December 16, 2013 Edition

Valerie Castro

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

  1. Pre-Xmas tragedy: 21 dead

    CARNAGE. Rescue workers extract the bodies of still unidentified persons from the wrecked bus. Photo by EPA/Francis Malasig

    At least 21 people are dead after a bus and a van figured in an accident along the Metro Manila Skyway early Monday, December 16. Twenty others were injured. A Don Mariano Transit bus fell off the southbound lane of the elevated highway and fell on top of a van plying the West Service Road of the South Luzon Expressway below, in an area part of Parañaque City. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has suspended the bus company’s 78 units from operating today, pending an investigation into the accident.


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  2. Local execs taking advantage of rehab?

    'REHAB CZAR.' President Benigno Aquino III swears in Panfilo Lacson as 'presidential assistant for rehabilitation and recovery.' Photo courtesy of the Malacañang Photo Bureau

    Newly appointed rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said “unscrupulous lower-ranking officials” have begun to take advantage of the daunting task ahead. Lacson said he received reports on these local officials two days ago, when he toured areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). He has asked government agencies to investigate. Lacson said he is bent not only on making corrupt officials explain, but on filing cases against them.

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  3. South Africa’s greatest son laid to rest

    FINAL MOMENTS. Members of the South African armed acting as pall bearers listen to a speech as members of the Mandela family sit at the the burial site of late South African former President Nelson Mandela before his coffin is lowered into into the grave during his funeral in Qunu, December 15, 2013. AFP / South African Broadcasting Corporation

    Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was laid to rest December 15, after a state funeral filled with tearful eulogies and strident vows to pursue his ideals of equality and justice. The interment followed a ceremonial state funeral that ran well over its allotted two hours, as speaker after speaker paid emotional tribute to the man who led South Africa out of the apartheid era. His flag-draped casket was placed on cow skins, surrounded by 95 candles – each signifying a year of his extraordinary life.

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  4. Japan, ASEAN strengthen ties

    apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) smiles with Myanmar's President Thein Sein (L) and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (R) leaving the stage during a gala dinner of the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit meeting hosted by Japanese prime minister in Tokyo on December 14, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOL / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA

    Japan and Southeast Asian countries December 15 pledged to boost economic and security ties, a day after they agreed on the importance of ensuring freedom of the skies after China declared a controversial air defense zone. Tokyo pledged $20 billion in aid and loans to Southeast Asia at the summit with leaders of the ASEAN regional bloc, the latest step in its bid to woo global public opinion in its territorial dispute with China. Earlier, China denounced as “slanderous” remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the summit calling for Beijing to rescind its air zone, which was widely criticized as increasing regional tensions.

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  5. Chevron, Shell top carbon-emitting companies

    CLIMATE CHAOS. The combustion of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal by energy companies is largely responsible for climate change.

    Chevron and Shell are in the top 10 list of corporations responsible for more than 60% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution. This was one of the major findings of a “groundbreaking” study by independent climate change scientist Richard Heede published last month in the scientific journal Climactic Change. The accumulation of GHG in the atmosphere causes global warming and climate change. Scientists have reached an overwhelming consensus that it is human (anthropogenic) activities like fossil fuel burning that have driven climate change.

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  6. Bachelet wins Chile’s presidential elections

    PRESIDENT ONCE MORE. Chilean president-elect, Michelle Bachelet, applauds as she delivers a speech after getting the results of the run-off presidential election in Santiago on December 15, 2013. AFP/Claudio Reyes

    Socialist Michelle Bachelet was swept back into office Sunday, December 15, as Chile’s next president, on a platform of narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Bachelet, 62, takes office March 11 to succeed conservative billionaire President Sebastian Piñera for a term running through 2018. She served as Chile’s first woman president in 2006, leaving a lot undone which most Chilean want: mainly dismantling more of the political and social legacy of the Pinochet era. Bachelet’s contest with Matthei marked the first time in Latin America that a presidential runoff was held between two women.

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    Read more on CNN.
    Read an earlier report on the elections on Rappler.

  7. China’s Jade Rabbit rover sends first photos

    YUTU ON THE MOON. The Yutu (Jade Rabbit) moon rover as photographed by the Chang'e moon lander, in an image released by the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

    China’s Jade Rabbit rover vehicle sent back photos from the moon Sunday, December 15, after the first lunar soft landing in nearly four decades marked a huge advance in the country’s ambitious space program. The Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, was deployed at 4:35 am (2035 GMT Saturday, December 14), several hours after the Chang’e-3 probe landed on the moon, said the official news agency Xinhua. The rover and lander began taking photos of each other late Sunday, including one that showed the bright red and yellow stars of the Chinese flag on the Jade Rabbit as it stands on the moon’s surface. The color images were transmitted live to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang watched the broadcast.

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  8. Fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident rocks Brazil

    STADIUM IN THE AMAZON. Picture taken on November 25, 2013 of the Arena Amazonia stadium under construction in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba

    Brazil was rocked Saturday, December 14, by a fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident as a young construction worker fell to his death, heightening safety worries barely 6 months from kick-off. The latest fatality, at the Manaus Arena in the northern Amazonia region, will add scrutiny to the host nation’s preparations, with some stadiums behind schedule and extra shifts being worked in a push to be ready for the football extravaganza. Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira plunged 35 meters (115 feet) in the early hours while working on the roof of the $200 million, 42,000-seat capacity arena. He was taken to hospital but died before dawn. Brazilian media reported that the 22-year-old fell after a cable broke as he prepared to finish a night shift. The venue is currently 93% complete and has around 1,900 people working around the clock to finish its construction.

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  9. Actor Peter O’Toole dies

    O'TOOLE, 1932-2013. Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence in a scene in the film

    Irish actor Peter O’Toole, the star of the 1962 Oscar-winning epic “Lawrence of Arabia,” has died aged 81, his agent Steve Kenis said Sunday, December 15. The hell-raising icon of stage and screen died on Saturday, December 14, at London’s Wellington hospital after a long illness, Kenis explained. Irish President Michael D Higgins said it was “with great sadness” that he heard of O’Toole’s death. “Ireland, and the world, has lost one of the giants of film and theatre,” he said in a statement. O’Toole was nominated for eight Best Actor Oscars and received an honorary award in 2003.

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  10. Sony reveals expansion of Spider-man franchise

    ON FOR MORE. Actors Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx attend

    Studio giant Sony revealed an expansion of its “Spider-Man” franchise Friday to include spinoffs and sequels, in a move to rival Disney’s Marvel film world centered on “The Avengers” characters. Sony Pictures Entertainment named a five-strong team of writers to form a “franchise brain trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films.” The five writers are Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard. They will work with producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, and Marc Webb, who directed 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and the sequel out next year. On Friday, they announced two spinoff films, “Venom” and “The Sinister Six,” focusing on villains in the franchise.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

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