News 2-20-06

Here are some of the latest happenings in the world!

Philippine relief workers Saturday continued searching for more than 1,800 people missing after a mudslide covered most of a mountainside village. Only 56 residents of Southern Leyte have been found after the slide covered the village, burying all but three houses. Eleven other villages in the area have been evacuated for fears of further landslides after a record rainfall turned the mountainside into 30-foot deep mud. Weather conditions and the extent of the mudslide have hampered rescue efforts. The official death toll was 35 as of Saturday morning when the search was restarted. Included in the missing are the 253 students and teachers in an elementary school.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo deployed the countries navy and coast guard to the area to help in the search. The United States and the Red Cross also sent people and supplies for the relief effort.

A moderate earthquake hit southeastern Iran on Saturday without causing any significant damage. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the quake in Kerman Province measured 5.3 on the Richter scale. The area is one of the most seismologically active in the world.

During a press conference on Friday, the man shot by Vice-President Dick Cheney apologies saying, "Accidents do and will happen" and said he is sorry for all the hullabaloo and scrutiny the incident has brought upon the vice president and his family. Whittington was released due to high spirits and credits his stable condition to the excellent care from doctors at the Corpus Christi Hospital.


Although your chances of matching all six Power ball numbers are 1 in 146.1 million, people all over the country are forming lines to have a chance in winning the 365 million dollars at stake. Some retailers say cranking out 29 tickets per second isn’t at all bad for business. However, the only ticket matching the winning numbers drawn Saturday was sold at a U-Stop convenience store in Lincoln, Nebraska and the winner has yet to come forward to claim their prize.

In the Olympics hotshot snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis had a 50-yard lead in the first women's Olympic snowboardcross final Friday and found herself in a moment of victory. But she looked over her shoulder several times in the bottom section of the run to see where her opponents were on the course. Trying to show off a bit, she attempted throwing a back-side method over the second-to-last jump. But she held the grab too long, lost her edge and tumbled to the snow.
While she was scrambling to get up, Tanja Frieden of Switzerland came around the final turn and blew by Jacobellis to steal what would have been Team USA's fourth gold medal in snowboarding at these Olympics.
For all of you keeping up with the Olympic the medal count Germany is in first with a total of 18, the United States is in second with 13 and Russia rounds out the top three with 13. In the race for gold Germany and the US are tied with 7 each.

In Biola sports action on Saturday the baseball team, hit the road to play a double header at Vanguard University and came out on the top both games with scores of 4-2 and 6-0.
Turning to basketball, the women’s team dominated a scrappy Westmont team to finish with a score of 81-70 and the men’s team sealed the deal against Westmont, with a solid game and a score of 89-72. Tune in Friday for more details in the Biola sports Report.

Today marks the beginning of a week-long celebration of Biola’s founding history. The week commences with Chapel featuring a special inside look at what life was like back in the old days of Biola University. And today from 11:30 to 2 pm adjacent to Flour Fountain, there will be a tribute to people who have made Biola what it is today along with a vintage soda fountain and live music.

Today in black history in the year 1895, Fredrick Douglas dies at the age of 78. Some of Douglas’s credits include, being one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, he began publishing an antislavery paper called the North Star and he served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties for African Americans.