WATCH: Young chef wins France's Burger Cup

PARIS, France — More than 300 participants took part in the fourth edition of France's Burger Cup with the trophy going to the youngest contestant, 20-year-old Anthony Verset.

"You can make burgers with truffles, foie gras and all the most expensive products, but if the ingredients are not cooked properly, you will never have a good burger, so even with inexpensive ingredients, as long as you know how to work them and you know the burger codes, well, you can make an ingredient that will beat the truffles and all the most expensive products," he said.

source: philstar.com

British PM plots next move in Brexit stalemate

LONDON — The British cabinet was to gather on Tuesday seeking a way to leave the EU with a deal in 10 days' time, with torn MPs rejecting every possible path to Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May was to call in her cabinet to discuss the next steps after lawmakers failed to find a majority on any alternative to the divorce deal she struck with Brussels — an agreement they have also rejected three times already.

Brussels has set Britain an April 12 deadline to agree to the divorce deal, settle on an alternative or crash out of the European Union.

Backbenchers in parliament's lower House of Commons seized the initiative by holding a round of votes last week on eight alternative Brexit options, but failed to agree on any of them.

It refined them down into four choices on Monday but once again a majority voted no to them all, even with the cabinet abstaining.

The result was close for proposals to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay hinted the government could now bring its deal back for a fourth vote this week and avoid a longer delay to Brexit that would mean holding European Parliament elections in May.

"To secure any further extension, the government will have to put forward a credible proposition to the EU," he said.

"The only option is to find a way through which allows the UK to leave with a deal.

"The best course of action is to do so as soon as possible."

He said the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to consider the results of Monday's votes "and how we should proceed".

'Face the abyss': Verhofstadt

Following Monday's votes, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, said: "A hard Brexit becomes nearly inevitable".

When MPs meet again on Wednesday "the UK has a last chance to break the deadlock or face the abyss," he said.

The EU has called an emergency summit for April 10 and warned that without a plan, Britain risks abruptly ending ties with its largest trading partner two days later, causing huge economic disruption.

Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, told AFP that Tuesday's cabinet meeting would be "relatively upbeat".

"The cabinet can say 'OK, the ground is perhaps right to come back to parliament for a fourth time with Mrs May's deal' and say to parliament, 'look, we gave you two chances to come up with something, you've failed both times. Vote for this deal otherwise next week there is a real danger of no-deal'."

Britain voted by 52 percent to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, but the process has been mired in divisions over the terms of the divorce and what kind of future ties to seek.

The political chaos forced May to postpone Britain's exit from the original date of March 29.

Elusive majority

Monday's first motion, calling for the government to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU, was defeated by 276 votes to 273.

The second option, dubbed "Common Market 2.0", would accept May's divorce terms but require her to negotiate a new EU customs arrangement and membership of the EU single market. It was beaten by 282 votes to 261.

A vote on plans for a second referendum went down by 292 to 280.

The final option, which would have instructed government to revoke the legislation to leave the EU a day before Britain is due to crash out, was rejected by 292 to 191.

Nick Boles, the MP who had proposed the Common Market 2.0 plan, quit May's Conservative Party after the vote.

"I have given everything to an attempt to find a compromise," an emotional Boles told parliament.

"I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise. I regret therefore to announce I can no longer sit for this party," he said.

The Conservatives rely on backing from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists for a narrow majority, which shrunk even further with Boles' departure.

'Division and despair'

Tuesday's newspaper front pages raked over the continued impasse.

"Farce as Commons fails to agree any Brexit plan AGAIN," said the Daily Mail.

"We voted for Brexit, all you say is no," said the Daily Express.

The Daily Mirror called it "another night of division and despair".

The Guardian's analysis said May "still faces an intractable decision, a ticking clock, a mutinous party, an aghast British public and a frankly baffled EU."

source: philstar.com

George Clooney calls for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels

WASHINGTON, United States — American actor George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate's imposition of the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.

"Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery," Clooney wrote on website Deadline Hollywood.

"I've learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can't shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way," he added.


The nine hotels are located in the US, Britain, France and Italy.

Brunei will implement the harsh new penal code -- which also mandates amputation of a hand and foot for theft -- starting next Wednesday.

Homosexuality is already illegal in the tiny sultanate, but it will now become a capital offence. The law only applies to Muslims.

Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed as officials worked out the practical details and in the teeth of opposition by rights groups.

In addition to film-making chops that have netted him two Oscars, Clooney is known for his globe-trotting political activism, especially his tireless campaigning to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

source: philstar.com

Rockets romp past Nuggets; Pistons thwart Magic

LOS ANGELES – James Harden scored 38 points to led the Houston Rockets to a 112-85 victory over the Denver Nuggets in a battle of NBA Western Conference contenders on Thursday (Friday Manila time).

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Harden added six rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes on the floor as the Rockets blew past a Nuggets team boasting the second-best record in the West behind the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.

"I think it's important for our confidence, our rhythm, our chemistry," said Rockets center Clint Capela, who added 17 points with 15 rebounds. "We did a good job tonight to keep them under 25 points a quarter.


Eric Gordon added 18 points and Austin Rivers chipped in 15 for the Rockets, who out-scored the Nuggets 40-19 in the second quarter to seize control of the contest.

Elsewhere, the Utah Jazz's playoff berth was confirmed thanks to the Sacrament Kings' 121-118 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The playoff bound Toronto Raptors encountered little resistance from the Knicks in a 117-92 victory in New York.

Forward Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 31 points as Toronto improved to 53-23 -- second in the East behind the Milwaukee Bucks who improved to 57-19 with a 128-118 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Philadelphia 76ers strengthened their hold on the third seed in the East with a 123-110 victory over Brooklyn that saw the Nets slip a notch to seventh -- the penultimate playoff spot.

Joel Embiid scored 39 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out six assists, making three of his four attempts from 3-point range.

The Detroit Pistons found themselves in sixth in the East after a valuable 115-98 victory over the Orlando Magic — who dropped out of a playoff spot into eighth place with the defeat coupled with the Miami Heat's 105-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Andre Drummond scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, out-playing Magic All-Star center Nikola Vucevic.

The Pistons, who had lost six of nine games, snapped a three-game losing streak and they also take the season series against the Magic three games to one -- a playoff tiebreaker advantage.

Inspirational performances

The Heat, coming off a loss to Orlando on Tuesday, got themselves back in playoff position at No. 8 with a 105-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Goran Dragic marked his return to Miami's starting lineup with a triple-double of 23 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.

It was the Slovenian guard's first triple-double with the Heat and his first since he was with the Houston Rockets in 2010-11.

"I would never bet against him as a competitor," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We needed some inspirational performances tonight."

The triple-double also gave him bragging rights over the Mavericks' Slovenian rookie sensation Luka Doncic, who finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

It was a first NBA clash between the two players who teamed up to lead Slovenia to the 2017 Euro Basket title.

Although the Mavs have struggled on the road, they led 29-26 after one quarter and 59-49 at halftime.

The Heat knotted the score at 62-62 early in the third, but Dallas had edged ahead 82-75 going into the final frame before Miami managed to seal the win. Veteran Dwyane Wade scored six of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

"This group has some character and we had to really reveal a lot of that in the second half," Spoelstra said.

source: philstar.com

FB moves vs indiscriminate sharing of intimate content

MANILA, Philippines — Facebook users sharing intimate images without the consent of owners may find their accounts disabled, the social media company said.

Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, said they recently launched a new detection technology to strengthen efforts to remove non-consensual intimate images on their platforms, including on Messenger and Instagram.

“Finding these images goes beyond detecting nudity on our platforms. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence, we can now proactively detect near nude images or videos that are shared without permission on Facebook and Instagram,” she said.


“This means we can find this content before anyone reports it, which is important for two reasons: often victims are afraid of retribution so they are reluctant to report the content themselves or are unaware the content has been shared,” she added.

Davis said a specially-trained member of the community operations team will review the content found by their technology, resulting in its removal and disabling of the account of those who shared it if found to be in violation of community standards.


The Facebook official said the new detection technology is in addition to an existing program that allows people to securely submit a photo to Facebook that they do not want to be shared on the platform.

“We then create a digital fingerprint of that image and stop it from ever being shared on our platform in the first place. After receiving positive feedback from victims and support organizations, we will expand this pilot over the coming months so more people can benefit from this option in an emergency,” Davis said.

The social media company also launched a support hub where victims can find organizations and resources to support them, including steps they can take to remove the content from the platform and prevent it from being shared further.

“We’re also going to make it easier and more intuitive for victims to report when their intimate images were shared on Facebook. And over the coming months, we’ll build a victim support toolkit to give people around the world more information with locally and culturally relevant support,” Davis added.

Impact on victims

A research conducted by Facebook highlighted the serious emotional and physical consequences of sharing intimate images without consent to victims.

“Sometimes called ‘revenge porn,’ it’s really a form of sexual violence that can be motivated by an intent to control, shame, humiliate, extort and terrorize victims,” said Radha Iyengar and Karuna Nain, Facebook’s head of product policy research and manager for global safety policy programs, respectively.

They said the consequences that victims face vary, depending on the cultural context, although all felt violated, angry and embarrassed.

“Victims in more traditional communities may be shunned and exiled from their communities. Organizations we’ve worked with reported cases in which victims were forced to run away from home to avoid persecution and even physical harm,” they said.

“And many countries lack established support organizations, or viable law enforcement solutions,” they added.

Iyengar and Nain underscored the need to build clear and accessible tools to support victims in reporting a violation.

They also recommended the development of prevention methods such as tools to report and proactively block someone from sharing non-consensual images.

“They are scared and worried that their family, friends and co-workers will see the images. In fact, harm for the victims continues long after the images are removed,” noted the company executives.

“The mental health consequences include anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and sometimes post-traumatic stress disorders. There can be economic and professional consequences for victims, including lost jobs, fewer professional connections and colleagues who tease or avoid them. It can also be difficult finding new employment,” they added.

source: philstar.com

Colombia holds gay Miss Universe beauty pageant

MEDELLÍN, Colombia — The Colombian city of Medellin holds its Gay Miss Universe Beauty pageant where transsexuals and drag queens take to the stage and represent a country of their choice after weeks of practicing choreographies and catwalks.

Nine candidates in total, 8 Colombians and 1 Venezuelan, participated in this year’s Miss Universe Gay in Colombia.

Each participant chooses which country he or she wishes to represent .

2019 was the second version of this specific competition, even if according to the organizer there are between 4-8 competitions like this in Colombia per year.

The competition isn’t officially part of Miss Universe The objective is more the creation of a space for the LGBTI community to have fun in and put on a show.

The winner receives certain prizes, of which there is wigs, a million pesos (330 $US) and a ticket to take part in Miss Gay International which takes place in Bogota.

The bar becomes packed for the competition. On March 16th, around 300 people arrived to watch the show which takes places between 11pm and 4am.

source: philstar.com

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang blasts off

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino mobile gamers get a chance to showcase their skills in gunning for victory on the battle arena in the new national competition called “Momentum eSports TV Battle League” set to blast off April 21-May 19.

The league will feature 64 teams of six amateur and professional players each who will slay for honors in the hugely popular game “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.”

MLBB is among the games to be contested in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, giving non-pros more reason and motivation to strive for excellence and aspire for future stints in big-time international competitions.

“Our main goal is to provide an avenue to all local players, especially those from small communities who are denied of this opportunity and have limited means to hone and showcase their skills,” Joanna Paola DV Ang, executive producer of Momentum, said during Thursday’s presscon.

Momentum eSports TV Battle League, which will see players with rankings of 100 to 300 stars competing for a total pot of P60,000 and 12,000 diamonds from MLBB’s developer, Moonton, will be aired live daily from 4-8 p.m. by the Manila Times Digital TV on www.manilatimestv.com, Facebook and other social media platforms.

Ang was joined in the presscon for the new league by Jennifer Jones, assistant station manager, Marc Christian Jarlego, operations manager for Momentum eSports, and Thea Rosalyn Faustino, executive administrative assistant for Momentum.

They said Filipinos had already shown their world-class form in eSports, with TNC Predator winning the DOTA2 tournament at the World Electronic Sports Games last year in Chongqing, China.

source: philstar.com

Finland tops world happiness rankings, South Sudan bottom — UN

HELSINKI, Finland — Finland ranked as the world's happiest country for the second year running while war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in a United Nations report released on Wednesday.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, known for their love of forests, lakes and saunas, topped the study which used survey data asking citizens in 156 countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social support.

The other Nordic countries, as well as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and Austria also made the top ten.


As well as performing well on all the indicators, the most content countries all tended to have very stable societies, with happiness levels changing comparatively little since 2005.

Despite the political turmoil brought by Brexit, Britain rose four places in the rankings to 15th.

The United States, meanwhile, continued its slide of recent years, dropping one spot to 19th place.

"This year's report provides sobering evidence of how addictions are causing considerable unhappiness and depression in the US," said professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the report's authors.

The unhappiest nation was South Sudan, where the UN recently said 60 percent of people face food insecurity following a bloody civil war which has claimed the lives of an estimated 400,000 people.

Other conflict-ridden countries, such as Yemen, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic, also featured at the bottom of the table.

Released on the International Day of Happiness on March 20, the report warned that world happiness has declined in recent years, driven by a sustained fall in India, which this year ranked in 140th place.

This has coincided with a rise in negative feelings, "comprising worry, sadness and anger, especially marked in Asia and Africa, and more recently elsewhere," it said.

This year's publication also looked at how countries have performed in the happiness rankings since 2005.

Of the 20 largest gainers, half are in Central and Eastern Europe, five are in sub-Saharan Africa, and three in Latin America.

The five largest declines since 2005 were in Yemen, India, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela.

source: philstar.com

Behind the bribery: US university admissions favor the rich

NEW YORK, United States — The scandal of parents paying to cheat their children's way into elite US universities has put a harsh spotlight on the ultra-competitive college admissions process, in which the haves hold a massive advantage over the have-nots.

Thirty-three wealthy parents -- financiers, lawyers, and two famous actresses among them -- were arrested Tuesday as part of an operation that charged from $15,000 to millions of dollars to help them get their children into renowned schools like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.

But as outraged as many Americans were at the illegality, even within the law, the rich have a huge, unfair advantage when it comes to gaming the intensely stressful annual college admissions battle.


The competition is clear in the numbers. Just 4.6 percent of over 40,000 students applying to Harvard University get in.

The figure is 4.3 percent at Stanford and 5.5 percent and Columbia, two other top universities.


Many who are qualified grade-wise are rejected, intensifying the competition to stand out.

The process favors the wealthy. They can apply to more schools and invest heavily in preparing for tests and essays.

The richest, too, can beat the competition by donating to universities. ProPublica editor Daniel Golden documented how President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner gained admission to Harvard University in 1998 after his father made a legal $2.5 million donation to the school.

"There's a limited number of spots for those with enormous means," said Hafeez Lakhani, whose Lakhani Coaching company helps prepare students.

"I understand that there is a disparity out there and that not everyone is able to afford the best help or any help at all."

Planning and spending 

Many parents spend their kids' lives planning their university career.

"In the United States, families are obsessed with the entrance into university," said Sylvie Bigar, a New Yorker whose daughter just entered the respected Smith College in Massachusetts.

"It seems like these things are decided almost in kindergarten, that admission to a prestigious university leads to a prestigious career and happiness."

"It's an extremely stressful process, especially for kids whose parents aren't the most affluent," said Angela Perez, a student at the highly competitive Georgetown University in Washington.

"While I considered myself academically strong, getting in was one thing, and paying for it was another."

Perez, from a working class, immigrant Filipino family, said that to maximize her chances at both acceptance and financial aid, she applied to 18 different universities.

Adding together the application fees, test fees, training for the tests, and other, she said, "it was honestly quite costly." 

$40,000 to prepare 

The process begins in earnest in tenth grade, three years before graduating from high school. Students prepare for and take multiple times the ACT and SAT entrance examinations -- the ones the parents arrested Tuesday paid to have fixed for their children.

There are essays to write, interviews, tutorials, preparation tests, and for the families with access and connections, direct lobbying.

And, notes Bigar, "at every stage of this process, there are firms that help families who can afford it."

According to the Independent Educational Consultants Association, parents pay on average $200 an hour to consult experts on the applications process. But that price, in some situations, can run into the thousands of dollars per hour.

The parents of children who are shepherded by Lakhani pay on average $40,000.

"The reason families are interested in working with my firm is that they see an opportunity to climb higher than they would have climbed potentially on their own," he said.

To critics of the system, the issue illustrates the deep economic and social inequality in the country.

"It's obviously a scandal when rich people are accused of breaking the law to get their kids into top schools," wrote journalist Rainesford Stauffer in an op-ed in the New York Times.

"But the bigger outrage should be that a legal version of purchasing an advantage happens every college application season and that there's an entire industry supporting it."

source: philstar.com

Hero refugee chased gunman away from New Zealand mosque

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — When Afghan refugee Abdul Aziz saw a man brandishing a gun outside his mosque in Christchurch, he ran towards the attacker armed with the only weapon he could find -- a hand-held credit card machine.

Seven people were killed when a white supremacist stormed Linwood Masjid -- the second mosque he attacked on Friday -- as worshippers knelt to pray.

But the death toll could have been much higher if not for the heroic actions of Aziz, whose efforts to distract and chase the gunman away have attracted widespread praise.

"You don't have much time to think, whatever you think of, you just do it, you know," Aziz told AFP, brushing off the "hero" tag as local Muslims gathered to thank him for saving relatives and friends.

Aziz and his four sons were worshipping at the mosque when they heard the loud cracks of a gun being fired outside the building.

Initially thinking someone was setting off firecrackers, Aziz became suspicious and ran out of the mosque, grabbing a small credit card processing device.

Outside, he was stunned to find an armed man wearing military-style fatigues.

"At first, I didn't know if he was the good guy or the bad guy. But when he started swearing, I knew he was not the good guy," he said.

Aziz hurled the machine at Tarrant and then ducked between several cars as the self-confessed fascist unleashed a barrage of shots at him.

Aziz then heard one of his sons call out, "Daddy, please come back inside!"

Unhurt, Aziz picked up an empty shotgun that the gunman had discarded and shouted "come on here" repeatedly in an effort to draw him away from his sons and the other worshippers.

"When he see the gun in my hands, I don't know what happened, he dropped the gun and I chased him with my own gun... I managed to throw the gun on his car and smash the car window, and I could see he was a bit frightened."

Aziz kept chasing the attacker as he sped off in his car.

The 48-year-old then returned to the mosque where he was greeted by scenes of carnage.

Aziz, an Australian, moved Down Under as a child refugee. He lived in Sydney for almost three decades before moving to Christchurch a few years later.

He says he has nothing but contempt for the attacker.

"A lot of people tell him he is a gunman. But... a man never hurts anybody. He is not a man; he is a coward," Aziz said.

source: philstar.com