Ecuadorean authorities signed on Monday (June 6), a 1.2 billion-dollar contract with Dubai’s DP World, for the construction of Ecuador’s first deep water port. Authorities from the Arab Emirates’s state company attended the signing in Quito, where the contract was finalised for the public-private endeavour involving the construction and 50 years’ of operation of the Posorja Port, connecting to the Panama Canal. Critics said the contract should have been awarded via a public tender, given […]
Other News
‘Warcraft’ movie director draws inspiration from ‘Rings’
When director Duncan Jones was tasked with translating the popular video game “Warcraft” into a studio film, he was inspired by filmmaker Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy saga “Lord of the Rings.” “Not everyone had read Tolkien who went and saw those films but (Jackson) crafted a film with interesting characters and a plot that’s engaged and people by the millions wanted to see more,” Jones told Reuters. “Hopefully we’ve done the same […]
‘Amadeus’ playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British playwright Peter Shaffer, who won an Oscar for his film adaptation of “Amadeus”, one of his most celebrated stage dramas, died on Monday aged 90, his agent said. “It is with great sorrow that we must announce the death of our friend and client, Sir Peter Shaffer CBE whilst on a visit to Ireland with friends and family,” Rupert Lord said on his agency’s website. Shaffer died at 5:30 […]
Thai man narrowly escapes toilet bowl snake attack
PATHUM THANI, Thailand (Reuters) — A Thai man narrowly escaped a snake attack on Sunday (June 5) as a cobra emerged from his toilet bowl in the second such incident reported in Thailand in about two weeks. Twenty-seven year old Pollapat Laokamnerdpetch told local media he spotted the cobra, popping its head out from the toilet bowl. After rescue officials were called in, the cobra managed to disappear in the toilet pipes. It took 30 […]
Will Smith and Lennox Lewis to be Muhammad Ali pallbearers
LOUISVILLE, United States (AFP) — Actor Will Smith and former boxing world champion Lennox Lewis will serve as pallbearers together with six other people during Muhammad Ali’s funeral Friday, a spokesman said. The charismatic Ali, a dazzling fighter and outspoken civil rights activist who became one of the 20th century’s towering figures, died Friday at age 74 after health problems complicated by a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Smith, who played the title role in […]
Saudi reform plan aims for revenue surge, salary clamp-down
Saudi Arabia plans to more than triple the government’s non-oil revenues and clamp down on public-sector salaries over the next five years, Saudi ministers said on Tuesday (June 7) as they described reforms designed to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil and build a sustainable future. The National Transformation Plan (NTP) aims to boost non-oil revenue to 530 billion riyals ($141 billion) by 2020, creating some 450,000 non-government jobs, according to comments by ministers and […]
Netflix to make first Indian series
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Netflix announced on Monday that it will produce its first original Indian series as it expands its global reach. The US online streaming company, responsible for hit political thriller “House of Cards”, said it would adapt Indian author Vikram Chandra’s best-selling novel “Sacred Games” into an online series. “I am confident that all the color and vitality and music of the fictional world I’ve lived with for so long will come […]
NBA: Will Finals bring more heartbreak for Cleveland?
by Jim SLATER CLEVELAND, United States (AFP) — Cleveland’s long-suffering sports fans, waiting since 1964 for a championship team in any major sport, welcome the NBA Finals to town hoping their Cavaliers can end the epic title drought. But defending champion Golden State leads two games to none in the best-of-seven series after a 110-77 romp Sunday over the same Cleveland squad the Warriors beat in last year’s finals. Golden State’s combined 48-point win margin […]
NBA: Stephen Curry says won’t play in Olympics
OAKLAND, United States (AFP) — NBA MVP Stephen Curry announced Monday he will not play in this summer’s Rio Olympics, stating he plans to skip the event in order to concentrate on his fitness. Curry, who at the weekend said he would wait until the end of the NBA playoffs before making a decision, said he had decided to withdraw from the USA’s preliminary squad after consulting with his family, advisors and team officials. “After […]
Bangkay ng 1 sa 3 taong natangay ng agos mula sa isang resort sa Laguna, natagpuan
MAJAYJAY, Laguna (Eagle News) — Natagpuan na ng mga awtoridad ang isa sa mga tatlong nawawala mula sa isang resort dito sa Majayjay, Laguna nitong Lunes, Hunyo 6. Nakita ang bangkay ng anim na taong gulang na si Christine Altea Alimania na residente ng Katapatan, Cabuyao, Laguna. Dalawa pa sa kanyang mga kasamahan na sina Vanessa Carillo Villar, 33 taong gulang, residente ng Guevara St. Dasmariñas Cavite at Bryan Alimania, 34 taong gulang ang pinaghahanap […]
Down’s syndrome ‘treated’ with green tea: study
by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — A chemical in green tea has been shown to improve cognitive ability in persons with Down’s syndrome, scientists and doctors said Tuesday. In a year-long clinical trial, the treatment led to improved scores on memory and behaviour tests, they reported in a study, published in the The Lancet Neurology. The positive impact remained six months after the trial ended. Brain scans revealed that the compound, called epigallocatechin gallate, […]
Boxing: How Ali’s ‘Thrilla’ left its mark on the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — A bustling shopping mall forms an unlikely monument to the “Thrilla in Manila”, but Muhammad Ali’s most brutal fight made its biggest impression on the minds of those who witnessed it and still speak of it with awe. The late Ali’s third and final meeting with Joe Frazier, in 1975, only went to Manila because Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos was hoping to gain popularity and prestige, three years after declaring martial […]
