Our top fact of the day, Taiwan

1/3 of Taiwanese funeral processions include a stripper. 

Thaksin party wins Thai election by a landslide

 BANGKOK - Thailand's opposition won a landslide election victory on Sunday, led by the sister of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a triumph for red-shirt protesters who clashed with the army last year.

Exit polls showed Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai (For Thais) party winning a clear majority of parliament's 500 seats, paving the way for the 44-year-old business executive to become Thailand's first woman prime minister.

"I'll do my best and will not disappoint you," she told supporters after receiving a call of congratulations from her billionaire brother, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in Dubai to avoid jail for graft charges that he says were politically motivated.

"He told me that there is still much hard work ahead of us," she told reporters.

With nearly all votes counted, Yingluck's party won a projected 261 seats with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party taking 162, according to the Election Commission.

Abhisit conceded defeat. "I would like to congratulate the Puea Thai Party for the right to form a government," he said.

Cheers, gunfights in Yemen as Saleh goes to Saudi

SANAA/RIYADH - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack on his palace, has flown to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, potentially offering a face-saving end to his three decade rule.

Yemeni ruling party official Tareq al-Shami said that Saleh would return to the country within days, but uncertainty about whether he would be able to maintain his grip after months of protests meant the risk of further turmoil remained high.

Some Yemenis celebrated what they hoped would be Saleh's permanent departure, but the jubilation was mixed with firefights and explosions in Sanaa, and gunbattles broke out in the city of Taiz, about 200 km (124 miles) south of the capital.

"People are worried about what will happen after Saleh's departure. They're most worried about a military coup or struggles for power within the army," said Farouq Abdel Salam, a resident in the southern port city of Aden.

Acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi met military commanders, including Saleh's powerful sons and nephews, who remain in Yemen. Hadi also met the U.S. ambassador.

Worries are mounting that Yemen, already on the brink of financial ruin and home to al Qaeda militants, could become a failed state that poses a threat to the world's top oil exporting region and to global security.


                                                                                                         - Manila bulletin / PAtis

Our top fact of the day, Romans

Ancient Romans e used human urine as an ingredient in their toothpaste. 

Our top fact of the day

You are about 1 centimeter taller in the morning than in the evening!

Lightning strikes kill 40 in Bangladesh

DHAKA - Lightning strikes during a heavy rainstorm in Bangladesh killed at least 40 people and injured more than 150, most of them harvesting rice in fields or fishing,,  police and officials said on Tuesday.

Manila Bulletin - The deaths, the largest number of casualties from lightning in a single day, occurred on Monday. Ten people died in northwestern Chapainawabganj district.

Rainstorms ahead of the monsoon season starting in May or June often bring electric storms that kill residents and damage crops.


                                                                                                            -Patis


                                                                                                                                          

Our top fact of the day, George Washington

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.