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Pact between Marcos, Duterte families shaped the vote Bongbong' Marcos didn't just win the presidential election in the Philippines this week. He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least ten billion dollars and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world's most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs). Moreover, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, to give him his real name, has virtually no accomplishments other than that name. Yet his name and his inherited wealth, originally stolen from the parents of the...

Remarks by President Trump After Coast Guard Briefing on Tropical Storm Imelda | Houston, TX    Issued on: September 22, 2019 Ellington AirportHouston, Texas11:10 A.M. CDTQ  Mr. President, what grade would you give the Coast Guard in Texas?THE PRESIDENT:  “A-plus.”  I give the Coast Guard an “A-plus,” and I have for a long time.  I don’t think there’s any brand — no matter where you go — that’s gone up more than the Coast Guard.  And that started with Harvey, as far as I’m concerned — the big hurricane from a year ago in Texas, which was, I guess, they...

Heavy rainfall from now-downgraded Imelda wreaked havoc Thursday for much of Southeast Texas, where officials are dealing with impassable roadways, downed trees, power outages, hundreds of high-water rescues and in one small town, a hospital evacuation. At least two deaths have been linked to the storm. A man pulled from a submerged van in east Harris County died, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a tweet. In Jefferson County, a man was electrocuted and drowned while trying to move his horse, according to authorities there. As of Thursday evening, Houston police recovered more than 200 abandoned vehicles from city roadways, and...

MANILA (Reuters) - Chaos erupted at a huge party to celebrate the 90th birthday of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos on Wednesday, with 261 friends and supporters rushed to Manila hospitals with suspected food poisoning. Emergency rooms in the city’s Pasig area were inundated with patients vomiting and suffering from diarrhea and dizziness, according to staff who spoke to Reuters.

Vindolanda Roman Fort Yields Hundreds of Shoes Tuesday, October 11, 2016 NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND—Chronicle Live reports that more than 400 shoes sized for men, women, and children, were recovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda over the summer, bringing the total of shoes from the site to more than 7,000. The 1,800-year-old shoes included ones made solely for indoor wear, boots, sandals, and bath clogs. The footwear was found in a defensive ditch, along with pottery and the remains of cats and dogs. Andrew Birley, director of Vindolanda’s excavations, thinks the contents of the ditches may have been discarded when the...

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday said he would do his best to prevent the family of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from returning to power. Aquino, whose father and namesake Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino was detained and then killed by Marcos forces, made the remark as the dictator's son is vying for the vice presidency. While Aquino is stepping down after his single six-year term this year, Marcos's son, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr., is leading in the race for the vice presidency in the May 9 elections. Marcos's flamboyant widow, Imelda, has openly said she wants her son to become president and...

The Huffington Post has a photo-illustrated article about the visit today by Michelle Antoinette Obama to Ronda, Spain, headlined: Michelle Obama Does Midday Shoe Change in Ronda (PHOTOS).The photos used for the Huffington Post article can't be used at FR as they are from Getty Images, however, other wire photos (with less detail) are available for posting.In the meantime, here are the lyrics to Michelle Obama's theme song, Pearls, by Sade:there is a woman in somalia scraping for pearls on the roadside there`s a force stronger than nature keeps her will alive this is how she`s dying she`s dying to...

(02-08) 09:45 PST WASHINGTON D.C. -- A political odd couple, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House spokesman Tony Snow, today slammed critics of Pelosi's bid to use a government plane that can fly her nonstop between Washington and her home district in San Francisco. "This is a silly story, and I think it's been unfair to the speaker,'' Snow told reporters. E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com.

Critics charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is abusing the perks of power by asking for a jumbo military jet with sleeping accommodations for her flights across the country. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet. Pelosi wants a larger aircraft that can fly to her San Francisco district without stopping to refuel. Some sources are claiming that Pelosi...

Remember when all then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich wanted was to use the front steps of Air Force One? That didn't work out, thanks to Bill Clinton's aides - but in retrospect it seems that the taxpayers never had it so good. Now the new speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, is demanding her own personal Pentagon-provided jet. Who's to get the tab? That's right: You. The speaker has decided that she needs a personal shuttle between Washington, D.C., and her home out on the Left Coast. Historically, House speakers flew commercial. Then, after 9/11, Speaker Dennis Hastert cited security...

Sun Dec 29, 7:48 AM ET Filipinos walk past a damaged bust of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos after it was blown up by unidentified person before dawn on a hillside in Tuba, Benguet, about 124 miles north of Manila, Dec. 29, 2002. Police said no one was hurt by the blast. (Stringer/Afghanistan (news - web sites)/Reuters)