January 11, 2013 Edition

The top diplomats of the Philippines and Japan – Albert del Rosario and Fumio Kishida – met in Manila January 10 and pledged to deepen security and other ties to counter a rising China. The Philippines and Japan are locked in separate territorial disputes with China which have simmered for decades. Del Rosario warned that “very threatening” actions from China in staking its claims to contested waters were posing a risk to stability in Asia. Del Rosario cited a range of recent Chinese tactics that were of concern to the Philippines, including establishing a local governing authority to rule over the South China Sea and building more infrastructure in contested areas.

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The Commission on Elections prohibits him from carrying a gun during the election period, but President Benigno Aquino III, a gun enthusiast, wants an exemption from this rule. Aquino has filed an application to carry his gun during the election period from January 13 to June 12. Comelec Resolution No. 9561 clearly prohibits anyone – except for at least 38 groups – from carrying a gun during the election period. The President is not among the exempted. His request comes after 3 killings that reignited debates on gun control.

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At least 115 people were killed in a single day — January 10 — in Pakistan following a series of bombings. A militant Sunni group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which include twin blasts in a bustling billiards hall near the city of Quetta, the Associate Press reported. Radical Sunnis have been targeting minority Shiite Muslims in the country. At least 120 people were also wounded in the blasts, including police officers, journalists and rescue workers who responded to the initial explosion.

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One of the 4 military officers linked to the 2011 Al Barka killings has been found guilty of violating a military article of war. Army Col Aminkadra Undug was found guilty of violating Article of War 97 or conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline. While he will stay with the military, Undug will not be allowed to hold any command position for 6 months, among other punishments. Undug was the commander of a training school that deployed trainees to attack Al-Barka, Basilan, causing the death of 19 soldiers. He is the most senior officer in recent history to be punished over a bungled military operation.

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A high school student in California walked into class on January 10, armed with a shotgun, shot one classmate and missed another before staff “heroics” helped prevent further bloodshed. The 16-year-old gunman’s victim was airlifted to hospital where he was in a “critical condition” after the shooting at a high school in Taft, north of Los Angeles. After the shots were fired, a teacher and a campus supervisor arrived and engaged the shooter in conversation, allowing the rest of the 28-member class to get out safely. The suspect was taken into custody about 20 minutes later. The shooting comes weeks after the massacre of 26 people including 20 young children at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, which has revived America’s perennial debate about gun control.

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A Swedish court jailed a Swede for 8 years on January 10 for paying poor women in the Philippines to rape young kids as he watched on a videolink from his computer in Sweden. The Haessleholm district court in southern Sweden found the 52-year-old man, whose name was not disclosed, guilty of 11 charges of inciting aggravated rape and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated rape, both unusual indictments. The man contacted the women in 2009 on Internet chat sites. The women were either relatives or acquaintances of the children, who were between the ages of 5 and 8. The women used the money they were paid to buy rice, school books and other necessities for the children. They  testified during the trial from the Philippines via a videolink, but it was unclear whether they would face charges in the Philippines.

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Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amando Tetangco Jr was named the Central Banker of the Year for Asia Pacific by The Banker, an elite publication aimed at global finance ministers, central banks, financial institutions, and owned and edited by the London-based Financial Times group. This distinction is the 3rd Tetangco has received in the last 5 months. He beat US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke in Global Finance Magazine’s ranking of the world’s 6 best central bankers. The Banker cited Tetangco’s contributions, including the country’s sound monetary policies, to the following achievements that have “recently pushed the Philippines into the spotlight:” a phenomenal economic growth and credit ratings upgrades. A veteran central banker, Tetangco is on his second term as head of the government’s main agency that crafts monetary policies.

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Steven Spielberg’s taut political drama “Lincoln” leads the 2013 Oscars nominees. The movie received 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and a Best Actor nod for lead star Daniel Day Lewis. Taiwan-born Ang Lee’s visually stunning 3D adventure “Life of Pi,” based on the novel by Yann Martel, earned 11 nods from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, ahead of the Oscars ceremony on February 24. And “Silver Linings Playbook” became the first film since 1981 to win nominations in all 4 acting categories plus best film, best director and best writer. Spielberg’s latest film recounts Abraham Lincoln’s scheming to secure votes in Congress to abolish slavery.

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Are you the type of woman who drinks more than a glass of wine after work and consider it harmless? The Scottish government wants you to give this a second thought — through a mobile app aptly called “Drinking Mirror.” The “Drink Smart” campaign rolled out its new app, which lets users upload photos of themselves to show how their faces could age if they keep imbibing at their current rate, CNN reports. The app, for example, shows users a photo of how they might look in a decade at their current rate of alcohol consumption. Want to check it out?

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Retired Army general Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), has resigned to take care of his ailing wife. His resignation takes effect Feb 1. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Ramos’ immediate superior, has confirmed that he has submitted his resignation. As NDRRMC head, saw the worst typhoons to hit the Philippines – Ondoy in 2009, Sendong in 2011 and Pablo in 2012. He was the public face of government preparations in the face of numerous disasters and weather upheavals in the past 3 years, being the source of warnings and updates about them.

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