What's On & Expat - Philippines

Health Bit

         China to Ease Travel Restrictions
                          on HIV-Carriers
    China scraps immigration laws that restrict people with HIV/AIDS traveling to the country, a health ministry official and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said.
   “China has decided to change its immigration laws, scrapping travel restrictions,” Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund said
   “The new law, which hopefully will be passed in the coming months, will be in line with the global conventions, which recognize that travel restrictions for HIV-positive people do not have any public health value,” he said.
   Both were speaking at a conference to announce the signing of a grant worth USD5.8 million over its first two years aimed at strengthening non-governmental and civil society organizations in China to scale up AIDS prevention efforts.
   “It is hoped that through the implementation of the project, civil society and non-governmental organizations could be further encouraged to participate in the work against AIDS,” said Huang.
   Civil society AIDS activists are frequent subjects of harassment in China, despite government efforts to become more open about the disease.
   China has about 650,000 people living with HIV. The Global Fund said that while the prevalence in China remains low, the situation in some pockets of the population was “dire.”

Environment Bit

        Oceans Could Absorb Far More CO2
   The ocean’s plankton can suck up far more airborne carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously realized, although the marine ecosystem may suffer damage if this happens, a new study into global warming says. The sea has soaked up nearly half of the CO2 that has been emitted by fossil fuels since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
     The gas dissolves into surface waters and is then transported around the oceans.
    A key role is played by plant micro-organisms called phytoplankton, which take in the dissolved gas at the ocean’s sunlit surface as part of the process of photosynthesis. This plankton dies and eventually sinks to the ocean floor, thus storing the carbon for potentially millions of years.
    It was found that, the higher the CO2 level, the more the plankton bloomed.
    The organisms were able to gobble up to 39 percent more dissolved carbon compared with today, but did not need any additional nutrients to achieve this.
 

   Algal blooms could inflict oxygen depletion in some parts of the ocean while rising carbon levels may cause an imbalance in primary nutrients, with implications that could ripple across the marine food web.
 

Science Bit

               Temple Built 4,000 Years Ago
                       Unearthed in Peru
   A 4,000-year-old temple filled with murals has been unearthed on the northern coast of Peru, making it one of the oldest finds in the Americas, a leading archaeologist said.
   The temple, inside a larger ruin, includes a staircase that leads up to an altar used for fire worship at a site scientists have called Ventarron, said Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva, who led the dig.
    It sits in the Lambayeque valley, near the ancient Sipan complex that Alva unearthed in the 1980s. Ventarron was built long before Sipan, about 2,000 years before Christ, he said.
   “What’s surprising are the construction methods, the architectural design and most of all the existence of murals that could be the oldest in the Americas,” he said.
    Lambayeque is 472 miles from Lima, Peru’s capital.Peru is rich in archaeological treasures, including the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in the Andes.
 

Cultural Bit

                             Female Form
    Art master Malang, with his Saturday Group colleagues Cris Cruz and Caña, are pooling their talents together for the first time in an exhibition that celebrates the female figure.
   Aptly called “Curves”, the exhibit of nude portraiture will be held at the Alliance Francaise from November 19 to December 3.
   For this exhibition, Malang, Cruz and Caña have come up with their respective works based on sketches using live models as well as reference photos. They depict nudes in a variety of mediums, but each according to his style. Some pieces are full portraits, while others depict other facets of the human body.
   In the realm of art, illustrating the human figure is one of the biggest challenges. It demands skill in rendering the right proportions and the appropriate positioning of the body to make the results as life-like as possible.
   Artists’ reception shall be at Alliance Française de Manille’s Total Gallery on Monday, November 19. Cocktails will be served at 6:30 pm.
 

Lifestyle Bit

      Noel Bazaar: The Bazaar with a Heart
Discover unexpected finds at rock-bottom prices and get to help less fortunate Filipinos in the Noel Discovery Bazaar and Christmas Shopping Expo on November 21-25 and December 21-23 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City.

   Dubbed as the “bazaar with a heart,” part of its proceeds will go to GMA Kapuso Foundation’s Give-A-Gift Alay sa Batang Pinoy, the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation and the Associate Missionaries of Assumption Foundation.
    Now with longer bazaar days, the two-part Noel Bazaar promises to be another unique shopping event with hundreds of products, fashion lines, food items, home décors, novelty items, rare wares, and other exclusive finds.
   Grab signature apparel from Penshoppe, Rustan’s Marketing (such as Anne Klein, Max Factor, Princess, Rowenta, Jack Nicklaus, Tefal), Manel’s, Osh Kosh B’Gosh and Adidas at discounted prices.
   The event will also feature noted brands Brumm’s, Play and Display,