By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
), is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila. - Source: Wikipedia
Taiwan and the Philippines are embroiled in a major diplomatic dispute after the Philippines coast guard fatally shot a Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters earlier this month.
Federal authorities have launched an investigation into a Saudi Arabian compound in Northern Virginia over suspicions its residents may be engaging in human trafficking.
The Spratlys and the Paracels would hardly seem to be worth fighting over. Consisting of a few small islands and a few dozen rock outcroppings, many of which are underwater at high tide, they lack a source of fresh water and have never been inhabited — until now.
The Pentagon's top general this week predicted that the U.S. pivot to Asia and increased support for alliances in the region will produce "friction" with China.
The current North Korean crisis has yet to play out. The regime could yet launch multiple medium-range missiles and conduct another nuclear-weapon test. However, naysayers already are concluding that a recent U.S. military demonstration of resolve was “provocative,” and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test has been postponed.
Ferdinand Marcos, the U.S.-backed Philippine dictator from 1965 to 1986, forced his leading military chiefs to dress and dance in drag at a 1973 birthday party planned by his wife, Imelda, newly released cables from a U.S. diplomat showed.
A Serbian nationalist assassinated Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. What should have been a local conflict in the Balkans triggered the World War I. The end result was millions dead, the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, and the subsequent rise of fascism and communism. An outbreak of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula today could lead to a similar, disastrous fate — World War III.
The World Health Organization has expressed concern that the Philippines is encouraging smoking by hosting one of the world's largest tobacco trade shows.
The Philippine Supreme Court temporarily halted the implementation of a law that provides state funding for contraceptives, legislation opposed by the dominant Roman Catholic Church but supported by reproductive health activists.
Chinese melodrama "Mystery" and veteran Filipino performers Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia were honored with the top prizes at the Asian Film Awards.
Henderson was a senior captain and the leading scorer on the 1989-90 Duke team that lost to UNLV in the national championship game. He averaged 18.5 points that year and scored 22.3 points in tournament play during that postseason.
Gunmen attacked a camp for a construction company in rural northern Nigeria, killing a guard and kidnapping seven foreign workers from Britain, Greece, Italy, Lebanon and the Philippines, authorities said Sunday, in the biggest kidnapping yet in a region under attack by Islamic extremists.
Thousands danced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds chanted in South Africa, carrying signs and candles. The Philippines held a 24-hour dance party. Scores of students in India gathered for a candlelight vigil.
At the witness table at Wednesday's Senate hearing on immigration reform sat the head of the labor union for immigration enforcement agents. Two seats away, at the same table, sat an illegal immigrant — testifying without fear of deportation thanks to President Obama's new policies.
Forty years ago, on Feb. 12, 1973, our nation started to welcome home 591 American prisoners of war, most of them from the infamous Hanoi Hilton POW camp. Some of the released prisoners had been held for up to nine years, and U.S. military doctors expected broken men to step off the C-141s landing at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Instead, they found fewer than 5 percent of the POWs suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
