Daily News Highlights – February 29, 2016 Edition

Key players in Syria’s war traded accusations Sunday, February 28, over violations of the first major ceasefire in the 5-year conflict, but the truce remained largely intact on its second day. As the recriminations fly, Washington urges all sides to be patient. ‘Setbacks are inevitable,’ a senior US administration official says. The main opposition grouping Sunday described the ceasefire as “positive” but vowed to lodge a formal complaint with the United Nations and foreign governments about breaches on the first day. “We have violations here and there, but in general it is a lot better than before and people are comfortable,” said Salem al-Meslet, spokesman for the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee. Aid groups hope to use the lull in fighting that has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population to deliver desperately needed supplies. A successful truce would also create a more favorable backdrop for peace talks that collapsed in acrimony in early February as a Russia-backed regime offensive in northern Syria caused tens of thousands to flee.

READ: Blame game tests Syria’s fragile ceasefire

Amid fears driven by slowing growth in host nation China, steep falls in world financial markets, and US interest rates having risen for the first time in 9 years, the world’s 20 top economies agreed to use all policy tools available to lift sluggish global growth. In a communique released in Shanghai on Saturday, February 27, the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs cited a list of specific risks the world faces, including volatile capital flows, falling commodity prices, and rising geopolitical tensions, along with “the shock of a potential UK exit from the European Union and a large and increasing number of refugees in some regions.” The communique also said the group “will use all policy tools – monetary, fiscal and structural – individually and collectively” to build confidence and strengthen the recovery. But analysts were underwhelmed. Lu Zhengwei, chief economist of Citic Bank International, said the language used showed ministers realized the seriousness of the world economic situation, “but the problem… is the implementation.” He noted that contradictory opinions voiced by Germany means that the consensus among the countries “is still not adequate.”

 READ: G20 nations pledge all tools to lift growth

Hollywood hit the red carpet on Sunday, February 28 for its annual Academy Awards. Among the highlights: black comedian and actor Chris Rock, who hosted the show despite calls for him to boycott in the wake of the, #OscarsSoWhite scandal, confronted the controversy over the lack of African American acting nominees early on, in a monologue that mercilessly ribbed both the movie industry and its critics. Spotlight wins Best Motion Picture. And, the most awaited, Leonardo DiCaprio finally got an Oscar for his role on  ‘The Revenant.’ 

With only a few weeks remaining until election day, Rappler rolls out new interactive experiences to help voters get to know, compare, find their match among the candidates, and monitor how the candidates are faring in the election surveys. Candidate Compare helps you stack up candidates against each other. CandiDATE, our candidate matching game, allows you to check out who among the presidential candidates is your match based on issues you hold dear. Our Poll Monitor helps you understand and keep track of how candidates are faring in the surveys.

Check them out: Meet, compare, match bets based on issues

Apple and the US government are squaring off in an epic legal battle with wide-ranging implications for how technology firms must work with law enforcement. The iPhone maker is being asked to provide “reasonable assistance” to the investigation of the last year’s deadly San Bernardino attacks by disabling security preventing the FBI from accessing the encrypted handset of one of the shooters. Apple is saying the type of cooperation sought would undermine basic principles of data security and open new vulnerabilities for all its users. It adds that creating a weaker “government OS” would undermine the encryption Apple and others have been introducing, and ultimately leak out to hackers and foreign governments.  How does this affect ordinary consumers?

READ: Apple-FBI case has wide implications

The sun-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 has made a successful test flight in Hawaii, where it has been grounded for repairs on its round-the-world trek, the Swiss-based project said Saturday, February 27. Lasting an hour and a half and reaching an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,400 metres), the flight enabled technicians to run checks on the stabilization and cooling system, “which both performed superbly,” the project said. The plane completed nearly half of an unprecedented round-the-world journey without using a drop of fuel before battery damage during a grueling 5-day leg from Japan to Hawaii in July forced its grounding. 

READ: Solar Impulse plane makes first maintenance flight in Hawaii

Missed last weekend’s Panagbenga Festival in Baguio City? This year’s floats seem to have stepped out of storybooks and fictional pages, all thanks to and in line with the theme, “Bless the Children with Flowers.” Rappler compiled our favorite scenes and surprises from the parade. Check them out!

IN PHOTOS: Stunning floats in full bloom at Panagbenga 2016

Swiss voters on Sunday, February 28, voted no to a proposal to automatically expel foreign criminals for even minor offenses, referendum results showed. The poll came at a time when many European countries are hardening their attitudes to migrants after more than a million arrived on the continent’s shores last year. The populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – which has accused parliament of dragging its feet on writing the text into law and watering it down when it did so last March – proposed tougher rules which were put to the people in Sunday’s referendum. But the initiative faced stiff opposition, including from the government, parliament and all the other major political parties, which said it circumvented fundamental rules of democracy.

READ MORE: Swiss vote ‘no’ to automatic expulsion of foreign criminals

Pope Francis on Sunday, February 28, urged European countries struggling with the migrant crisis to “share the burden fairly”, amid growing divisions on how to handle the flow of people fleeing poverty and war. The pontiff used his address in St Peter’s Square to hail the “generous help” offered by Greece and “other countries on the front line”, saying the situation “required cooperation among all nations”. Nearly 120,000 migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year, according to the latest figures from the UN refugee agency. The influx has triggered rows and bitter recrimination among European Union states at odds over who should take in the newcomers.

READ: Pope urges Europe to share migrant burden fairly

Filipino film and television director Wenn Deramas has died following a heart attack, said actor and comedian Vice Ganda on Twitter Monday morning, February 29. He was 49. Deramas’ friend, June Rufino, told ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) that Deramas went to the hospital at 2am early Monday, February 29, and later, could not be revived. According to ANC tweets, Deramas “almost had a heart attack two years ago” and had an angioplasty the previous year.

READ MORE: Director Wenn Deramas dies