passengers missing

A Philippine ferry with more than 700 people on board capsized during a typhoon and most are missing, officials said on Sunday.

Rescuers were trying to reach the scene where the MV Princess of Stars sank near Sibuyan island in the centre of the country but churning waves from Typhoon Fengshen made the crossing hazardous.

"The ship is upside down. We are waiting for rescuers but there are none so far. Our pump boats are all broken," Ricardo Aligno, a town councilor from the coastal village of San Fernando, told local radio.

The coast guard expected one of its ships to arrive in the area by early afternoon. The ferry sank about three kilometers from shore.

Local mayor Nanette Tansingco told radio that three survivors had been found.

But at least four others aboard are known to have died.

The bodies of two women and some children's' slippers were washed ashore. Before dawn on Sunday, some villagers heard warning sirens from the ship, which had 626 passengers and 121 crew on board.

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800 passengers stranded

Close to 800 passengers are stranded in ports of Bicol Friday as typhoon Frank (international codename Fengshen) battered the region and parts of the Visayas, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

Initial NDCC data showed that a total of 794 people were stranded in various ports in Bicol as public storm warning signal No. 3 was hoisted over some parts of the region.

NDCC said 153 are stranded in Matnog port while 30 others failed to sail home from Pilar in Sorsogon province. There were 244 people stranded in Tabaco City, Albay; 10 in Virac, Catanduanes; and 357 in Masbate province.

As of 11 a.m., weather bureau PAGASA said signal No. 3 has been raised in the provinces of Masbate, Sorsogon, Albay and Catanduanes in Luzon as well as in Samar provinces, Leyte and Biliran Island in the Visayas.

Signal No. 2 was hoisted over Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Southern Leyte, Burias Island, northern Cebu, Dinagat Island and Siargao Island.

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Asus P5W

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Pentax is taking its compact Optio W60, an update of its waterproof cameras, even deeper underwater to find customers.

Source: www.google.com

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Oil crosses 136 dollars

NEW YORK - Crude oil hit 136 dollars a barrel Friday for the first time in New York trade, jumping more than eight dollars in a day as the market responded to a sharp decline in the dollar.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, touched an all-time high of 136.62 dollars a barrel, up 8.83 dollars from Thursday's close.

That far outstripped its previous all-time peak of 135.09 dollars struck on on May 22.

The dollar slumped after the US government reported the US unemployment rate jumped unexpectedly by a half percentage point to 5.5 percent last month, the steepest increase in more than two decades.

The weakening dollar boosts oil prices because it makes crude relatively cheaper for buyers using other currencies, analysts said.

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

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Four hurt in Cavite LPG blast

Four members of a family were injured after a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder exploded inside their home in Rosario, Cavite, before dawn Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Edgar Rotero of the Cavite Police Provincial Office said Vigildo Bombita and his three sons identified as Niño, Bryan and Byron, were asleep on the second floor of their home when the LPG tank exploded around 1 a.m.

Rotero said the victims fell from the second floor after it collapsed because of the explosion's impact. Three other homes were affected by the explosion, police investigators said.

The victims were rushed to St. Martin's Hospital in Rosario town.

Rotero said Vigildo initially suspected that the explosion was caused by the air-conditioning unit. Police ordnance personnel, however, ruled out Vigildo's theory because the unit was still working properly.

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Las Piñas fire

Three people were hurt and 130 houses burned down when a fire broke out in Las Piñas City Saturday night.

Firefighters estimated that more than P3 million worth of property in Factor Compound in Barangay Almanza Uno were destroyed by the blaze.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire but they suspect that a lighted candle left unattended inside one of the houses may have sparked the fire.

The residents, however, suspect arson--they said the fire may have been deliberately set in order to drive them out of their homes.

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