North played a chorus girl in "Here Come the Girls" (1953). Next, she acted in the musical "Hazel Flagg". She won a Theater World Award for her acting in the Broadway musical.
From 1954 to 1958, North acted in movies made and distributed by Fox. After 1958 her career stalled.
In her later years, North acted in the 1959 television series "The Untouchables", "Gunsmoke" and "The Fugitive" (a 1960s TV series).
North was born in Los Angeles, California. She died of complications from cancer surgery.
Some sources say North was born in 1932. Others say she was born in 1933.
Balikbayan box
Most of the time the box is sent to its destination by people who work as "freight forwarders" who know a lot about shipping balikbayan boxes by sea, the boxes can be brought by Filipinos returning to the Philippines on air flights.
The balikbayan box was invented sometime in the 1980s, in the United States because there were a lot of overseas Filipino workers in the country. The first freight forwarder to give balikbayan box services was Rico Nunga who founded REN International in Los Angeles, California in 1981.
In 1982, Ramon Ungco, a Filipino living in New York City, founded Port Jersey Shipping International. Many people think these two companies are the “pioneers” of door-to-door delivery of balikbayan boxes, which back then they had to pay import duties when the boxes got into the Philippines.
The now-changed Section 105 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines gives duty- and tax-free privileges to balikbayan boxes taken to the Philippines by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in recognition of the large impact of their contribution and sacrifices outside of the Philippines as well as bringing a lot of foreign exchange annually that helped the national recovery effort at that time.
This let tax-free entry of personal goods in the country from Filipinos overseas. People then started sending balikbayan boxes through friends and their co-workers who were going back to the Philippines.
After the September 11 attacks in the US and the passage of the Patriot Act by the US Congress, the United States Department of Homeland Security's Out-Bound Exam Team started searching balikbayan boxes.
It was so long and strict, the boxes arrived up to three weeks late at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspection facility.
This made it take longer to get a box through, from 21 days to 30 plus days. The inspections also had balikbayan boxes opened, and people were angry about pilferage and mishandling. The Philippines Bureau of Customs also did 100% inspections which caused the deliveries to arrive really late.
The inspections had to happen because of some individuals who use balikbayan boxes to get commercial items through without paying taxes or smuggle contraband. Since balikbayan box shipping is consolidated, even one illegal item will affect all 400 or so items inside the container. The inspection was made better using high performance X-ray machines.
In 2012, these delays were made even worse since the City Of Manila decided to stop trucks from driving along the route to and from the Port of Manila, causing long delays in releasing and transporting not only balikbayan boxes but all cargoes, domestic and international.
Most balikbayan box companies, which are based in Parañaque City close to the airport, couldn’t operate because of the truck ban until it was settled.
To protect consumers, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), using its Philippine Shipper's Bureau, does regular accreditation of international freight forwarders and tells consumers not to use the services of unaccredited and incredibly cheap shipping companies.
Balikbayan boxes may have things the sender thinks the recipient wants, regardless of whether the things can be bought in the Philippines, such as non-perishable food, toiletries, household items, electronics, toys, designer clothing, or things hard to find in the Philippines for cheap prices. A balikbayan box meant for airplanes is designed to follow to airline luggage restrictions and many Filipino stores sell them. Some boxes are sold with a cloth cover and side handles. Others are secured with lots of tape or rope, and so, the shippers don’t confuse it with an ordinary moving box that is lightly wrapped. The balikbayan boxes come in three standard sizes which are:
Shipped boxes are taken straight away to the recipient, usually the family of the overseas Filipino.
Part of the attraction of the balikbayan box is because it is important to the economy, which allows cheaper bulk shipment of items versus sending them one at a time or in smaller boxes through postal services. The bad thing though is it takes longer to reach it’s destination by container ship, which most of the time needs several weeks, along with there being no certain delivery date. The balikbayan box is a modern version of the general Philippine practice of "pasalubong", where travellers within or outside the country are culturally expected to bring home gifts to family, friends and colleagues. The balikbayan box gives connections between family inside the Philippines and those who are abroad, and give goods to the family within the Philippines.
Asia Bibi blasphemy case
Asia Bibi blasphemy case involves the conviction of a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Noreen , for blasphemy by a Pakistani court. She was sentenced to death in 2010. However, she was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2018.
In June 2009, while harvesting berries from a field, Asia was seen drinking water from a communal cup by some village women of that area. It was considered offensive by the women due to her religion, and the cup was labelled "contaminated". This resulted in an argument between them, and the women accused her of blasphemy.
In 2010, a judge in Sheikhupura sentenced Asia to death, which was upheld by the Lahore High Court. Petitions were sent for her release, including one sent by Pope Francis.
Noreen's husband appealed to the high court. Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, supported Noreen throughout and requested President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon her.
Due to this support, Taseer was killed by his guard Mumtaz Qadri.
Several appeals were made during this period and the High Court upheld the decision. In October 2014, Lahore High Court rejected her appeal.
In November 2014, her lawyer appealed to the Supreme Court.
On 31 October 2018, the Supreme Court panel chaired by Justice Saqib Nisar, acquitted Asia Bibi. Although the majority supported the decision, it resulted in protests by the Islamic parties, mainly Tehreek-e-Labaik.
Geographical renaming
Geographical renaming is when a place's name gets changed.
There can be several reasons for geographical renaming.
One such reason is countries joining together to form a new country. For example, after the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland joined together in 1701, they formed the United Kingdom. When Ireland joined in 1801, the unified country became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
A second reason is a country splitting apart to form new ones. For example, after Czechoslovakia split in 1992, it became two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also, after Ireland gained independence from Britain, the region of Northern Ireland stayed in the UK. Therefore, the country's name changed from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to what it is today, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.