Japan hit by 6.9-magnitude earthquake

TOKYO — A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's southern coast Tuesday, shaking a broad swath of the country and swaying buildings in downtown Tokyo.

No damage or injuries were immediately reported, and Japan's meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami.

The temblor hit at 12:25 p.m. local time (0325 GMT), with the epicenter near the Ogasawara Islands, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) south of the main Japanese island, the agency said. It struck at a depth of 300 miles (480 kilometers).

Japan's meteorological agency reported a magnitude of 6.9, however, the US Geological Survey said the quake was 6.6. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

The Ogasawara are known as the Bonin Islands outside of Japan.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In 1995, a quake of magnitude 7.2 killed 6,400 people in the western port city of Kobe. — AP

‘Salvaging’ survivor’s baby dies

MANILA, Philippines - It was just too much for her baby to take.

"Adeliza" was still recovering from 24 stab wounds and a gunshot wound in her right thigh when she suffered a miscarriage at a hospital on Monday.

She was in her fourth month of pregnancy.

The 23-year-old victim survived a brutal murder attempt by 2 policemen she considered friends.

After picking her up in a car from her house in Angono, Rizal, Adeliza said Police Officer 1 Atennor Mariquit and PO2 Mario Natividad suddenly wrapped her head with duct tape, and bound her hands and feet.

She was later led out of the vehicle, stabbed repeatedly, and thrown in a ravine in Pagsanjan, Laguna. One of the suspects shot Adeliza in the right thigh before leaving her for dead.

Summoning her courage, the victim was able to grab a broken bottle lying on the ground to cut through the tape that tied her hands behind her back.

She then crawled uphill for 5 hours despite a relentless a downpour to ask for help.

"Adeliza" says she found strength in her determination to save her child. "Iniisip ko nung panahon na yon mailigtas siya. Pero hindi narin kinaya," she lamented.

Two of the suspects are now in the custody of the police.

A third civilian suspect, known as alias “Toto,” is still at large. Police in Angono, Rizal said they already have his identity. 

Aside from frustrated murder charges, the suspects may now face an additional charge of abortion because of the death of Adeliza's child.

Foreign firms in Algeria on the prowl for OFWs

Foreign companies with projects in Algeria continue to prefer overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), saying they intend to employ more people for construction and oil and gas projects.

At least three companies intend to hire more OFWs for various projects in Algeria, according a release by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The release is based on a report by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Tripoli, Libya.

Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa said he conducted site verification and ocular inspection of Algeria-based companies COJAAL, Samsung, and Doodsal and found that work conditions in the companies’ sites are “satisfactory."

He also met with the management of MITAC, the Japanese firm which built a 220-km road project with the Algerian National Agency for Highways.

The road project was clinched through COJAAL, a consortium of five Japanese companies including Kajima, Taichi, Nishimachu, Hajana, and Ituchu.

Mustafa said that COJAAL is now starting the construction of another 17-kilometer superhighway to connect Annabah to the Tunisian border.

Most MITAC-COJAAL workers that completed the 220-km Constantine project have been transferred to Camp 7, a project site which has two satellite work sites that need more highly skilled workers, he added.

At COJAAL Satellite No. 3, Mustafa personally saw the working and living conditions of the Filipino workers. “The OFWs there were highly regarded by the COJAAL management as evidenced by the ‘zero’ complaints as to date," he said.

Food and accommodation in the satellite site were not only suitable but also adequate. Each room has four beds, with the building having common entertainment and several comfort rooms, the labor attaché said.

The whole camp also has wireless Internet access, allowing workers to communicate with their families back home.

The labor attaché said that the workers are satisfied with the company’s remittance system, as pay is guaranteed every 16th of the succeeding month and their money being sent in three methods:

• Money sent 100 percent to an account of the worker’s spouse or family in the Philippines
  
• Money sent to two separate Philippine accounts — worker’s and spouse’s/family’s — with the worker deciding on how much is placed in each
  
• Not more than 20 percent of OFW's salary retained in Algeria and the rest remitted to the Philippines.

Mustafa said in all instances, the company shoulders whatever charges thesetransactions involve. 

Meanwhile, Mustafa reported that more than 400 OFWs are at COJAAL Satellite No. 2.

In a dialogue with the workers, Mustafa said the questions raised were mainly about the workers’ deploying agencies: HRD, Camox Philippines, Asia Contract, and WERR. 

It was discovered that 20 WERR-deployed OFWs were not verified by POLO.

Mustafa said the transfer of COJAAL workers deployed by Asia Contract to a different client was a concern among other OFWs, as the transfer might entail several immigration documents that may delay repatriation back to the Philippines when those workers finish their contracts.

Mustafa also inspected Samsung Co. Ltd., the Korean company which won a contract to build a $5-billion “liquid and gas project" (L&G) at Schikda.

Samsung’s general manager said the company plans to hire an initial 20 professional and highly skilled oil and gas workers, Mustafa said. 

The labor attaché said that India-based Doodsal Co. is also involved in Algeria’s L&G project, particularly in Schikda, and currently employs more than 100 Filipinos.

In his meeting with the human resource manager of Doodsal, Mustafa said he mentioned that the workers’ were concerned that the Algerian Labor Law does not offer end-of-service benefits or gratuities to foreign workers who have completed their contracts, unlike in many Middle East countries.

In 2009, there were some 3,200 Filipino workers deployed in Algeria, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration records showed.

But the Commission on Filipinos Overseas estimated there were about 4,900 Filipinos in the North African country as of December 2009. — VS, GMANews.TV

'Harry Potter' still king of the world

LOS ANGELES- Harry Potter led the worldwide box office for a second weekend on Sunday, but the heroic boy wizard had a close shave with a hairy princess in North America.

The seventh movie in the hit franchise, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," sold $163.5 million worth of tickets globally, led by a $50.3 million haul in the United States and Canada, distributor Warner Bros. said.

Of the 62 foreign markets, the best score came from France, where the film opened at No. 1 with $19.1 million -- the country's best start of the year. After two weekends the worldwide total stands at about $610 million.

But the fearless schoolboy almost lost his North American crown to Rapunzel, the hirsute heroine in the new Walt Disney Co 3D cartoon "Tangled." The fairy tale earned $49.1 million for the three days, far exceeding industry forecasts.

Along with three other films, "Tangled" opened on Wednesday, one day ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, giving it a five-day total of $69 million. Pundits had forecast a five-day haul of about $40 million.

Disney distribution president Chuck Viane said the film played strongly with families, and many little girls dressed up as princesses for the occasion.

Internationally, "Tangled" earned $13.8 million after opening at No. 1 in six of seven markets. Russia led the way with $7.5 million, a record for a Disney cartoon. It adds eight markets next weekend, including France and Italy. Pop singer/actress Mandy Moore voices the heroine.

MEN PREFER 'THE ROCK' OVER NUDE HATHAWAY

The other three new releases all performed to the expectations of their respective studios.

"Burlesque," a musical starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, shared the No. 4 spot with the three-week-old action movie "Unstoppable," each reporting about $11.8 million for the three-day period.

The $55 million musical will be "a real moneymaker," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Corp's Sony Pictures, which released the film through its Screen Gems division.

Women accounted for 69 percent of the audience, and 54 percent of moviegoers were aged 25 or older. But Bruer said the men who went along enjoyed it.

"Love and Other Drugs," a $30 million romantic comedy starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, followed at No. 6 with $9.9 million. Even though Hathaway has a much-discussed nude scene, the film also played mostly to older women, said News Corp-owned 20th Century Fox.

Male youngsters got their fix with "Faster," an action thriller starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The film drove in at No. 7 with $8.7 million. It was distributed in North America by CBS Corp's CBS Films, which split the $24 million production tab with international rights holder Sony.

The five-day total for "Burlesque" stands at $17.2 million, for "Love and Other Drugs" at $14 million, and for "Faster" at $12.2 million. Both "Love" and "Burlesque" will begin their international rollouts just before Christmas.

The new "Harry Potter" film is off to the strongest start in the series, having earned $220.4 million in North America since opening November 19. The previous film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," had earned $201 million during the same 10-day span in July 2009. That film ended up with $302 million domestically, and Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros. was similarly confident the new film would break $300 million.

The foreign total stands at $389.2 million. Top markets include Britain with $53.5 million, Germany with $37 million, Japan with $35 million, and Australia with $25 million.

NBA Wrap: Indiana overcome Kobes 41 points, down Lakers 95-92

Source:AP (www.nba.com)

Smith has triple-double, Hawks rout Raptors 96-78

TORONTO(AP) One assist shy of a triple-double, Josh Smith started getting worried. One teammate had already missed a shot that would have given him his 10th assist, and time was ticking down in the fourth quarter.

"When it was coming down to it, I was like 'Man, I'm not going to get it,"' Smith said. "We ran a couple of plays for me to try and get the assist."

It paid off with 4:30 left when Smith fed Joe Johnson for a layup, then looked over at his bench with a relieved smile. Mission accomplished.

Smith had his third career triple-double, Marvin Williams added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Toronto Raptors 96-78 Sunday.

"It just seemed like he was all over the floor," Hawks coach Larry Drew said of Smith. "When he plays like that and when he plays under control, he just does so much for us."

Smith finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the Hawks won their third straight game after losing seven of the previous nine. Johnson and Al Horford scored 16 points apiece and Jamal Crawford had 10.

Stoudemire, Knicks top Pistons 125-116 in 2OT

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) Raymond Felton would have happily spent Sunday in bed, trying to recover from a stomach bug.

Instead, the New York Knicks' guard played 53 minutes against the Detroit Pistons, finishing with 23 points and 11 assists in New York's 125-116 double-overtime victory.

"I'm definitely pretty sick," Felton said, slumped in a chair in the tiny visitor's locker room at the Palace of Auburn Hills. "I was doing everything I could out there, trying to get us a win, but I certainly wasn't excited about playing one overtime, much less two."

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni had to ride his starters hard in New York's second afternoon game in as many days. With Ronny Turiaf (knee) on the sidelines, four Knicks starters - Felton, Landry Fields, Amare Stoudemire and Danilo Gallinari - all played at least 50 minutes.

Stoudemire finished with 37 points and 15 rebounds, but that isn't what impressed his coach.

"He does what a leader needs to do," D'Antoni said. "He's never down, and he never gets cross - he just keeps leading and leading. Raymond was sick today and real quiet, but Amare filed the void. That's what great leaders do."

Ginobili leads Spurs past Hornets, 109-95

NEW ORLEANS(AP) Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs never doubted their ability to overcome a 17-point deficit on the road, in the second half, against Chris Paul and a New Orleans Hornets squad that had yet to lose at home.

What Ginobili and Co. never imagined was a comeback so dominant that San Antonio would build a 17-point lead of its own before it was over.

"It's hard to believe that we were up by 30" in second-half scoring, Ginobili said. "We were kind of shocked, but we played very well. We hustled a lot and defensively we were much, much better."

Ginobili scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, and San Antonio stormed back convincingly to hand the Hornets their first home loss of the season, 109-95 on Sunday.

Tim Duncan scored 21 points and Richard Jefferson added 19 for the Spurs, who matched a franchise-best 7-0 start on the road, set in the 2006-07 season, and continued their best overall start (14-2) in club history.

In the second half, the Spurs shot 60.5 percent (23 of 38) and made seven 3-pointers while outscoring New Orleans 65-34. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made some defensive adjustments, including going with a smaller and quicker lineup, and commanded his team to get back in the game on the defensive end, which it did. The Spurs held New Orleans to 35.5 percent shooting (11 of 31) and forced nine turnovers during the final 24 minutes.

Williams leads Jazz to 109-97 win over Clippers

LOS ANGELES(AP) Jerry Sloan has survived 23 years as an NBA coach because he knows how to get the most from his players, and provides a system that allows them to succeed.

And when one player goes down, another steps up.

Deron Williams had 26 points and nine assists, and the Jazz got significant contributions from reserves C.J. Miles and Francisco Elson down the stretch to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 109-97 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory. Utah was coming off a 102-96 home win over the NBA champion Lakers in which they rallied from 19 points down.

"In this system with these type of players, you've got to shine," Elson said. "Jerry Sloan is one of the best coaches in the game and he has that winning mentality, so you want to come out and do well. And when he puts you in the game, you've got to perform. Miles was hitting his shots and we were making great plays, passing the ball to each other and finding the open man. When you pass to each other, confidence builds."

Miles scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, helping the defending Northwest Division champions win for the 13th time in 16 games after opening the season with one-sided losses to Denver and Phoenix. And they've done it without center Mehmet Okur, who has been sidelined because of a torn Achilles tendon he sustained during the playoffs.

Harris scores 25 to lead Nets over Blazers 98-96

NEWARK, N.J.(AP) Avery Johnson was so angry after New Jersey's performance in a loss to Philadelphia on Saturday night that the Nets coach called for an impromptu shoot-around early Sunday morning, hours before the Nets were slated to face the Portland Trail Blazers.

"We knew he wasn't too pleased right after the game, even before he said we were practicing this morning," Nets center Brook Lopez said. "He didn't like the effort we gave and he let us know about it. He was pretty loud this morning."

The Nets got the message.

Devin Harris had 25 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 1:11 left, and eight assists to lead New Jersey Nets to a 98-96 win over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

"Don't make too much of it or in the manner of how I called it," Johnson said after the win. "They knew I was disappointed and I just needed to see their faces this morning. I couldn't sleep anyway. I didn't want to raise my voice tonight. They got enough of that this morning."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Nets (6-11), who handed the Trail Blazers (8-8) their third straight loss.

Martin, Battier lead Rockets over Thunder 99-98

HOUSTON(AP) The Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at their own game.

Kevin Martin scored 23 points, Shane Battier hit 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range and the Rockets held off a late surge from the Thunder for a 99-98 victory Sunday night.

The Rockets have been blowing fourth quarter leads this season and the Thunder have been pulling out games in the closing minutes.

Before the loss, Oklahoma City had been 8-0 in games decided by seven or fewer points and 3-0 in games decided by one point.

"We knew it was going to come down to the wire just the way it was going," Martin said. "In the third quarter, they would make a run, then we would make a run, so that's what we've been practicing and I'm just glad it paid off tonight."

The Thunder trailed most of the game but rallied in the fourth quarter and took it down to the final second, when Kevin Durant missed a short jumper.

The loss snapped Oklahoma City's five-game road winning streak and extended its losing streak to 11 in a row at Toyota Center.

Smith's 30 leads Nuggets past Suns, 138-133

DENVER(AP) J.R. Smith scored a season-high 30 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame the absence of Carmelo Anthony to hold off the Phoenix Suns 138-133 Sunday night in the highest-scoring game of the season.

Chauncey Billups returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained right wrist and scored 25 points and eight assists for the Nuggets.

Anthony was feeling ill Friday against Chicago but played anyway and hit the winner in the final seconds. Sunday he lasted just 2:48 before sitting down for good.

Jason Richardson did his best to keep Phoenix in it with 39 points, and Steve Nash had 17 points and 11 assists.

Nash missed a 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds left that would have tied the game. Phoenix trailed by 19 before narrowing the gap.

The Nuggets were ahead 115-99 when the Suns scored nine straight to get back in it. Smith and Arron Afflalo hit 3-pointers to keep the lead at nine, but Richardson hit two from long range to cut it to five with 2:08 left.

After Smith missed on a 3, Nash drained one to make it 128-125 with 1:35 left.

Billups answered with a layup and Smith hit two free throws, but Richardson hit his seventh 3 of the night to cut it to four.

Smith missed two free throws with 28.9 seconds left and Nash's three-point play with 22.5 seconds left made it 132-131. Billups hit two free throws and after Nash missed a wide-open 3 that would have tied it, the Nuggets closed it out from the line.