Daily News Highlights – June 9, 2016 Edition

Incoming Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr urged China to join the Philippines in peacefully resolving their dispute over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “Whatever conflicts or differences that we have with other nations, we must always try to resolve it peacefully and through negotiations,” Yasay said on Rappler Talk. China earlier praised Yasay for remaining open to bilateral talks. On Wednesday, however, Beijing slammed the Philippines for supposedly ignoring requests for dialogue and “unilaterally [closing] the door of settling the South China Sea issue with China through negotiation.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte hit United Nations (UN) experts for supposedly releasing a statement “anchored on the wrong premise” that he condones the killing of corrupt journalists. Asked about media killings in a press conference, Duterte reasoned out that some media practitioners were killed not because of their work but because they were corrupt. Two special rapporteurs from the UN took exception to his statements. “Go home and get some sleep. You are overworked and sound beat. Your statement is anchored on the wrong premise,” told the UN experts through a statement.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Two women candidates who sought the two highest positions in government also spent the most in the 2016 campaign, based on expenses reports that they and their rivals filed with the Commission on Elections. Meanwhile, the top spender and top recipient of contributions in the 2016 Senate election were losing candidates. Out of 62 candidates for national positions – president, vice president, senator – at least 44 beat the deadline and filed their statements of contributions and expenses.

Find out on Rappler #PHvote which presidential and vice presidential candidates spent the most.

Read the full story on how much senatorial candidates received in contributions and spent.

The Department of Education approved the request of more than 1,200 private elementary and high schools to increase tuition fees for the school year 2016-2017. As of June 6, 1,232 out of the total 12,072 private elementary and high schools in the country will increase their tuition fees. The National Capital Region has the most number of schools that will increase their fees, while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is the only region where no schools will increase fees.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Halfway through the year, the World Bank has lowered its growth forecast for the global economy, although East Asia and the Philippines remain unaffected. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report released on June 8, the multilateral institution cut its global growth forecast to 2.4% from the 2.9% growth projected in January. The downgrade is due to sluggish growth in advanced economies coupled with stubbornly low commodity prices, weak global trade, and diminishing capital flows. Commodity-exporting emerging markets are particularly hit with the World Bank noting that they have struggled to adapt to lower prices for oil and other key commodities.

Read the full story on Rappler Business.

The European Parliament launched Wednesday, June 8, a far-reaching probe into potential tax fraud in Europe revealed by the Panama Papers scandal. Over the next 12 months, MEPs will grill officials and executives over any connections to Mossack Fonseca, the Panama law firm that allegedly helped thousands of the world’s richest and most powerful individuals create offshore shell companies that some apparently used to hide their wealth from the taxman. The committee’s 65 MEPs will begin work this summer. They are under a specific mandate to uncover alleged violations by the European Commission or EU member states in applying European law.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

Eritrea’s government is guilty of committing crimes against humanity since independence 25 years ago, with up to 400,000 people “enslaved,” and should face international justice, a United Nations probe said. The UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights said the government of President Isaias Afwerki, in power since 1991, was guilty of systematic enslavement, forcible conscription, and other abuses. According to the UN, around 5,000 Eritreans risk their lives each month to flee the nation where forcible army conscription can last decades. “We probably think that there are three to four hundred thousand people who have been enslaved,” chief investigator Mike Smith told journalists in Geneva.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

Singapore confirmed on June 8 it would cut off Internet access for government work stations within a year for security reasons – a surprise move in one of the world’s most wired countries. The decision will not disrupt government operations, the Infocomm Development Authority said after local daily The Straits Times reported that some 100,000 computers would be affected. Industry sources said the measure was aimed at preventing cyber attacks as well as the spread of malware that might enter the government email network through Internet-enabled work stations.

Read the full story on Rappler Technology

Lack of knowledge about the ocean floor is inflicting a heavy cost in oil exploration, fishery management, and plane crash investigations, experts said. Even though two-thirds of Earth is covered in water, less than 10% of the floor of oceans deeper than 200 meters (721 feet) has been mapped in detail, according to the International Hydrographic Organization. Ignorance of ocean-floor topography has practical consequences, the experts said. “Waiting until a plane crashes to start surveying is too late,” said Walter Smith, a geophysicist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “There is no reason why we should know more about the surface of the Moon than the bottom of the oceans,” Francoise Gaill of France’s National Centre for Scientific Research said in a presentation to mark World Oceans Day.

Read the full story on Rappler Science.

The International Tennis Federation on June 8 announced it will ban Russian star Maria Sharapova for two years after she failed a drugs test. She insisted she will appeal the decision which could effectively end her career. Sharapova, 29, tested positive for the controversial banned medication meldonium during January’s Australian Open. Sharapova blasted the ban as “unfairly harsh” in a statement on her Facebook fan page. “While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension,” she said.

Read the full story on Rappler Sports.