8 badminton players tossed from Olympic doubles

LONDON — Eight female badminton doubles players were disqualified from the London Olympics after trying to lose matches to receive a more favorable place in the tournament, Indonesia's team leader said Wednesday.

The Badminton World Federation investigated two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia. It accused them of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" in matches Tuesday night.

Miami Heat coach back in town to share NBA glory

MANILA -- The man who steered superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Miami Heat to their second championship in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is in Manila to share the victory to his fellow Filipinos.

Erik Spoelstra, whose mother is from Laguna, arrived on rainy Wednesday afternoon at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)-Terminal 2 in Parañaque City.

Kickstart partners with US Embassy to host Fil-Am Startup founder Garrett Gee

INCUBATOR-accelerator Kickstart Ventures Inc. has partnered with the United States Embassy in Manila to host a startup founders’ meet-up with American technopreneur Garrett Gee, who is visiting the Philippines on a US State Department sponsored speaker program.

YouTube selects 10 short films for Venice Fest

NEW YORK — YouTube's inaugural film festival has selected 10 short films that it will send to the Venice Film Festival.

The Google video site announced Wednesday the finalists of its Your Film Festival. The contest was overseen by director Ridley Scott, whose production company helped winnow the 15,000 submissions down to 10.

12 Malaysians rescued off Maguindanao waters

MANILA (Updated 2:32 p.m.) -- Troopers rescued 12 Malaysian nationals found floating off the coastal waters of Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao, late Tuesday evening.

Colonel Prudencio Asto, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the rescued individuals were crewmen of the two cargo vessels identified as "M/L Woodman 38" and "M/L Woodman 39," which were allegedly attacked by pirates last July 29.

Fire hits Cebu village

CEBU CITY -- A fire broke out in a village in this city Wednesday afternoon.

The fire razed houses in sitio Kalubihan, Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.

'Gener' kills 12; Metro Manila classes suspended anew

MANILA (3rd Update, 1:24 p.m.) -- Classes in Metro Manila and other provinces were suspended anew on Monday due to rains spawned by Typhoon Gener (international codename: Saola), which left 12 people dead.

Heavy rains brought by southwest monsoon have caused flooding in the cities of Manila, Pasay, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Marikina and Quezon.

Torrential rains batter Taiwan ahead of typhoon

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Torrential rains spawned by the approaching Typhoon Saola battered eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, after the slow-moving storm killed at least 12 people and displaced 154,000 in the Philippines.

“Saola” was about 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of the coastal city of Hualien at midday, packing sustained winds of 126 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of 155 kph.

Cebu’s Fajardo joins PBA draft

CEBUANO bigman Junemar Fajardo is now ready to display his wares in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after he officially joined the roster of professional hopefuls on Monday.

At 22, the towering 6-foot-9 standout guided the University of Cebu to back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) tournament.

Total, Petron enforce P7/kg LPG price hike

MANILA -- Two major players in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry enforced a price hike of P7 per kilogram on Wednesday, due to higher contract prices for the commodity this month.

Petron Corp., which carries the “Gasul” brand, jacked up its cooking gas price effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, while Total Philippines followed suit implementing its P7 hike at 6 a.m.