away from changing the United States of America," Obama told voters Friday night in Indiana, one of about a half-dozen Republican states remain up for grabs late this election season.

The underdog McCain, meanwhile, spent a second day touring Ohio in his "Straight Talk Express" bus, and appeared with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican, in a last-ditch effort to win a state critical to his hopes for victory.

No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio, but McCain trails in the polls there by a wide margin.

"We're closing, my friends, and we're going to win in Ohio," McCain said during a stop in the state Friday. "We're a few points down but we're coming back and we're coming back strong."

McCain's campaign argued that he was closing the gap in the final days and that he was closer than reflected than in public polling. Privately, McCain's aides said he trailed Obama by 4 points nationwide in internal polling.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of likely voters put the Democrat well ahead nationwide, 51 to 43, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The same survey gave McCain reason to hope — one in seven voters, 14 percent of the total — said they were undecided or might yet change their minds.

But McCain may be running out of time to turn the tide.

Obama, who is seeking to become the first black US president, has tapped public concern about two long-running US wars abroad and a faltering economy at home.

He has also raised hundreds of millions of dollars more than McCain for his campaign.

McCain and his supporters have fought back by accusing Obama of associating with radicals, advocating surrender in Iraq and supporting socialist economic policies.

"Sen. Obama's economic policy is from the far left of American politics and ours is in the center," McCain said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America" television program.

In Iowa, Obama accused the Republicans of practicing "slash and burn, say-anything, do-anything politics that's calculated to divide and distract; to tear us apart instead of bringing us together."

He said he admired a presidential candidate who said in 2000: "I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land."

"Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain," Obama said. "But the high road didn't lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route."

Despite this, Obama later told CNN that, if he is elected, he would consider appointing McCain to "any position ... where I thought he was going to be the best person for our country."

As part of McCain's effort to capture Ohio, McCain hosted Schwarzenegger — the former bodybuilder and actor who played the lead in the "Terminator" series of Hollywood blockbusters — at a rally in the city of Columbus Friday afternoon, where he offered to help the lanky Obama beef up his "skinny legs" and "scrawny little arms."

"John McCain has served his country longer in a POW camp than his opponent has in the United States Senate," the Austrian-born politician said. "I only play an action hero in the movies. John McCain is a real action hero."

McCain's campaign said the candidate would appear Saturday on the late-night comedy show, "Saturday Night Live."

The satirical program has bolstered its ratings in recent months by lampooning McCain's choice for the Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is bidding to become America's first woman vice president.

Both McCain and Obama are expected to appear at half time on a nationally televised American football game Monday night.

But nationwide appeals may matter less, in the end, then the grueling chess game of state-by-state campaigning that marks US presidential contests.

Under the US system, the president is not elected by direct popular vote nationwide. Instead, the successful candidate must win 270 out of 538 electoral votes in what amounts to a state-by-state contest. Electoral votes are allocated to each state roughly according to population.

McCain has won come-from-behind political contests before. But his campaign has struggled throughout the fall, plagued by internal bickering and divisions in the party ranks.

In an interview Thursday with National Public Radio, Lawrence Eagleburger, a former secretary of state and prominent McCain supporter, who said Palin isn't prepared to take over as president in a crisis.

He added that she could eventually become "adequate." He later apologized for the comments.

Palin campaigned Friday in Pennsylvania, where she charged that Obama represented the "far left wing" of the Democratic party and had an ideological commitment to raising taxes.

Obama is proposing tax increases on families making over $250,000 and individuals making over $200,000 and tax cuts for the 95 percent of workers making less than $200,000.

The Democrats' vice presidential candidate, US Sen. Joe Biden, told a crowd in Delaware that history will judge the Bush administration harshly for failing to build a strong economy and to unite the world against global terrorism.

"The Bush legacy, the one that John McCain wants to continue, is an America where we are divided from each other, a nation divided from the world," Biden said.

Obama planned final get-out-the-vote rallies in Nevada, Colorado and Missouri Saturday. He was scheduled to campaign in Ohio all day Sunday, including a Cleveland rally with singer Bruce Springsteen, then hit Virginia and Florida on Election Eve.

McCain had eight states on his final three-day itinerary besides the detour to New York City for "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Obama supporter Ben Affleck. Monday's schedule called for him to visit several states, ending with a midnight rally in his home state of Arizona where Obama was running television ads.

"We want to win everywhere," Obama said of his decision to air the commercials in his opponent's state. - AP

Jun Lozada to Joc-Joc: Tell truth, leave a lasting legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Barely two days before he is to supposedly board a flight that will take him home, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante was advised to bare all on the P728-million fertilizer scam once he returns home.

The advice came Friday from Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., who earlier this year decided to spill the beans on another anomaly - the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess.

"As a father, I am asking you to please think about your children, please consider the legacy you are going to leave to them. Are you going to forever leave them as pariahs branded as children of a thief - or as children of someone who did wrong and yet chose to serve his country in the end, rather than to be a captive forever of the dark forces he used to serve?" Lozada said in an open letter posted on the blog site of the Black and White Movement.

The advice came the same day that law professor Harry Roque Jr. said that he expects Bolante to take a Northwest Airlines flight home on Sunday, and may arrive in Manila at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Bolante has been tagged as the engineer of a P728-million fertilizer scam where funds for liquid fertilizer were allegedly funneled to the campaign kitty of then administration presidential bet Gloria Arroyo.

In his open letter, Lozada also appealed to Bolante as a fellow Rotarian to take the four-way test as part of his discernment process.

"Is it the Truth? Is it fair to everyone concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to everyone concerned? You have been a good Rotarian for many good years of your life. Will you now turn your back on these ideals in the biggest test of your Rotarian values?" Lozada said.

On the other hand, he urged Bolante not to be afraid of the consequences.

"It is my faith in this God that allowed me to face all the fears that I am confronted with when I decided to tell the truth that I know about the NBN-ZTE scam. May you find the faith to lead you to the Light of God's love that no darkness can ever defeat, not even a President of the Republic of the Philippines," he said.

But Lozada advised Bolante to prepare his family for whatever decision he will make.

He said one of his regrets in coming out on the ZTE mess was that he did not prepare his family enough for the consequences.

"I am sharing these insights with you, because if there is one thing that I did regret in telling the truth about how this Arroyo administration has been stealing from the very people it is supposed to serve, it is that I was not able to prepare my wife and my children well enough against the backlash of this government's wrath against me for telling the people about their crimes,"Lozada said.

"You still have time to discern your next move, whether or not you are going to tell the people the truth about the fertilizer scam or bring the secret to your grave, just like Romy Neri," he added. - GMANews.TV

Thai court sentences Thaksin to jail in graft case

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had violated a conflict-of-interest law while in office and sentenced him to two years in prison.

The nine judges ruled by five to four that Thaksin, who has been at the heart of Thailand's political crisis over the past three years and now lives in exile in Britain, had got involved in his wife's purchase of land from a central bank fund.

"The defendant is guilty of violating the anti-corruption law, and the punishment is two years in prison," a judge said, reading out the verdict.

Thaksin, speaking to Reuters by telephone, said the case was politically motivated. He has said before that he could not expect a fair trial from Thai courts. "I have been informed of the result. I had long anticipated that it would turn out this way," he said.

He denied British media reports he was seeking asylum in Britain. A Thai prosecutor said he would urge Britain to extradite Thaksin now that the court had sentenced him to prison.

The ruling is the first on a spate of corruption charges against Thaksin and his political associates prepared by graft investigators appointed after a military coup in 2006.

It will do little to lower the political temperature in Thailand, where Thaksin still commands wide support outside the capital, and will be seen as a further blow to the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is his brother-in-law.

An elected government came to power this year but the main party in the coalition, the People Power Party, is seen by opponents as a mere proxy for Thaksin.

The extra-parliamentary People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has been waging a street campaign since May to force the government out and has occupied the prime minister's official compound since August.

Two people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes between PAD supporters and the police on October 7.

NO CLASH

The court area was plastered with signs warning Thaksin supporters and opponents they would be in contempt of court if they caused any disturbance.

About 300 government supporters were seen around the court, which was guarded by 100 uniformed police officers, a third of the number the police had earlier planned to deploy.

The PAD opted not to go ahead with a plan to march to the court. "We are staying where we are. We don't want to create any trouble," PAD spokesman Parnthep Pourpongpan told Reuters.

The political crisis dates back to 2005 when the PAD launched street protests against Thaksin, alleging corruption and abuse of power. It has meandered through a coup to elections and back to protests and shows no sign of resolution.

The army removed Thaksin from power because of allegations of rampant corruption during his five years in power. Nearly $2 billion of his family's assets have been frozen in Thai bank accounts. source

Powell picks Obama, hits McCain campaign tone

(Update) WASHINGTON – Colin Powell, a Republican and retired general who was President Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party Sunday and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling him a "transformational figure" while criticizing the tone of John McCain's campaign.

The former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman said either senator is qualified to be commander in chief. But after studying both, he concluded that Obama is better suited than McCain, the standard-bearer of Powell's own party, to handle the nation's economic problems and help improve its world standing.

"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he announced the endorsement and delivered a serious blow to the aspirations of his longtime friend, Arizona Sen. McCain.

But, Powell added: "I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."

The endorsement by Powell amounted to a stunning rejection of McCain, a 26-year veteran of Congress and a former Vietnam prisoner of war who has campaigned as the experienced, tested candidate who knows how to keep the country safe.

Powell's endorsement has been much anticipated because of his impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is weak. Powell is a Republican centrist popular among moderate voters.

At the same time, Powell is a black man and Obama would be the nation's first black president — a goal Powell considered pursuing for himself in 1996, before deciding not to run. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision.

Powell expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain's campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and their decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers, saying "it goes too far."

A co-founder of the Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for nonfatal bombings in the United States during the Vietnam War-era, Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. He and Obama also served together on civic boards in Chicago.

"This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign," Powell said. "But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him?"

Powell said McCain's choice of Palin raised questions about judgment.

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired. But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president," he said. "And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

McCain seemed dismissive of Powell's endorsement, saying he had support from four other former secretaries of state, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.

"Well, I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."

Asked whether the endorsement would undercut his campaign's assertion that Obama is not ready to lead, McCain said, "Well, again, we have a very, we have a respectful disagreement, and I think the American people will pay close attention to our message for the future and keeping America secure."

Powell also said he was troubled that some Republicans — he excluded McCain — continue to say or allow others to say that Obama is a Muslim, when he is a Christian. Such rhetoric is polarizing, he said.

"He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America," Powell said. "Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

Obama called Powell to thank him for the endorsement, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell," Obama said at a rally in Fayetteville, N.C. "Gen. Powell has defended this nation bravely, and he has embodied our highest ideals through his long and distinguished public service. ... And he knows, as we do, that this is a moment where we all need to come together as one nation — young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat."

Powell said he remains a Republican, even though he sees the party moving too far to the right. He supports abortion rights and affirmative action, and said McCain and Palin, both opponents of abortion, could put two more conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

"I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration," Powell said.

Powell chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's top military post, during the first Gulf war under President George H.W. Bush. As secretary of state, he helped make the case before the United Nations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003.

Powell said the nation's economic crisis provided a "final exam" of sorts for both candidates, suggested McCain had failed the test.

"I found that he was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having," Powell said. "Almost every day there was a different approach to the problem and that concerned me, sensing that he doesn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."

In contrast, Powell said Obama "displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems ... . I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well." - AP

Democrat Barack Obama

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Democrat Barack Obama poured millions of dollars into Florida over the summer but couldn't close in on John McCain's comfortable lead. The Republican didn't flinch, confident the state was trending toward the GOP eight years after it gave George W. Bush the White House.

Then the mortgage crisis hit, jolting the high-foreclosure state — and its presidential politics.

Now, the coveted state with 27 electoral votes is a tossup.

And, Republicans and Democrats alike say getting voters to the polls is the key.

"We're feeling urgent," said Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, who is now working out of Miami, signaling just how hard the campaign is competing. "We've got a lot to prove."

Republicans concede Obama has more money, staffers and offices in Florida but say the GOP has a better battle-tested operation with experienced staffers and volunteers.

"They've been in tough elections, close elections every two years for 10 years," said Mike DuHaime, McCain's political director. He said he's also heartened by the fact that Republicans have requested about 200,000 more absentee ballots than Democrats, who lead in registrations.

With the Nov. 4 election approaching, most polls show the race is very close.

Florida is critical to McCain's strategy of winning the requisite 270 Electoral College votes; Bush won twice, though in a disputed election the first time, and McCain is trying hard to defend Florida against Obama's onslaught lest he has to make up the 27 electoral votes he would lose. Obama could lose Florida and still be in a stronger position to cobble together wins in enough states for victory.

McCain campaigns in Florida on Friday. Obama joins former rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the state on Monday.

They're campaigning in a state that is far from homogeneous.

Urban South Florida favors Democrats, largely rural north Florida identifies more with the South and votes conservative and the Interstate 4 corridor that splits the state from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona Beach is where both parties fight aggressively for independents and crossover voters.

Florida has a high population of transplants from the Northeast and Midwest; immigrants from Latin America, Haiti and elsewhere and a large number of Jewish voters. Retirees flock here and the state has a lot of veterans, many of whom stay after serving in the state.

All that means Florida is a difficult place to campaign. And it's also expensive, with its many media markets.

With about three weeks to go in the campaign, Obama had spent more than $21 million on advertising in Florida for the general election, compared with about $5 million by McCain, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, a firm that tracks political advertising.

Obama went up on the air weeks before McCain with advertising and built a grass-roots team that overshadows John Kerry's efforts four years ago and Al Gore's in 2000. The Democrat entered the general election at somewhat of a disadvantage, having refrained from campaigning in the state during the Democratic primary because of a party dispute over the primary's timing and the counting of the state's convention delegates.

McCain, conversely, waited until the fall to put the bulk of his resources into Florida, given polls showing him leading in a state that has become difficult for Democrats to win. It has only supported one Democratic presidential candidate since backing Jimmy Carter in 1976 — Bill Clinton in 1996.

"There was some assumption that Florida was going to be fairly solid on their side and maybe they didn't anticipate this being as close," Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer said of McCain's advisers.

Unlike Obama and the Democratic primary, McCain had lavished Florida with attention during the GOP primary and his win here over Mitt Romney ensured he got the nomination. The Republican also has personal ties to the state from his Navy days and is close to the popular Gov. Charlie Crist. He's also well-liked in the influential Cuban-American community in south Florida.

"Even though Republicans are in the White House and a Republican is in the governor's mansion, this is definitely different than it was four years ago," said Brett Doster, Bush's Florida political director in 2004 and during the 2000 election that led to a recount and ended with the Supreme Court ruling in the GOP's favor.

In 2004, the state's economy was still soaring. Unemployment was low, the housing market hot. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, was the state's popular governor and Republicans were winning the argument with Florida voters on national security and Iraq.

This fall, the economy dominates the election. Florida's unemployment is higher than the national average and the highest it's been in more than 13 years. The state has one of the worst foreclosure rates in the nation.

Among the unknowns that will shape the race in the final weeks:

_Can Obama win over Jewish voters?

_Will seniors reject the idea of another Republican in the White House as the Wall Street chaos batters their retirement accounts?

_How will non-Cuban Hispanics vote?

Bush reveals new steps to steady banking industry

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday announced a $250 billion plan by the government to directly buy shares in the nation's leading banks, saying the drastic steps were "not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it."
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Nine major banks will participate initally including all of the country's largest institutions. Some of the big banks had to be pressured to participate in the program by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who wanted healthy institutions that did not necessarily need capital from the government to go first as a way of removing any stigma that might be associated with banks getting bailouts.

Bush, in brief remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House, said the government will initially buy stocks in nine major U.S. banks.

"These efforts are designed to directly benefit the American people by stabilizing the financial system and helping the economy recover," he said.

Paulson, at a news conference a short time later, said "today's actions are what we must do to restore confidence in our financial system."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Tuesday announced a $250 billion plan by the government to directly buy shares in the nation's leading banks, saying the drastic steps were "not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it."

Bush, in the latest of a series of statements on the troubled economy, said in a brief Rose Garden statement that the move echoed similar bold moves made overseas in an effort to prevent a global recession.

"These efforts are designed to directly benefit the American people by stabilizing the financial system and helping the economy recover," he said.

The president made his statement after an early morning meeting with his economic advisers, announcing these steps:

_The federal government will use part of the $700 billion bailout law to inject money into banks "by purchasing equity shares."

Bush said this will help banks continue to make loans to businesses and individuals.

_The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will "temporarily guarantee" most new debt issued by insured banks.

_The FDIC also will expand government insurance to cover all non-interest bearing accounts, aiding small businesses in covering their day to day operations.

_The Federal Reserve will "soon finalize work" on a new program to serve as a buyer of last resort for commercial paper.

Bush said that by restoring confidence in the system, the hope is to "return our economy back to the road of growth and prosperity."

He said that the partial nationalization of the nation's battered financial sector was a short-term move to help banks to be able to begin lending again.

"Government's role will be limited and temporary," the president pledged.

It was the latest in a series of moves by the government in an effort to combat a global credit crisis that is threatening to push the country into a deep recession.

Executives of the country's biggest banks were summoned to a remarkable meeting at the Treasury Department on Monday to be briefed on the plan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson basically told the bank CEOs that they had to accept the government stock purchases for the good of the U.S. economy.

The administration plans to spend $250 billion of the $700 billion government rescue program passed by Congress on Oct. 3 to make stock purchases this year. The first purchases will be in nine large banks, officials said.

Paulson was expected to outline details of the plan at a Treasury Department news conference.

"Over the past few weeks, my administration has worked with both parties in Congress to pass a financial rescue plan. Federal agencies have moved decisively to shore up struggling institutions and stabilize our markets," Bush said. "And the United States has worked with partners around the world to coordinate our actions to get our economies back on track."

He called the decision for the government to buy stock in the distressed banks "an essential short-term measure to ensure the viability of America's banking system."

It does put the United States in the awkward position of owning shares in institutions it also regulates. The shares purchased by the government are expected to be nonvoting ones.

"This new capital will help healthy banks continue making loans to businesses and consumers. And this new capital will help struggling banks fill the hole created by losses during the financial crisis, so they can resume lending and help spur job creation and economic growth," Bush said.

"I know Americans are deeply concerned about the stress in our financial markets, and the impact it is having on their retirement accounts, and 401(k)s, and college savings and other investment," Bush said.

He added: "I recognize that the action leaders are taking here in Washington and in European capitals can seem distant from those concerns."

"It'll take time for our efforts to have their full impact," the president said. "But the American people can have confidence about our long-term economic future. We have a strategy that is broad, that is flexible, and that is aimed at the root cause of our problem."source

Supreme Court rules domain agreement ‘unconstitutional’

(Updated 3:50 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the ancestral domain agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as “unconstitutional."

The Supreme Court voted 8-7 against the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which was opposed by several local government officials in Mindanao led by North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol.

“The failure of the respondents to consult the local government units or communities affected constitutes a departure by respondents from their mandate under E.O. [Executive Order] No. 3," the 90-page decision penned by Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales stated.

“Moreover, respondents exceeded their authority by the mere act of guaranteeing amendments to the Constitution," it added.

Aside from Morales, those who opined the memorandum to be unconstitutional were Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Antonio Carpio, Adolfo Azcuna, and Ruben Reyes. Also joining the majority were Senior Justice Leonardo Quisumbing and Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez.

In its ruling, the High Court also stressed that any alleged violation of the Constitution by any branch of government should be subjected under judicial review.

The remaining seven justices, meanwhile, said that the petitions against the MOA-AD should be dismissed because the agreement is already considered moot after the government withdrew from it.

The seven magistrates from the minority position included Justices Dante Tinga, Minita Chico-Nazario, Presbitero Velasco Jr, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, and Renato Corona.

The decision directed the respondents to conduct public consultations first as prescribed by the people’s right to information.

“Respondents and their agents are enjoined from signing and executing the same or similar agreements, in accordance with the discussions embodied in the decision," the ruling added.

To recall, the MOA-AD signing was scheduled on August 5, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but the court issued a stay order a day before the event based on a petition by Piñol.

The North Cotabato governor, along with the other petitioners, questioned the lack of disclosure and public consultation on the deal prior to the scheduled signing.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the government will no longer sign the domain deal, in light of the series of attacks staged by suspected MILF elements in a number of Mindanao provinces last month.

The atrocities were allegedly triggered after the Supreme Court ordered a temporary restraining order against the signing of the homeland pact.

Peace talks in Mindanao were also threatened after the government dissolved its peace panel following the hostilities in southern Philippines and the brouhaha that surrounded the botched signing of the MOA-AD. source

A new impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was filed Monday morning accusing her, among others, of betrayal of public trust

A new impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was filed Monday morning accusing her, among others, of betrayal of public trust.

Jose 'Joey' de Venecia III, Iloilo Vice-Governor Rolex Suplico, and public interest lawyer Harry Roque led the filing of the complaint at the House of Representatives secretary-general's office at 7:40 am.

It was endorsed by Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino, and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza.

In an interview with DZMM, De Venecia said the more than 100-page complaint will "stand on its own merit" and is backed by evidence.

De Venecia said the impeachment complaint is also part of citizens' battle against corruption and poverty.

He expressed hope that more citizens and civil society organizations will support the impeachment complaint.

De Venecia and the other complainants were at the House of Representatives as early as 6 am to make sure they would be the first to file the impeachment complaint.

Only one impeachment complaint against the president is allowed each year, and only the first valid complaint will be entertained by the House of Representatives under its rules.

The impeachment complaint accuses Mrs. Arroyo of betrayal of public trust after she approved the National Broadband Network (NBN) telecommunications deal with China's ZTE Corp., saying that the deal was overpriced by at least $130M.

Other grounds included in the complaint are:

* culpable violation of the Constitution for approving the Northrail rehabilitation project;
* numerous human rights violations;
* graft and corruption for her administration's involvement in various irregularities including the P728M fertilizer scam, P2B swine scam; and,
* alleged ballot-switching in the 2004 presidential election.

Impeachment complaints filed against President Arroyo in 2005, 2006 and 2007 all failed to get the needed one-third votes of the House of Representatives.
Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico, Joey de Venecia and Atty Harry Roque hold copies of signed impeachment complaint (Ocotber 13, 2008)

In an interview with radio dzMM, Prof. Harry Roque of the UP College of Law, said that even if previous impeachment complaints have not been successful, they felt it was their civic duty to still file a new one.

Roque said the new complaint is different from the ones filed in 2005, 2006 and 2007 since the cases on Northrail, swine scam, and fertilizer scam have all been documented by the Commission on Audit.

"All of these have COA reports...These reports are conclusive," he said.

The human rights complaint, Roque said, has also been backed by the investigation done by a UN special rapporteur who found that the government had been remiss in its duty to protect the rights of citizens in cases of extra-judicial killings and involuntary disappearances.

Roque said they have been assured by the House of Representatives that their complaint was the first valid one to be accepted by the lower house.

Thus, if the House of Representatives opts to reject the complaint, it will have to do so on the basis of merit and not on technicalities.

The impeachment complaint filed in 2005 by lawyer Oliver Lozano was defeated basically due to technical deficiency rather than on merit.

"The House will be forced to look into the merits of the complaint," Roque said.

He said an impeachment complaint filed by Lozano last August 2008 was returned to him by the House of Representatives since the one-year ban on the filing of a new impeachment complaint had not yet lapsed. It also lacked endorsement by a member of the lower house.

The one-year ban lapsed last October 11.

Meanwhile, De Venecia is concerned that the impeachment proceedings may not push through given the increasing number of Lower House members who support the move for charter change to extend Mrs. Arroyo’s presidential term.

The son of former House speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. failed to file the impeachment complaint on Saturday because House Secretary General Marilyn Yap was not in her office. -- with a report from WILLARD CHENG, ABS-CBN News

Bush: US will work with partners on credit crisis

The Philippine financial system is not likely to crash like its American counterpart due to the conservative and prudent stance of local banks and monetary authorities, President Arroyo said yesterday.
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Mrs. Arroyo though admitted the US financial crisis "appears deeper than most anticipated."

She said "any slowdown or even recession in the US is not good for the global economy."

In her speech at the opening ceremonies of the Agrilink/Foodlink/Aqualink 2008 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, the President also announced her signing into law of the Credit Information System bill to further strengthen the country's financial system.

She said the global credit crunch has proven the country has a strong banking sector that can be exploited by businesses wanting to expand.

"The potential exposure of our banking sector to the asset deflation triggered by the subprime mortgage losses in the US accounts for less than one percent of their total system assets here in the Philippines," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"This exposure is fully reserved, our banks are well-capitalized, and the innate conser-vativism of our bankers is matched by the prudence of our regulators," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo added the government would increase its spending on infrastructure and social projects to keep the economy going amid a global economic crisis.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, on the other hand, said the government is ready to provide assistance to affected sectors in the country in the wake of the financial meltdown in the US.

Teves said that previous gains on the country's fiscal consolidation efforts have given the Philippines more room to assist other sectors.

Teves also said the Philippine economy has shown resilience in the face of global market uncertainties.

"While we are not completely insulated from these external shocks, we can withstand further pressures if we continue to be vigilant and maintain confidence in our country," he said.

The Fund Managers Association of the Philippines (FMAP) also expressed optimism that the Philippine banking system will survive the financial meltdown in the US.

FMAP, which has 44 member institutions and 100 investment professionals, urged the investment community to remain calm.

The group said the Philippines cannot be totally immune from the negative impact of the crisis but its possible effects on the country would be minimal.

"Though volatility may persist, we are confident of the sound macro fundamentals of the Philippine economy and the resiliency of the Philippine financial markets," FMAP said. - Paolo Romero With Iris Gonzales (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Bush poised to talk about economic crisis

WASHINGTON - President Bush is ready to make a statement to the nation about the crisis in the credit markets that has caused substantial sell-offs on Wall Street.
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Bush a week ago signed a $700 billion bailout bill into law. In advance of what is expected to be reassuring words from the president, the Dow Jones industrials futures plunged 185 points ahead of the opening bell Friday.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday night that the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation all have the necessary tools to deal with the problem. Bush will deliver his remarks from the White House Rose Garden.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow; SUBS last graf to correct spelling of Corporation; Bush statement skedded for 10:25 a.m. EDT. Moving on general news and financial services.)

Iran escapes sanctions in new UN resolution

Six world powers handed the UN Security Council a draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program�last night�after the United States, facing stiff Russian opposition, failed to secure agreement for new sanctions. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff of the United States, which like European powers favours more sanctions, said the draft, calling on Iran to comply with previous resolutions demanding it suspend uranium enrichment, was an important "show of unity." Russia said it was not a time to consider new...

source

Lawmakers to tackle bailout plan again Friday

Congressional leaders will try again on Friday to save a $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan after talks broke down in acrimony against the backdrop of the nation's biggest-ever bank failure.
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As negotiations over the White House's unprecedented bailout scheme degenerated into chaos when a rival Republican plan emerged, the U.S. authorities shut down Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan bank, and sold its assets.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, who has played a key role in talks over the bailout plan, said negotiations would continue on Friday, but with no sign that Republicans in the House of Representatives would take part.

He said he hoped President George W. Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain could convince them to join the talks, where Senate and House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the Treasury Department were working together and "there aren't huge differences."

"I can't believe that House Republicans are going to continue to defy George Bush or that John McCain isn't going to try to help," said. "There is optimism."

Senior Democrats had said after the meeting that McCain gave the impression he backed the new plan, but the McCain campaign denied that he had endorsed anything.

U.S. stock futures, the dollar and Asian share markets all fell, while Treasuries rose reflecting heightened anxiety over Washington's efforts to contain the 13-month old credit crisis.

"The Congress doesn't really want the plan -- no one really wants the plan, but the alternative is too bad to contemplate," said Jan Lambregts, head of Asia research with Rabobank Global Financial Markets in Hong Kong.

Central banks in Japan, Australia and Switzerland, the euro area and Britain were back in action, pumping more cash into money markets, rattled by news of another bank failure and the bailout plan's setback.

The third-largest U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Thursday it bought the deposits of Washington Mutual Inc, which has seen its market value virtually wiped out because of massive amounts of bad mortgages. The government said there would be no impact on WaMu's depositors and customers. JPMorgan said it would be business as usual on Friday morning.

Had a bailout deal been reached in Congress, it might have helped the savings and loan, founded in Seattle in 1889. Efforts to find a buyer for WaMu have faltered over concerns whether the government would reach a deal to buy its toxic mortgages.

The upheaval in Washington comes after a month of turbulence marked by the government's takeover of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bailout of insurer AIG and the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

At one point, U.S. lawmakers had appeared close to an agreement on the bailout, lifting world stock markets and sending the dollar higher.

But an emergency White House meeting between Congressional leaders, Bush, McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama "devolved into a contentious shouting match," according to the McCain campaign's statement.

At the heart of the controversy was a new proposal by House Republicans which would scrap the legislation that had been crafted so far by the Treasury and lawmakers in favor of a rival mortgage insurance plan, put forward by conservative Republicans.

The conservative group's plan calls for the U.S. government to offer insurance coverage for the roughly half of all mortgage-backed securities that it does not already insure.

The architects of the original plan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, rushed to Capitol Hill for late night meetings to urge House Republicans to get back on track.

As Thursday's meeting began, Bush warned, "We're in a serious economic crisis in the country if we don't pass a piece of legislation."

Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said before the Bush meeting that the deal would give the money to the U.S. Treasury in installments rather than a $700 billion lump sum the Bush administration wanted.

The enormity of the deal, which would cost every man, woman and child in the United States about $2,300, led many lawmakers to ask Paulson during two days of rancorous hearings this week to take the cash in installments.

The bailout exceeds total lending by the International Monetary Fund since its inception after World War Two. The IMF has loaned $506.7 billion since 1947 to countries in crisis as far flung as Argentina, Britain, Turkey and South Korea.

Frank also said the deal would allow the government to take part-ownership of banks and ban companies that sell toxic assets to the government from paying massive "golden parachutes" to executives being fired.

The swirl of political theater and meetings in Washington followed fresh turbulence in the world economy.

Orders for costly U.S. manufactured goods plunged in August, new-home sales hit a 17-year low, while new claims for jobless benefits shot up last week.

Top U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co, widely seen as a bellwether of the U.S. economy, issued a profit warning, citing "unprecedented weakness and volatility" in the financial services market.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, said on Friday it was cutting 1,100 jobs or 4 percent of its total workforce, because of the global financial crisis.

The crisis reverberated in Amsterdam and Brussels, where Fortis NV, the Belgian-Dutch financial services group, denied a rumor the Dutch central bank had asked a Fortis rival to support the company's liquidity position.

Fortis shares sank as much as 21 percent to 14-year lows.

In Asia, hundreds of people lined up outside the Hong Kong branches of the Bank of East Asia Ltd, some sleeping there overnight, to withdraw their savings. source

Lawmakers to tackle bailout plan again Friday

Congressional leaders will try again on Friday to save a $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan after talks broke down in acrimony against the backdrop of the nation's biggest-ever bank failure.
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As negotiations over the White House's unprecedented bailout scheme degenerated into chaos when a rival Republican plan emerged, the U.S. authorities shut down Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan bank, and sold its assets.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, who has played a key role in talks over the bailout plan, said negotiations would continue on Friday, but with no sign that Republicans in the House of Representatives would take part.

He said he hoped President George W. Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain could convince them to join the talks, where Senate and House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the Treasury Department were working together and "there aren't huge differences."

"I can't believe that House Republicans are going to continue to defy George Bush or that John McCain isn't going to try to help," said. "There is optimism."

Senior Democrats had said after the meeting that McCain gave the impression he backed the new plan, but the McCain campaign denied that he had endorsed anything.

U.S. stock futures, the dollar and Asian share markets all fell, while Treasuries rose reflecting heightened anxiety over Washington's efforts to contain the 13-month old credit crisis.

"The Congress doesn't really want the plan -- no one really wants the plan, but the alternative is too bad to contemplate," said Jan Lambregts, head of Asia research with Rabobank Global Financial Markets in Hong Kong.

Central banks in Japan, Australia and Switzerland, the euro area and Britain were back in action, pumping more cash into money markets, rattled by news of another bank failure and the bailout plan's setback.

The third-largest U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Thursday it bought the deposits of Washington Mutual Inc, which has seen its market value virtually wiped out because of massive amounts of bad mortgages. The government said there would be no impact on WaMu's depositors and customers. JPMorgan said it would be business as usual on Friday morning.

Had a bailout deal been reached in Congress, it might have helped the savings and loan, founded in Seattle in 1889. Efforts to find a buyer for WaMu have faltered over concerns whether the government would reach a deal to buy its toxic mortgages.

The upheaval in Washington comes after a month of turbulence marked by the government's takeover of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bailout of insurer AIG and the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

At one point, U.S. lawmakers had appeared close to an agreement on the bailout, lifting world stock markets and sending the dollar higher.

But an emergency White House meeting between Congressional leaders, Bush, McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama "devolved into a contentious shouting match," according to the McCain campaign's statement.

At the heart of the controversy was a new proposal by House Republicans which would scrap the legislation that had been crafted so far by the Treasury and lawmakers in favor of a rival mortgage insurance plan, put forward by conservative Republicans.

The conservative group's plan calls for the U.S. government to offer insurance coverage for the roughly half of all mortgage-backed securities that it does not already insure.

The architects of the original plan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, rushed to Capitol Hill for late night meetings to urge House Republicans to get back on track.

As Thursday's meeting began, Bush warned, "We're in a serious economic crisis in the country if we don't pass a piece of legislation."

Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said before the Bush meeting that the deal would give the money to the U.S. Treasury in installments rather than a $700 billion lump sum the Bush administration wanted.

The enormity of the deal, which would cost every man, woman and child in the United States about $2,300, led many lawmakers to ask Paulson during two days of rancorous hearings this week to take the cash in installments.

The bailout exceeds total lending by the International Monetary Fund since its inception after World War Two. The IMF has loaned $506.7 billion since 1947 to countries in crisis as far flung as Argentina, Britain, Turkey and South Korea.

Frank also said the deal would allow the government to take part-ownership of banks and ban companies that sell toxic assets to the government from paying massive "golden parachutes" to executives being fired.

The swirl of political theater and meetings in Washington followed fresh turbulence in the world economy.

Orders for costly U.S. manufactured goods plunged in August, new-home sales hit a 17-year low, while new claims for jobless benefits shot up last week.

Top U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co, widely seen as a bellwether of the U.S. economy, issued a profit warning, citing "unprecedented weakness and volatility" in the financial services market.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, said on Friday it was cutting 1,100 jobs or 4 percent of its total workforce, because of the global financial crisis.

The crisis reverberated in Amsterdam and Brussels, where Fortis NV, the Belgian-Dutch financial services group, denied a rumor the Dutch central bank had asked a Fortis rival to support the company's liquidity position.

Fortis shares sank as much as 21 percent to 14-year lows.

In Asia, hundreds of people lined up outside the Hong Kong branches of the Bank of East Asia Ltd, some sleeping there overnight, to withdraw their savings. source