July 10, 2014 Edition

All credible quick counts in Indonesia point to a Joko “Jokowi” Widodo win, prompting his camp to declare victory barely two hours after polls closed on July 9. He held a festive rally at the Proclamation Monument in Jakarta, greeting and thanking his supporters and asking them to guard the vote until the final results. It’s a premature declaration, says his rival Prabowo Subianto, whose campaign leaders insisted they won based on their own quick counts. Of the 188 million registered voters, a high turnout of 72% was recorded, with around 30% voting for the first time. Despite fears of potential violence, polls closed peacefully at 1 pm Wednesday (Jakarta time). With at least 90% of votes counted, Jokowi is ahead of Prabowo by an average of 5%.

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The world’s Twitter capital voted for its new president on July 9, and at one point it seemed voters went to Twitter – not the polling precincts – to do just that. The number of tweets sent out from Indonesia on election day was massive. Supporters from both camps made several hashtags trend on the micro-blogging site. They posted selfies and photos of their inked fingers, proudly showing the number of the candidate they had voted for: 1 for Prabowo and 2 for Jokowi. Election adrenaline was felt on Facebook, too, given the 69 million Indonesians on it. Did Twitter predict a Jokowi win?

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Vamos Argentina! Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero saved two penalties in a shootout with the Netherlands on Thursday, July 10 (Manila time) to take his country through to the World Cup final for the first time since 1990. They play Germany in Monday morning’s (Manila time) final in Rio de Janeiro. It was only Argentina’s second win over the Netherlands in 9 attempts – their first since the 1978 World Cup final – and it enabled Lionel Messi and his teammates to pay appropriate homage to Argentine great Alfredo Di Stefano, who died on Monday aged 88. For Holland, it was the second time that the Dutch, who lost the 2010 final to Spain, were beaten on penalties in a World Cup semifinal. They fell to Brazil in 1998. The drab match was the polar opposite of Germany’s 7-1 annihilation of Brazil in the first semifinal 24 hours earlier.

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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of even tougher action to come. And it did. An Israeli air strike killed 7 people in the Gaza Strip Thursday, July 10, bringing to 57 the death toll on the third day of a major cross-border confrontation. The UN Security Council was set for an emergency meeting later Thursday.  The overall toll included 6 militants killed in raids into Israel. There have been no Israeli deaths so far, but Hamas showed its firepower as it launched waves of rockets across Israel that triggered sirens in cities as far from Gaza as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. On July 9, at least 29 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids.

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Her first night in a regular jail didn’t quite push through as planned. Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, who is under detention for her alleged involvement in the multimillion-peso “pork barrel” scam, was rushed to the Taguig Pateros District Hospital a little past 1 am on Thursday, July 10, or barely 2 hours after she was brought to the Taguig City jail. In a discharge summary submitted to the Sandiganbayan, doctors said Reyes had been complaining of palpitations. Hours after her confinement, Reyes’s lawyer asked the court to reconsider her motion seeking her detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, citing her health.

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The ruling Liberal Party has always believed that despite his dismal ratings now, Mar Roxas could safely ride on the back of the Aquino government’s very good public opinion ratings. The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey should be a cause for alarm. It shows a downward trend, with the net satisfaction rating of the administration down to 45% in March 2014 from 51% in December 2013.  The March survey shows that the bulk of the respondents previously “satisfied” with the administration have become “undecided.” In the same survey, Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr, became the first among key stalwarts of the 4-year-old Aquino administration to obtain a negative net satisfaction rating. An analyst says this is a “dangerous sign.”

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With 78,000 hectares still not covered by agrarian reform, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes has to exercise political will and be more aggressive in implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), the chairman of the House agrarian reform committee told Rappler. Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr echoed the sentiments of agrarian reform advocates that aggressive leadership is needed in the department now more than ever. Baguilat said Reyes’ background as a lawyer could be holding him back. After all, the remaining lands his department still has to cover are the private agricultural lands – lands claimed by powerful families and corporations with all the resources to file and pursue legal cases against government officials.

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It’s an attempt to provide an alternative source of information to Thais  as they struggle under a military junta that has imposed widespread censorship over domestic media. The BBC said it will launch a new social media service in Thailand that will cover local and international news in Thai and English for an initial period of 3 months. It launches on Facebook on July 10. Thailand’s military rulers have suspended democracy since seizing power on May 22, imposing martial law, banning public rallies and censoring the media to stifle any dissent. A BBC executive said “the time is right to trial a new Thai and English digital stream to bring trusted news and information to people inside Thailand.”

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Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper has apologized to George Clooney after the Hollywood star criticized it over an inaccurate story about his forthcoming marriage that he branded irresponsible. Clooney fumed over the tabloid online site’s story that his future Lebanese mother-in-law had been telling “half of Beirut” that she opposes the marriage due to her supposed Druze faith. The actor said she was not Druze and had not been to Beirut since he began dating her daughter Amal Alamuddin. The Daily Mail said sorry, took down the article but maintained it published it based on information “supplied in good faith.”

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James Yap scored on one-hander after one-hander on July 9 to lead the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers to its grand slam win of the PBA Governor’s Cup at the expense of Rain or Shine, 92-89. The Mixers took home their fourth straight silverware and the third one for the rare and coveted Triple Crown. It is also the second Grand Slam feat for the now 18-time champion coach Tim Cone, who last accomplished the same in 1996 with Alaska. Yap won his second consecutive Finals MVP award after bucking injuries throughout the season. “That’s why he’s Big Game James, nothing fazes him,” Cone said of the 32-year old former UE Red Warrior and ex-husband of presidential sister Kris Aquino.

Read the full story on Rappler.