Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a scoring play during a time out against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the overtime period in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors, led by the league’s Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, drew first blood in the best-of-seven NBA Finals with a thrilling 108-100 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One on Thursday.

Curry put the Warriors ahead at 102-98 in extra time with two pairs of free throws before Harrison Barnes made it 105-98 with a three-pointer at a raucous Oracle Arena in Oakland, and there was no way back from there for Cleveland.

“We were able to scrap tonight,” Curry said courtside after the Warriors outscored the Cavaliers in shooting from the field by 44.3 percent to 41.5 with five of their players getting into double digits.

“The three-pointer in the corner (by Barnes) opened the game up and they scored just two points in overtime, that’s huge.”

The score was tied at 98-98 with 31.9 seconds left in regulation before Curry was denied a layup by a superb block from behind by Kyrie Irving, then LeBron James missed a jump shot for the Cavaliers with only 3.6 seconds remaining.

Curry had a team-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting while James weighed in with 44, his most ever in a Finals game, in a losing cause as the Cavaliers were outscored 10-2 in overtime.

Asked how his team had coped with the offensive threat posed by James, who is back in the NBA Finals for a fifth consecutive year, Curry replied: “These guys stick to the game plan. We know what he is about and what he’s capable of.

“Our guys guarded him all night and made it tough on him. This is a long series.”

James also added eight rebounds and six assists while big center Timofey Mozgov contributed 16 points for Cleveland.

Adding further concern for Cleveland, however, was the sight of their inspirational All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving limping off the court during overtime after an awkward fall.

Irving had been in dazzling form for his team at both ends of the court with 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

With James sparking the offense and Tristan Thompson spearheading a stifling defense, the Cavaliers initially outshot the Warriors from the floor and they streaked 14 points in front before ending the first quarter with a 29-19 lead.

Marreese Speights, off the bench, and Curry, who poured in a couple of threes, inspired a stirring fightback in the second quarter as Golden State twice moved five points ahead before Cleveland took a slender 51-48 advantage into halftime.

A running bank shot by Irving early in the third gave the Cavaliers a seven-point cushion but the Warriors, roared on by increasingly vocal fans, clawed back to end the quarter tied at 73-73, and set up a gripping finale.

Game Two is Sunday in Oakland.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Rescue workers hold a moment of silence at a ceremony to mark the seventh day since the Eastern Star went down in the Jianli section of Yangtze River, Hubei province, China, June 7, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Chinese officials, rescuers and family members gathered in mourning on Sunday for those lost on a cruise ship which capsized during a storm in the Yangtze River, as the death toll from the disaster reached 431, with 11 still missing.

Only 14 survivors, one of them the captain, have been found after the ship carrying 456 overturned in a freak tornado on Monday night in Jianli in Hubei province. Most of the passengers were elderly tourists.

The four-storey ship was righted and raised on Friday, allowing rescuers onto to it to clear away debris, break down cabin doors and look for bodies. The river is being swept to as far away as Shanghai looking for the missing.

Government spokesman Hu Kaihong told reporters that DNA tests were being carried out to identify the bodies.

Sunday marks seven days since the Eastern Star went down, and according to Chinese tradition this a key date on which to mourn the dead.

State television showed rescue workers and government officials standing on a barge facing the battered boat, removing their hats and bowing their heads, as surrounding boats sounded their horns.

At separate locations along the river, emotional family members also got together to burn joss sticks and make offerings of food to the spirits of the deceased.

More than 1,400 relatives have come to Jianli, with many expressing frustration at the lack of information from the government. On Friday, one burst into a just-concluded news conference, publicly accusing the government of treating its people like enemies.

The government says that it is doing everything possible to help the relatives, including providing free accommodation and medical services, and Vice Premier Ma Kai has been dispatched to meet family members personally.

Some relatives, speaking to foreign reporters in the presence of officials, praised the government’s efforts.

“It made me feel incredibly warm. When he shook my hand and said a few words to me, told us to keep on going. I felt that he didn’t seem like a political leader at all. He was so genial. He was like my own father,” Wang Hua, 42, who lost both parents on the ship, told Reuters of her meeting with Ma.

Major state newspapers on Sunday carried the same lengthy story by the official Xinhua news agency on their front pages, headlined “Bearing great responsibility to the people” and detailing the government’s efforts.

“In the midst of disaster, we are all of one heart, the whole nation helping each other, staunchly moving forward,” it wrote.

The company which operated the ship has apologized for the disaster and said it would “fully” cooperate with the investigation. Beijing has pledged there would be “no cover-up”.

Police have detained the captain and chief engineer for questioning as part of the investigation. An initial probe found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board.

The disaster has now caused a higher toll than the sinking of a ferry in South Korea in April 2014 that killed 304 people, most of them children on a school trip. It is China’s worst shipping catastrophe in seven decades.

(Additional reporting by Paul Carsten in BEIJING; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) moves the ball against the defense of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving had surgery on Saturday to repair his fractured left kneecap, a procedure described as successful by the National Basketball Association team.

Irving underwent surgery as the injury-depleted Cavs prepared to face the Golden State Warriors in Game Two of the NBA Finals on Sunday.

Already trailing after losing Game One of the best-of-seven series, the Cavs will be without two of their three regular starters, Irving and the previously injured Kevin Love, and must depend even more on four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James.

“Irving’s return to basketball activity is projected to be in three to four months and appropriate updates will be issued as he moves through the recovery process,” the Cavaliers said in a statement.

Irving, 23, who has been bothered with tendinitis in the same knee for the past six weeks. He incurred the fracture in an awkward fall during overtime of Game One on Thursday.

He had 23 points in the game along with seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots. His timely block from behind on Stephen Curry late in the fourth quarter helped the Cavs force overtime.

Despite the absence of Irving and Love, four-time NBA most Valuable Player James, who had a game-high 44 points in the loss, is nonetheless talking up his team’s chances.

“The good thing about it, we’ve been in this position before,” James said.

“It’s something that’s not new to us. So next man up, and guys will be ready for the challenge.”

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Gene Cherry)

Tourists wearing masks to prevent themselves from contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) arrive at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, June 7, 2015. REUTERS/PARK JI-HYE/NEWS1

South Korean authorities will track the cellphones of hundreds of people under quarantine to prevent the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and reported a fifth death in the outbreak, with the number of infections rising to 64.

The government, criticized over its lack of transparency in handling the outbreak, bowed to public pressure on Sunday and identified 24 health facilities where infections took place or MERS patients visited.

It reported 14 confirmed new cases of MERS, adding to the largest number outside of the Middle East.

“Please understand this is an unavoidable measure for the sake of our neighbors and families,” Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told a news briefing in the central city of Sejong, where he announced the plan to track the mobile phones of people under quarantine to ensure they stay at home.

Over 2,300 people in South Korea were under quarantine as of Sunday, some in health care facilities but most at home, including an entire village of about 105 people in the southwest after a resident who visited a hospital where the country’s first patient with MERS was treated turned out to be infected.

Late last month, a South Korean man broke a voluntary house quarantine and flew to Hong Kong and then traveled to mainland China, where he tested positive for MERS.

South Korea’s outbreak of the often-deadly MERS virus, first reported on May 20, has prompted fear and the closure last week of more than 1,000 schools, with thousands of tourists cancelling plans to visit the country.

Seoul’s two wealthy Seocho and Gangnam districts that include a hospital where the second-most MERS cases in the country occurred will close kindergartens and schools, about 120 in total, until Wednesday, a Seoul education official said.

“We can absolutely control this because all MERS cases in our country are infections in health facilities, not spreading into communities,” Choi said.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. But MERS has a much higher death rate at 38 percent, according to World Health Organization figures.

EXPERTS PREDICT FALLOFF SOON

Choi, who is also the country’s finance minister, said there was no need for a supplementary budget to help the country’s economy weather the outbreak. With the economy already flagging, the MERS outbreak is adding pressure for another interest rate cut, possibly as soon as the central bank’s next policy meeting on June 11.

The latest fatality was a 75-year-old man who had been in the same Seoul hospital emergency room where a total of 17 people, including two medical staff, are believed to have been infected with MERS, South Korea’s health ministry said.

The WHO said on Friday there was no evidence to suggest sustained human to human transmission in the community.

“Even if this arrives in communities, it’s very unlikely to become pandemic,” said Eom Joong-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University. “If we prevent transmissions between hospitals, we will see only episodic cases from now on.”

Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, added that measures being taken such as isolating suspected cases and monitoring those in contact with patients should stop the outbreak.

“There will be a time lag, since the disease takes some days to develop, but if the proper measures are being taken, there should soon be a large falloff in the number of new cases,” he said.

Health experts say the worst-case scenario is the virus changes and spreads rapidly, as SARS did in 2002-2003 when it killed about 800 people around the world.

(Additional reporting by Choonsik Yoo, Jack Kim, Sohee Kim; editing by Jeremy Laurence and Jason Neely)

Ang paglapat ng first aid sa UNTV News and Rescue team sa biktima ng motorcycle accident sa Davao City nitong madaling araw ng Lunes. (UNTV News)

LAGUNA, Philippines — Dalawang motorsiklo ang nagkabanggan sa bahagi ng national highway sa Barangay Sto. Niño, Biñan City pasado alas singko ng hapon nitong Linggo.

Nagtamo ng sugat sa mukha at baba at bukol sa noo si Nestor Geray, 31 anyos, samantalang nagtamo naman ng gasgas sa kaliwang hita at braso si Dionisio Umandam na 23 anyos.

Nilapatan ng pangunang lunas ng grupo ang mga sugat ng mga biktima katuwang ang Binan Emergency Rescue Unit.

Dinala sa Biñan Hospital si Geray dahil sa mga tinamong sugat sa katawan at minor hematoma.

Samantala, sa Davao City, nilapatan ng paunang lunas ng UNTV News and Rescue team ang driver ng motorsiklo na natumba dahil sa mabilis na pagmamaneho.

Nangyari ang aksidete badang alas 2 ng madaling araw ng Lunes sa harapan ng Don Manuel Elementary School sa Matina.

Nilinis ng grupo ang natamong galos sa kaliwang bahagi ng mukha at kaliwang paa ng driver na si Chard Corpuz.

Ayon sa mga nakakita, mabilis umano ang takbo ng motorsiklo kasabay ang isa pang motorsiklo nang bigla na lamang itong natumba.

Napag-alaman din na nakainom ng alak at walang suot na helmet ang biktima.

Matapos bigyan ng paunang lunas ng grupo ay tumanggi na itong magpadala sa hospital. (UNTV News)

FILE PHOTO: Presidential Spokesperson Sec. Edwin Lacierda and Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson ASec. Charles Jose (UNTV News)

MANILA, Philippines — Walang nakikita ang Malakanyang na pagbabago sa relasyon ng Pilipinas at China pagdating sa kalakalan at turismo sa kabila ng territorial dispute ng dalawang bansa sa West Philippine Sea.

Ito ang pahayag ng Malakanyang sa pagdiriwang ng ika-40 anibersaryo ng Philippine-China diplomatic relations.

Pahayag ni Presidential Spokesperson Sec. Edwin Lacierda, “In terms of tourism, we have a number of Filipinos going visiting China and we have also Chinese tourist visiting Philippines, we have also lot of trade relations with China.”

Batay sa datos ng Department of Tourism sa 1st quarter ng 2015, pang-apat ang China sa may malaking kontribusyon sa turismo sa bansa.

Ayon pa kay Sec. Lacierda, ang posisyon o paniniwala lamang sa isyu ng agawan ng teritoryo sa West Philippine Sea ang naging pagkakaiba ng dalawang bansa.

“Just to be clear, we have no conflict with the Chinese people. Our conflict for instance, are differences, are with the approach of the leadership in dealing with the South China Sea.”

Samantala, naniniwala ang Malakanyang na may maitutulong ang naiulat na pagdating sa bansa ng 300-year old Philippine map o ang tinatawag na Murillo-Velarde map sa arbitration case ng Pilipinas laban sa China.

Ani Lacierda, “I’m not in the position to weigh in on how the weight of that evidence. But certainly, it does help the Philippines when we present a map which shows the basis for saying that, for saying, one thing and together with our reliance on international law.”

Pinatutunayan umano ng naturang mapa na sakop ng Pilipinas ang Bajo de Masinloc.

Ayon naman sa Department of Foreign Affairs, pag-aaralan muna nila ang naturang “Mother of All Map”.

Saad ni ASec. Charles Jose, “Una, masasabi lang namin diyan, we are glad na itong map na to ay ngayon ay nasa kamay na isang Filipino. As to its value to the arbitration case na meron tayo ngayon, we defer to the legal team.” (NEL MARIBOJOC / UNTV News)

REUTERS FILE PHOTO: Reuters/Dado Ruvic

A massive breach of U.S. federal computer networks disclosed this week is the latest in a flood of attacks by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at grabbing personal data, industrial secrets and weapons plans from government and private computers.

The Obama administration on Thursday disclosed the breach of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management and said the records of up to 4 million current and former federal employees may have been compromised.

U.S. officials have said on condition of anonymity they believe the hackers are based in China, but Washington has not publicly blamed Beijing at a time when tensions are high over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China has denied involvement.

It was the second computer break-in in less than a year at the OPM, the federal government’s personnel office.

The first breach has been linked to earlier thefts of personal data from millions of records at Anthem Inc, the second largest U.S. health insurer, an attack also blamed on Chinese hackers, and Premera Blue Cross, a healthcare services provider.

Guidance Software, a cybersecurity firm, said the first signs of data “exfiltration” were originally detected with Einstein, a U.S. government intrusion detection system. That activity, it said, was eventually traced back to a machine under the control of Chinese intelligence.

“It’s a different form of Cold War at this point,” said Rob Eggebrecht, co-founder and chief executive of Denver-based InteliSecure, a private cybersecurity firm.

Eggebrecht said his firm had seen a spike in attacks on private company networks by Chinese actors over the past three months. The latest was a previously undisclosed breach at a U.S. pharmaceutical group, which cost the firm hundreds of millions of dollars in sensitive research and development work.

Eggebrecht declined to identify the firm, which he said only learned of the major breach within the last 72 hours.

“We’ve seen a huge uptick in opportunistic exfiltration of high-value data,” he said, adding that the attack on the pharma company involved malicious software installed together with the Chinese-language search engine Baidu.

“DIZZYING RATE”

Admiral James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a cyber conference at West Point military academy last month that U.S. adversaries like China and Russia were rapidly increasing their assaults on military networks.

“We’re hemorrhaging information at a dizzying rate, evidenced by the uncanny similarity of some of our potential adversaries’ new platforms to those we’ve been developing,” said Winnefeld.

China has in recent years introduced two new stealth fighters that analysts say bear a striking resemblance to the F-22 and F-35 built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Lockheed redoubled security efforts focused on suppliers after a “significant and tenacious” attack on its computer networks in 2011 that was enabled by lax security at a supplier.

U.S. senators have added $200 million in funding to their proposed fiscal 2016 budget to fund a detailed study of the cyber vulnerabilities of major weapons systems.

The move came after the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester told Congress that nearly every major weapons program tested in 2014 showed “significant vulnerabilities” to cyber attack, including misconfigured and unpatched software.

U.S. government officials and cyber analysts say Chinese hackers are using high-tech tactics to build massive databases that could be used for traditional espionage goals, such as recruiting spies, or gaining access to secure data on other networks.

The latest incident gives hackers access to a treasure trove of personal information, including birth dates, Social Security numbers, previous addresses, and security clearances.

All that data could help hackers identify information about specific targets, including potential passwords for websites that may be portals to information about weapons systems or other research data.

“They can dig down into that data and learn more about the individuals, what their hobbies are, what their vices are, what skeletons they have in their closet,” said Babak Pasdar, president and chief executive of Bat Blue Network, a cybersecurity firm.

He said he was involved in a recent case in which hackers gained access to private data of a website administrator by finding passwords on a public website linked to the person’s hobby.

“This empowers the malevolent cyber actor to target a huge number of people with phishing and other schemes to reel in information,” said one U.S. defense official. “The more targets you have, the more likely you are to score.”

(Editing by Doina Chiacu, Mark Trevelyan & Kim Coghill)

An avalanche on Mount Everest triggered by a major earthquake in Nepal killed at least eight people April 25, 2015. Above, yaks carrying mountaineering equipments return to base camp April 27, 2014. Reuters/Phurba Tenjing Sherpa

Nepali soldiers and police have recovered the bodies of 53 trekkers and villagers buried in avalanches set off by an earthquake in April, and were digging through snow and rocks with shovels and hoes on Monday for signs of more victims.

Search and rescue operations had been suspended in the village of Langtang, 60 km (40 miles) north of Kathmandu, last month as fresh avalanches buried some of the 128 bodies that had been recovered, putting rescue workers in danger.

Soldiers from the army’s disaster response unit resumed the search after the risk from avalanches abated and recovered 53 bodies including three of foreign trekkers over the weekend, the military said in a statement.

“It is still confusing whether all these 53 bodies are new or also included those that were washed away by the avalanche after being recovered earlier,” army spokesman Brigadier General Jagadish Chandra Pokharel told Reuters.

Uddhav Bhattarai, the most senior bureaucrat of Rasuwa district where Langtang is located, said scores of soldiers, joined by police and villagers were looking for more than a dozen trekkers and Nepalis missing since the April 25 earthquake.

Rasuwa, bordering Tibet, is one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake and another on May 12 which together claimed 8,773 lives in Nepal’s worst natural disaster on record.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Douglas Busvine, Robert Birsel)

Ang pagdulog ng Justice for Kentex Workers Alliance sa Office of the Ombudsman upang sampahan ng reklamo ang ilang opisyales ng DOLE at BFP officials. (JOYCE BALANCIO / UNTV News)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Inireklamo ng Justice for Kentex Workers Alliance sa Office of the Ombudsman ang ilang opisyal ng pamahalaan na umano’y dapat managot sa nangyaring trahedya sa pabrika ng tsinelas sa Valenzuela City na ikinamatay ng pitumpu’t dalawang manggagawa noong May 22.

Ang walong sinampahan ng administrative at criminal charges ay sina Department of Labor and Employment Sec. Rosalinda Baldoz, Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Mar Roxas, director ng DOLE-NCR na si Alex Avila, labor compliance officer ng DOLE-NCR na si Joseph Vedasto, director ng Bureau of Fire Protection na si Daniel Barayuga, NCR-BFP Director Sergio Soriano, Valenzuela City Marshall Mel Jose Lagan, at BFP Chief of Fire Safety Enforcement Section Ed Ocullam.

Ayon sa grupo, kailangan managot ni Sec. Baldoz dahil sa inisyung DOLE Certificate of Compliance na nagpapatunay na sumusunod sa occupational health and safety standards ang Kentex Manufacturing Corporation.

May pananagutan din umano ang DILG dahil hindi kaagad naglabas ng report ang Bureau of Fire Protection na may violation ang Kentex sa kanilang mga regulasyon.

Pahayag ng mga abogado ng biktima na si Atty. Remegio Saladero Jr., “Ang aming concern iyong national government agencies lamang dahil sa aming pananaw sila ay dapat maging responsible sa health and safety ng mga nangagagawa.”

Ayon sa abogado ng mga biktima na si Atty. Remegio Saladero Jr., mahigit limampung pamilya ang kinuhanan nila ng affidavit at sworn statement para sa reklamong ito.

Kabilang sa mga nag-reklamo ang company driver ng Kentex na si Danny.

Bagaman nakaligtas sa trahedya, humihingi pa rin si danny ng hustisya para sa lahat ng biktima.

“Dapat po ay managot at may makulong dahil kaming mga survivor namatayan din kami sa mga mahal sa buhay,” pahayag ng isang survivor.

Binabalak rin ng grupo sa pamumuno ni Atty. Saladero na magsampa ng criminal charges sa Valenzuela City Prosecutors Office o sa Department of Justice laban naman sa may ari ng pabrika.

Tiwala naman ang Malakanyang na masasagot ng mga miyembro ng gabinete ang naturang reklamo na inihain sa Ombudsman.

“What we are confident is that the Secretary of Labor and Employment, and Secretary of DILG Mar Roxas will be able to address those concerns,” pahayag ni Sec. Edwin Lacierda. (JOYCE BALANCIO / UNTV News)

Jun 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) shoots the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) in game two of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Ezra Shaw-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

REUTERS – The Cleveland Cavaliers let an 11-point lead slip in the fourth quarter but dug deep in overtime to beat Golden State 95-93 on Sunday and square the NBA Finals series at 1-1.

Matthew Dellavedova made a pair of free throws to put Cleveland ahead with 10 seconds to go in overtime and the injury-hit Cavs held on for the Game Two triumph.

James had scored 44 points in his team’s series opening loss and again carried the offensive burden with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for the Cavaliers, who lost All Star Kyrie Irving to a serious knee injury in Game One.

Irving had surgery on Saturday to repair his fractured left kneecap, a procedure described as successful by the team.

James said it have been a difficult time for the team.

“Very emotional win right here with everything we’ve been through,” he told reporters. “For us to tough it out like this (and) be able to come back and even the series is big time.”

Cleveland’s relentless defense held Golden State to 39 percent shooting and made it a forgettable night for regular season MVP Stephen Curry.

Curry had just 19 points on 5-for-23 shooting but he capped the home team’s comeback with a game-tying layup with eight seconds left in regulation that forced overtime.

Curry then put Golden State ahead 93-92 with a pair of free throws with half a minute left in the extra session but then fluffed a potential game-tying shot and committed a turnover on the Warriors last two possessions.

“Shots I normally make, I knew as soon as they left my hand that they were off,” Curry said. “That doesn’t usually happen. One game isn’t going to alter my confidence.”

Klay Thompson led Golden State’s offense with 34 points.

Cleveland had key additional key performances from Timofey Mozgov (17 points, 11 rebounds) J.R. Smith (13 points) and Dellavedova, who led the defensive stand against Curry.

“He’s a courageous kid that plays right,” said Cavaliers coach David Blatt of Dellavedova.

“He played big tonight, and we needed him to.”

Game Three is on Tuesday in Cleveland. The opening two games have both gone to overtime, a first for the NBA Finals.

(Reporting by Jahmal Corner; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

FILE PHOTO

From the Department of Labor and Employment

Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac has ordered the cancellation of the license of Mid-South Ship and Crew Management, Inc. for collecting placement fees from two seafarers. There is total prohibition on the charging or collecting placement fees from seafarers. Any amount collected by the said agency is illegal.

The cancellation arose from the complaints of two jobseekers who alleged that they applied with Mid-South Ship and Crew Management, Inc. and was assured employment as fishermen for a Taiwan-based fishing vessel. They paid placement fee of P30,000 and P60,000, respectively, but they were not issued corresponding official receipts.

The fishermen allegedly signed employment contracts with duration of two years for a monthly salary of $250.00. They were subsequently deployed but returned to the country after working for three and a half months, complaining of maltreatment and unpaid salaries.

Cacdac said there is total prohibition on the charging or collecting placement fees from seafarers. Any amount charged and collected by the said agency is illegal and deemed excessive.

Section 2 (a) of Rule II, Part V of the 2003 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers prohibits manning agencies from charging, imposing, or accepting directly or indirectly, any amount of money, goods or services, or any fee or bond for any purpose from an applicant seafarer.

Cacdac said that as a consequence of the penalty of cancellation of license, the officers and directors of the agency at the time of the commission of the offenses were disqualified from recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers.

Cacdac also ordered Mid-South Ship and Crew Management, Inc. and its surety company to refund to the complainants the amounts representing the fees illegally collected from them.

dole.gov.ph

FILE PHOTO: Si DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima sa pag-ocular inspection sa pinangyarihan ng Mamasapano incident noong January 25, 2015. (UNTV News)

MANILA, Philippines — Pinalawig pa hanggang sa susunod na buwan ang imbestigasyon ng DOJ panel sa Mamasapano incident.

Ayon kay Sec. Leila de Lima, binigyan pa niya ng isang buwang palugit ang panel upang tapusin ang kanilang imbestigasyon at isumite ang ikalawang bahagi ng kanilang ulat.

Una nang inirekomenda ng panel sa kanilang report nitong nakaraang Abril na kasuhan ang syamnapung miyembro ng MILF, BIFF at private armed groups dahil sa pagkamatay ng apatnapu’t apat na miyembro ng PNP Special Action Force.

Kabilang sa pinag aaralan ng special panel ang karagdagang kaso laban sa hindi pa pinangalanang mga suspek. (RODERIC MENDOZA / UNTV News)

PDAF Scam Whistleblower Marina Sula (UNTV News)

MANILA, Philippines — Nagsimulang mameke ng pirma at mga dokumento si Marina Sula noong 2003 o 2004 hanggang 2011.

Bagama’t alam ni Sula na labag sa batas ang kanyang ginagawa, pinili niyang manatili bilang empleyado ni Janet Lim Napoles noon.

Ito ang naging pahayag ni Sula sa pagpapatuloy ng pagdinig sa mosyong makapagpiyansa ni dating APEC Partylist Representative Edgar Valdez sa 5th Division ng Sandiganbayan.

Nang tanungin ng isa sa mga associate justice kung bakit hindi siya tumutol o umalis sa kumpanya ni Napoles kahit alam iyang ilegal o isang krimen ang kaniyang gawain, sinabi ni sula na hirap na siyang makakita ng ibang pagkakakitaan noon dahil sa kaniyang edad.

Ayon kay Sula, nagtiwala rin siya sa pangako sa kanila ni Napoles at sumunod lamang umano siya sa ipinag-utos nito.

Dagdag pa rito ang sinasabi ni Napoles na may koneksyon siya sa matataas na opisyal ng gobyerno.

Si Sula ang isa umano sa mga pinagkatiwalaan ni Napoles na magrehistro ng 27 non-government organizations at maging presidente ng isa sa mga ito — ang Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. o MAMFI.

Kabilang din umano sa mga inutos sa kaniya ni Napoles ang pagproseso ng mga bank transaction ng mga NGO na ito at ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno.

Ayon naman sa abugado ni Napoles na si Atty. Stephen David, dahil sa mga naging testimonya ni Sula sa korte, lumalabas na mismong isa sa mga PDAF scam whistle-blowers ang umaming hindi sila pinilit ni Napoles.

Pahayag ng abogado ni Janet Lim Napoles Atty. Stephen David, “Hindi naman pala totoo na inuutusan sila ni Mrs. Napoles, they can do it on their own.”

Pinabulaanan din ng kampo ng mga akusado ang sinabi ni Sula na sinusunod lang nila ang ipinag-uutos ni Napoles na pamemeke ng pirma at mga dokumento.

“Gusto nila yung ginagawa nila. In fact. kumikita sila,” dagdag pa ni Atty. David.

Balak namang ibilang ng defense panel sa kanilang isusumiteng memorandum sa korte ang umano’y inconsistencies o paiba-ibang testimonya ng testigong si Sula kaugnay ng hindi tugmang mga pahayag nito sa halaga ng natanggap na komisyon mula sa PDAF. (ROSALIE COZ / UNTV News)

People use computers at a job fair in Detroit, Michigan March 1, 2014.
REUTERS/JOSHUA LOTT

High-tech extortion schemes nearly doubled in the first three months of 2015, while attacks on Adobe Flash software used in streaming media and casual game sites quadrupled, a global report said on Tuesday.

Intel Corp’s McAfee Labs Threats Report for May found that ransomware surged 165 percent in the first quarter, rebounding from a slight dip earlier in 2014 when police agencies worldwide staged a coordinated crackdown to knock out a major ransomware network.

Ramsomware is malware which cybercriminals use to seize control of computer and phones when unwitting users click on an infected link or download a tainted document, locking them out of all access to their devices unless they make ransom payments.

The scheme, which first took root in Russia last decade, has spread globally in the last four years. Victims typically face extortion demands of anywhere from $150 to $500 to regain access to the encrypted files.

Newer, “sleeper” versions that seize control of storage drives when data backups are made are on the rise, said Raj Samani, chief technology officer for the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Intel Security found 700,000 samples of ransomware on computers, phones and networks of its customers in the latest quarter, Samani said in an interview.

Ransomware has evolved using “crime as a service” business techniques in which coders lease out variants of the malware to uncounted thousands of criminals who use them to launch virtual extortion schemes in return for a cut of the action, he said.

Meanwhile, Adobe Flash malware grew 317 percent in the first quarter. Intel Security spotted 200,000 samples of Flash malware among its customer base of hundreds of millions of phone and computer users worldwide. This malicious code takes advantage of out-of-date versions of the widely used Adobe software.

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after winning game three of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland won 96-91. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James turned in another virtuoso playoff performance in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a thrilling 96-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

James had a game-high 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists in front of a raucous crowd of red T-shirt-clad fans, as Cleveland grabbed the upper hand in the championship series against the top-seeded Warriors.

Cleveland led by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter but were put to the test as Golden State clawed back within a point with under three minutes remaining.

The league’s reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry had a horrible start to the game for Golden State but used a strong fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 27 points.

But Curry made a costly error with two minutes to play and his team down by four points when he sent a behind-the-back pass out of bounds with no team mate in sight.

On Cleveland’s ensuing possession, James drained a three-pointer that put the Cavaliers ahead 87-80 and brought the delirious towel-waving crowd to their feet.

Golden State, with Curry finally finding a groove, looked ready to take a stab at tying the game when they were awarded the ball with 17 seconds to play only to have game officials reverse a call and give Cleveland the ball.

From there, James drained a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

The Cavs, who were already heavy underdogz before losing All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to a knee injury in the opener, are suddenly two wins away from a maiden NBA title and ending the city’s 51-year drought in major sports championships..

Game Four is on Thursday in Cleveland.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford/Ian Ransom)

Boxer Manny Pacquiao waves to the crowds during a motorcade in Manila May 13, 2015, after arrving from Las Vegas.
REUTERS/ROMEO RANOCO

Ed Picson can justifiably feel proud of his work at the Southeast Asian Games this week after the executive director of the Philippines amateur boxing board witnessed his 10-strong team of fighters all take home medals from Singapore.

Tasked with finding the archipelago’s generation next, Picson was brimming with pride as his country’s boxers cut a swathe through the region’s best pugilists to top the medal table with five golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

“I am very happy with our performance this week,” a beaming Picson told Reuters in the shadow of the Expo Hall grandstand where his nation’s fans cheered on their favorite fighters.

“We brought 10 boxers here, mandated by the rules, that is six men and four women. Eight of them reached finals and the two that didn’t will go home with bronze medals, so we couldn’t ask for more.

“The SEA Games is very crucial when you experience the groundswell of support for athletes in this regional competition and it gives you a sense of being on the international stage,” he added.

“It’s very important for them to be exposed … to be in such competitions with a high profile so that when we are in the bigger tournaments ahead they won’t feel so anxious.”

The name Manny Pacquiao is synonymous with boxing in the Philippines, the eight-weight division world champion having shaped the landscape of the sport in the country for almost two decades.

Picson believes it is a positive influence.

“Manny Pacquiao inspires everybody in the Philippines, especially boxers,” he said.

“He’s a member of our board, by the way, a director of the ABAP. He’s very supportive, he talks about the boxers and talks to them whenever there’s an opportunity and obviously the boys and girls look up to him.

“They are very proud that when we are in far flung countries like Uzbekistan or Mongolia and when they see us wearing Philippine jackets or shirts, invariably they address us as ‘Pacquiao’.

“Yes, they are big shoes to fill but we’re proud of the association and we would like to be able to show him that he has inspired our boxers.”

CREATING NAMES

One such boxer inspired by Pacquiao was welterweight gold medalist Eumir Felix Marcial, a junior world champion from 2011, who claimed a knockout victory with a devastating left hook to the jaw of Singapore’s Jie Wei Tay in their bout.

The 19-year-old looks every inch a world class boxer in the making, his excellent ringcraft, balanced footwork, devastating power and southpaw stance ensuring he emulates his “idol” in more ways than simply their shared nationality.

“We are hoping our fighters can step up and create names for themselves in the international arena. This group we have is a very potent one,” Picson added.

“Our average age is 23 and that includes three who are 28 or 29. But it is the young ones we are banking on to make a splash on the international scene. We are very optimistic and Marcial is one of those we expect a lot from.”

Picson remains confident boxing in his homeland can withstand the rising popularity of mixed martial arts, believing those who start off in his sport tend to remain loyal.

“Boxing has been ingrained in the Filipino mindset for decades or maybe even centuries,” he said.

“It has always been a sport Filipinos love and I don’t think that the rise of MMA will affect it. As a general rule, people will start with boxing and hopefully, most of those who start with the sport will continue.”

Picson hopes that the SEA Games success will now give his young fighters a platform to move on to bigger and better things but admits it can sometimes be difficult for up-and-coming athletes in the Philippines to gain recognition.

“Aside from Pacquiao, it’s sad to say that other world ranked boxers did not get the attention they deserve. Hopefully, that will change because the usual process is ‘win first then we support you’ but I think that is a backwards way of doing it,” he added.

“You need to support those who are on the way up not those who are already there because they don’t need it.”

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)

A tourist wearing a mask to prevent contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) uses her mobile phone at Myeongdong shopping district in central Seoul, South Korea, June 10, 2015.
REUTERS/KIM HONG-JI

An outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) forced South Korea to cut interest rates on Thursday in the hope of softening the blow to an economy already burdened by slack demand, as authorities reported 14 new cases.

Worry in South Korea about the disease has been reflected across the region with dozens of suspected cases being tested in Hong Kong, though none confirmed, and many thousands of people cancelling trips to South Korea.

South Korea’s outbreak, with 122 cases and nine deaths, is the largest outside Saudi Arabia and began last month when a 68-year-old South Korean businessman brought the disease back from a trip to the Middle East.

He was diagnosed with MERS on May 20 and all subsequent infections have been traced to him, and happened in health facilities.

President Park Geun-hye has put off a trip to the United States to deal with the disease as the total number of cases rises daily.

The central bank of Asia’s fourth biggest economy said it had to act and cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to a record-low 1.50 percent.

“We decided to cut rates today in a pre-emptive move to contain the economic fallout from MERS,” Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol told a media briefing.

Economic policymakers were already under pressure to stimulate the economy as weak global demand and a strong won have dented exports and discouraged spending by consumers and companies.

One positive sign was a fall in the number of South Korea’s schools and universities that have closed.

The total dipped to 2,431 on Thursday from about 2,700 the previous day after a joint team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and South Korea recommended that schools be reopened as they were unlikely to spread the disease.

“We all need to put behind us excessive fear and psychological withdrawal over MERS and try to go back to normal daily lives next week so we can minimize the impact on the economy,” Kim Moo-sung, who heads the ruling Saenuri party, said at a party meeting.

HONG KONG ALERT

MERS was first identified in humans in 2012. Most of the global cases, which number 1,271 according to WHO data, and at least 448 related deaths, have been in the Middle East.

But memories are fresh in Asia of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which emerged in 2002-2003 and killed about 800 people worldwide.

MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that caused SARS. It is more deadly than SARS but does not spread as easily, at least for now.

Its symptoms include fever and a cough.

In Hong Kong, a clinic said it was testing two people who had both recently traveled to South Korea. Thirty-one people in Hong Kong who suspected they might have caught the disease have tested negative.

Hong Kong issued a “red alert” advisory on Tuesday against non-essential travel to South Korea while Singapore Airlines said it would waive fees for customers who want to cancel or rebook flights to South Korea.

Despite the fears, only one case has been reported outside South Korea in the current outbreak, that of a South Korean man who traveled to China via Hong Kong after defying a suggestion from health authorities in South Korea that he stay in voluntary quarantine.

China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the country was fully capable of containing any outbreak.

“There is no need to panic,” the Xinhua news agency quoted the center’s deputy head, Feng Zijian, as saying.

Among the new South Korean cases was a pregnant woman who contracted the virus in an emergency ward that has been linked to other confirmed cases, the health ministry said.

The woman’s pregnancy would limit the scope of treatment available, but she was in stable condition, the ministry said. The woman’s parents had previously tested positive for MERS.

Another new patient was a police officer in the city of Pyeongtaek, where dozens of infections occurred, all linked to the first patient.

(Additional reporting by Anne Marie Roantree in HONG KONG and Christine Kim and Yeawon Choi in SEOUL, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel)

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James is closing in on what would be the greatest feat of an already storied NBA career after putting his Cleveland Cavaliers in position to end a half century of heartbreak for the city.

Five years after he was vilified in Cleveland for leaving the team for Miami in pursuit of championships, James has the Cavaliers two wins away from an upset victory over the top-seeded Golden State Warriors in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

“It was a bitter moment when I left the first time, but it’s a sweet moment here now that I’m back,” James told reporters on Wednesday a day before the Cavaliers host a pivotal Game Four.

“Both sides had an opportunity to kind of miss each other, and they say if it’s worth having and it’s supposed to be there, then it will always come back.”

When James, who grew up in nearby Akron, Ohio, infamously announced in 2010 that he was leaving the Cavaliers after seven years to sign with the Miami Heat, a 10-story-tall mural of him was promptly removed.

The image of James, his arms outstretched and head thrown back after doing his pregame powder toss, had dominated the Northeastern Ohio city’s skyline for years.

His decision to bolt for sunny Miami resulted in an immediate backlash as James was cast as a villain in a city that had once revered him.

Cavaliers supporters immediately took to the streets after James announced his plans on primetime TV, many burning his replica No. 23 jersey and throwing rocks at the giant billboard.

HOSTILE CROWD

And when James played his first game back in Cleveland as a member of the opposition, he was booed heartily throughout by a hostile crowd while he led his team to a blowout win.

But after winning two championships with Miami in four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, James felt a responsibility to be a leader, not just on the court but back in his home state.

“My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball,” James said last year in announcing his return to the Cavaliers. “I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”

Fans immediately embraced him and a new image of him now hangs in the same place as the old one, this one showing James from behind, again extending his arms outward as a puff of white powder lingers in the air. “Cleveland” is boldly displayed on the back of his jersey.

James has carried a relative cast of unknowns throughout the playoffs after injuries to a pair of key team mates, throwing aside his usual desire to be the most efficient player for one who is playing outside the box with a win-at-all-costs style.

His dominance on the court has the Cavaliers on the cusp of a maiden championship and the city drooling over the prospect of celebrating its first title since the 1964 Cleveland Browns of the National Football League.

“I’m happy to be back. I know the fans are excited and exuberant about me being back,” James, an 11-time NBA All-Star, said after practice.

“Not only just about me, this team, putting this team back in the position where they can compete and have something to talk about from our side, the basketball side.

“And it’s been pretty cool so far.”

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping in front of U.S. and Chinese national flags during a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing November 12, 2014. REUTERS/PETAR KUJUNDZIC

Differences between the United States and China over the South China Sea and cyber security should not be addressed by “microphone diplomacy” but in “a proper way” to allow for a successful U.S. visit by President Xi Jinping this year, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday.

Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Washington, said individual issues should not be allowed to overshadow the overall U.S.-China relationship and that common interests, including bilateral trade volume of $550 billion last year, “far outweigh” differences between the countries.

“Resorting to microphone diplomacy, or pointing fingers at each other, will not solve any problems,” Wu told a meeting on Capitol Hill to mark the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Congress’s U.S.-China Working Group.

“The right choice is to recognize our differences, respect each other and engage in real dialogue,” she said. “The choice we make today will decide the future of our two great nations, as well as the entire world.”

Wu was referring to disagreements between Washington and Beijing over China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea, which have raised fears of military confrontation, and a massive cyber attack on the U.S. government that U.S. officials have blamed on Chinese hackers.

China has called the hacking allegations irresponsible and says it has the right to build artificial islands in contested territory.

Wu said the two sides should use the annual meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue from June 22-24, and a U.S. visit this week of a top Chinese military official, “to articulate the outcome and deliverables” for Xi’s September visit to Washington.

“We need to address our differences in a proper way,” she told reporters.

Wu said she did not see any U.S.-China “tensions,” as the countries shared a common interest in peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and always discussed differences.

“We have no alternative but to succeed in the interests of our two nations and the world,” she said.

U.S. Representative Rick Larson, a co-founder of the bi-partisan Working Group, said that as the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China “cannot afford not to engage.”

At the same time, he called the South China Sea and “indications” that the cyber attack originated in China “very challenging” issues that could not be pushed to one side.

“We can’t mask those, we can’t hide from those,” he said.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Leslie Adler)

A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture.
REUTERS/KACPER PEMPEL/FILES

A cyber attack on the German Bundestag lower house of parliament reported last month is still stealing data and could force officials to spend millions of euros replacing the entire computer system, German media reported on Wednesday.

The online edition of news magazine Der Spiegel also quoted what it said were experts from an internal investigation saying there were indications that a Russian intelligence agency had staged the attack.

A spokesperson for the Bundestag could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate response from Moscow. Parliamentary and security sources in Berlin told Reuters that the reports were “plausible”.

Replacing more than 20,000 new computers could cost several million euros and take months, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and German television network ARD reported.

The media reports said that the hackers were still receiving data from the Bundestag computers.

“The trojans are still active,” the Spiegel online edition quoted a parliamentary source as saying, referring to “trojan” attacks where users are tricked into installing software that can steal data from their computers.

A parliamentary spokeswoman announced in May that unknown hackers had tried to get into the data network.

In January, German government websites, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s page, were hacked in an attack claimed by a group demanding Berlin end support for the Ukrainian government, shortly before their leaders were to meet.

(Reporting by Thorsten Severin and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Andrew Heavens)