By Agence France-Presse

KUALA LUMPUR–All dolled up but barely showing any skin, US pop star Gwen Stefani made true to her promise to be a “good girl” at a concert that wowed conservative Malaysians.

Stefani covered her tight-fitting tops in jackets, and sported leotards under her dresses and mini-skirts during the two-hour Kuala Lumpur leg of her “Sweet Escape” tour late Tuesday.

“I am practically Malaysian,” Stefani told 10,000 screaming fans, including Muslim mothers in traditional headdress toting their young daughters, and members of a militant student group which had initially protested her concert.

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By Pocholo Concepcion
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Vina Morales arrives in full makeup, hair neatly in place and casually dressed in a white shirt that gives her an aura of calm.

She was in a state of panic a few hours back. Heavy rains had made the creek beside her rented house in San Juan overflow, flooding the basement and damaging her DVD player, CD collection and other things.

“You should have seen me,” Vina gushes. “Di ko malaman ang gagawin, ang bilis ng akyat ng tubig. Akalain mo, binubuhat ko yung malaking TV. Naisip ko tuloy, sobra-sobra na yatang blessing ‘to, bumabaha!” (I didn’t know what do with the flood. I carried the big TV set. I thought, The blessings seem to be excessive to the point of flooding.)

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By Inquirer

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines–Musician Bamboo rocked the summer capital last week in a corporate-sponsored gig that drew hundreds of fans. But a proposed ordinance now says concert artists may only perform here if they help regulate the trash generated by their fans.

Raising its environmental policy a notch higher, the city council discussed on Monday a measure that would require performers in live concerts that attract a large audience to prepare their own waste recycling programs before they could perform.

Bamboo’s concert attracted at least 500 people who left behind 200 kilograms of trash, the city environment office reported.

The solid waste management program’s recycling projects in the barangay may reduce the city’s daily waste average by 25 percent in one year, and controlling waste in live concerts and other activities would help the city attain that target, said Nazita Bañez, city environment officer. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

FILIPINO ethno-tribal rock band Kadangyan performs its haunting music during the inauguration of Accenture’s new facility in Cebu.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Erwin Oliva.

For more videos from INQUIRER.net, visit iVDO.

FIRST you heard about The Police’s reunion concert tour. Now, we have Van Halen announcing that they’re coming back.

But they’re no longer the same band, as the official website announces. They will be joined by David Lee Roth — yes, people, the guy who can jump high and still sing the high notes in their 1984 album, and Wolfgang, Eddie Van Halen’s 16-year-old boy who will replace Michael Anthony on bass.

Now you’ll wonder how the band will sound this time. The last time I listened to Van Halen, I was disappointed. They were running low on gas and Gary Cherone (from another rock band, Extreme) was just not the right frontman for the band. That album tanked and we did not hear from the band again until today.

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