The super singer Lady Gaga has apologised to fans after being forced to cancel a concert in Indiana due to ill health. “Can’t apologise enough for how sorry I am,” she said, via micro-blogging site Twitter, revealing she had collapsed due to exhaustion and dehydration. An hour before the show I was feeling dizzy and having trouble breathing,” posted the 23-year-old, renowned for her flamboyant stage performances. She has since cancelled another three dates between 16-18 January.

Last year Lady Gaga – real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta – failed to appear as a support act at two Take That concerts in Manchester, citing ill health. The singer tweeted that she had been “crying for hours” as a result of Thursday’s cancellation.

“My stage has complicated mechanical elements,” she said. “Everyone was concerned I’d be in danger during the 2hr show, since I had passed out earlier. I have performed with the flu, a cold and strep throat,” she went on. “I would never cancel a show just based on discomfort. I hope you can forgive me. I love my little monsters more than anything, you are everything to me.”

Out of nine million people in Haiti about 35% are thought to be in need of aid following the devastating earthquake four days ago. The UN has launched an appeal for $562m, which it hopes will fund a six-month relief effort to help the injured and those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods.

Considering the Haiti’s status as the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and owing to past disasters including several hurricanes in 2008, many international charities already had teams on the ground working on aid and reconstruction. These agencies have mobilised emergency teams in response to the quake.

Medical aid to help treat the many thousands injured has been a priority, with the International Committee of the Red Cross reporting that most hospitals in Port-au-Prince are full or degraded. The scale of the damage and the fact that it struck the capital city – the centre of resources – was handicapping the relief effort. And, after all three of its medical facilities in the city were damaged in the earthquake, it has been doing limited work mostly in tented clinics.

According to Marc Dubois from Medecins Sans Frontieres, “this is a race against time – people are injured and need immediate first aid and they need surgery, and we’ve just now been able to get that going. If things don’t happen right now… then people are going to die from infections, not from their injuries.”

According to the news, scientists claim to have the first persuasive evidence that Neanderthals wore “body paint” 50,000 years ago. The team report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that shells containing pigment residues were Neanderthal make-up containers. They unearthed the shells at two archaeological sites in the Murcia province of southern Spain. The team says its find buries “the view of Neanderthals as half-wits” and shows they were capable of symbolic thinking.

Professor Joao Zilhao, the archaeologist from Bristol University in the UK, who led the study, said that he and his team had examined shells that were used as containers to mix and store pigments. Black sticks of the pigment manganese, which may have been used as body paint by Neanderthals, have previously been discovered in Africa. This is the first secure evidence for their use of cosmetics,” he told BBC News. “The use of these complex recipes is new. It’s more than body painting.”

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Typhoon Ondoy devastate most of Manila area. And it hurts to see my fellow Filipino suffers from the floods brought by it. The most painful part is that I can’t even do anything. I want to donate something, but my bank account is also zero. Many people lost their homes and some even lost their lives.

Is this what we call climate change? It could be. Where on earth that amount of water came from? It’s good for 30 days rain. Why does it poured in one day? The report says that the last time the area experienced this tragic event was last 40 years ago. The sadder part is that there is another typhoon coming that might hit them again in the next couple of days.

I humbly ask you guys to help us pray for those who suffer from the typhoon especially for those people who lost their lives.

Christmas bazaars are already sprawling all over the town. It’s a bit early, but we are more accustomed to that even though Halloween should come first. I also noticed the malls are already starting to redesign their stalls. And, I am seeing a lot of cardboard displays with lots of Christmas present ideas. It reminds me that I should start wrapping gifts for my family and friends.

Speaking of cardboard, yesterday I saw a DVD in a cardboard display and it looked so good. It is really eye catching as compared to the metal shelf. And I think it’s best to promote products of a particular company that pushed me to even consider DVD as a Christmas present for my friend.

Miss Universe is over and I have to congratulate Miss Venezuela for winning the contest. Yepey! Of course, I am still proud to our candidate who did not make it to the finals. That is just the nature of contest, there are winners and not so fortunate. I am not so interested in the candidates, I am more interested which crown design will be used.

Miss Universe let the audience choose the design for this year’s crown. The peace crown is really beautiful and shiny. Speaking of shiny, I have been checking a fine jewelry site that offers certified diamonds. I am still waiting for my engagement ring from hubby, it’s better that I do my own research. Hahaha

One of the best-selling soda brands in the world is Coca Cola, but that’s not to say that its many variants are welcome all across the world to the same extent. Report says that Venezuelan government is urging Coca Cola to pull its Coke Zero beverage off the market for posing yet unspecified health dangers to the citizens of the country. This was launched in Venezuela in April and it stumbled across serious obstacles ever since it was introduced on the market, with the regional bottler facing a wave of complaints from workers. Given the heavy nationalization promoted by the government and Hugo Chavez, as well as the intense scrutiny in all American businesses, the request to have Coke Zero withdrawn should not come as a complete surprise.

Mantilla told the news that the product should be withdrawn from circulation to preserve the health of Venezuelans. Coca Cola has not yet responded in any way to the request. Even with this setback, Coca Cola continues to be a favorite with most consumers. As we were also telling you a short while back, the company launched a new, admittedly healthier variant in Japan, a country where it is the market leader by far. Coming to meet increasing demand from the public, but also to counteract similar plans from rival Pepsi, the soft drink giant launched a green tea flavored Cola that will reportedly target healthy-conscious young women who are not willing to compromise great taste for a healthy beverage.

The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition’s sponsorship by the MTN Group based from South Africa, is the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa. Ghana won the right to host the tournament after defeating Libya 9–3 in a vote among Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee members in Cairo. South Africa withdrew their bid after winning the right to host the 2010 World Cup. The tournament is being held between 20 January and 10 February 2008.

Currently Cameroon and Egypt will compete for the finals. Cameroon defeated the home crowd favorite Ghana (1-0) when Alain Nkong made the goal. Meanwhile Egypt defeated Ivory Coast (4-1), Ahmed Fathi, Amr Zaky and Mohamed Aboutreika gave Egypt the advantage over Ivory Coast. Later today Egypt and Cameroon will compete in Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra. The winner of the tournament will represent CAF at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. So stay tune on your favorite Sports TV channel for the latest on the on going 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.