NEW YORK?US stocks fell on Friday as the price of oil set another record and concerns about the financial sector flared up again after American International Group Inc. reported a massive loss.

NEW YORK?Oil jumped to a record above $126 a barrel on Friday, extending gains to more than 11 percent since the start of the month on fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying.

UNITED NATIONS--The UN launched an emergency appeal for $187 million Friday to help Myanmar's cyclone victims, with Ban Ki-moon warning lives were at stake if the military junta refused to allow in aid.

MANILA, Philippines -- Police in Metro Manila will be placed on full alert beginning 8 p.m. Sunday ahead the nationwide transport strike called for Monday by the leftist transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston, United Organizations of Drivers and Operators Nationwide).

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) The leftist transport group Piston (Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide or United Organizations of Drivers and Operators Nationwide) is pushing through with a nationwide strike beginning 12:01 a.m. Monday, its national president announced Friday.

LABUTTA, BURMA?As corpses lay rotting alongside the bloated carcasses of animals, haunted survivors of last weekend?s cyclone told how entire families were dragged to their deaths by head-high waves?and how their own survival often depended on the branch of a tree.

ILOILO CITY, Philippines--With rice and other food prices already hitting record levels, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said the country should now brace itself for much higher oil prices that, in two years? time, could be double what they are today.

MANILA, Philippines -- Education Secretary Jesli Lapus on Friday urged Congress to pass a law that would jail parents who fail to send their children to school.

MANILA, Philppines--Sen Jamby Madrigal said on Friday she was disputing the last will and testament of her late aunt, Consuelo "Chito" Madrigal-Collantes, not because she was left out of it but because the foundation named after her aunt and its thousands of beneficiaries had likewise been shut out.

MANILA, Philippines--In an apparent bid for rice self sufficiency, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has embarked on the massive production of new seeds developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and on a more aggressive buying of palay from local farmers.

MANILA, Philipppines--Thailand captured seven of 12 titles at stake to dominate the 29th Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship presented by the Department of Tourism on Friday at the Sherwood Hills course in Trece Martires, Cavite.

MANILA, Philippiines--Filipino-American Glenn Donaire is now "about 100 percent" ready for his world title challenge but his opponent, IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis is reportedly suffering from severe coughing which would most likely cause the cancellation of their May 17 showdown in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

ILOILO CITY, Philippines--Two-time Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Joegen Ladon scored a methodical 33-21 victory over national teammate Junel Cantancio Thursday night to line himself up for a possible featherweight title duel with Joan Tipon in the PLDT-Smart Open, Youth and Women's Amateur Boxing Championships.

MANILA, Philippines--Ateneo totally outclassed university of St. La Salle-Bacolod, 25-19, 25-11, 25-13, to move within two wins of clinching the third semifinal seat in the Shakey's V-League Season 5 at The Arena in San Juan Friday.

MANILA, Philippines--Efren "Bata" Reyes put away three racks in succession to demolish Jharome Peña, 9-5, Friday night and barge into the semifinals of the First Senate President Manny Villar 9-Ball billiards championship at the Sportscenter of the Starmall Alabang.

I was fortunate to be part of a group with hosts who had the means to find our own solution, but never did I offer any government helicopter or plane to be part of this solution. This was a strictly private sector solution for what should have been a private matter for my hosts.

MANILA, Philippines--A two-day bookfair of well-loved titles for children and young adults and a photo exhibit of celebrity readers and their audience kicked off the first year anniversary celebration of the Inquirer Read-Along program Friday.

MANILA, Philippines--In an apparent bid for rice self sufficiency, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has embarked on the massive production of new seeds developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and on a more aggressive buying of palay from local farmers.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines--The Candaba Swamp scored another record when Filipino and British conservationists found a black-browed reed warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps) in Barangay Visal San Pedro in Candaba, Pampanga, on April 27.

MANILA, Philippines--Burgeoning populations and the effects of climate change have been blamed for the rice crisis, but in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's reckoning, the media and critics of governments worldwide should be added to the list of culprits.

Since the Armed Forces of the Philippines mounted in 2002 its latest campaign--dubbed "Oplan Bantay Laya," or operation plan freedom watch--against the 39-year-old communist insurgency, human rights workers have been treated as "enemies of state."

MANILA, Philippines--The National Power Corp. overcharged its customers P10 billion, representing over-recoveries, after the state-owned power generator failed to pass on to its customers the recovery of generation and forex-related costs since July 2006, the Energy Regulatory Commission said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE) Three business groups on Friday expressed support for efforts to bring down power rates, but distanced themselves from talk of the government's possible takeover of Manila Electric Co.