June 5, 2013 Edition

France’s foreign minister says French lab tests confirm the Syrian Government used nerve gas “multiple times” to fight opposition rebels. The tests were based on samples of body fluids taken from victims in Syria including urine samples carried out by French reporters. Tests show that the samples “prove the presence of sarin” a poisonous nerve gas. France has handed the evidence to the United Nations. The United States has previously reported that US intelligence has determined “with varying degrees of confidence” that saris has been used in a small scale.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called a new report on growing atrocities in Syria’s civil war “sickening and staggering”. A UN panel investigating human rights abuses said there was “reasonable grounds” to believe that chemical weapons had been used by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and opposition rebels.

Read the full story on Rappler and NYTimes 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 5, issued a status quo ante (SQA) order against the May 10 resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualifying two party-list groups from the May 13 elections. The party-list groups involved are Abang Lingkod and the Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens in the Philippines (Senior Citizens) partylist. The court also ordered the Comelec to reserve a seat at the House of Representatives for Senior Citizens, while the final ruling on the disqualification is pending. Both groups has garnered enough votes to win at least one party-list seat in Congress.

Read the full story on Rappler  

Whether the deadly explosion at Unit 501B in a posh enclave in Taguig was caused by a gas leak, a bomb, or another source, residents raised concerns about what they perceive to be lapses in safety protocol days after the May 31 blast. In this piece by Natashya Guttierez Serendra residents tell Rappler how electrical supply was cut off from some Two Serendra buildings on the day of the blast consequently turning off their units’ gas detectors. Their centralized gas pipes however continued to flow.

Read the full story on Rappler

Parents of Boston Bombing suspect Dzohkar Tsarnaev share with the media a phone call with their son, the first since he was arrested back in April. The 19-year-old tells his parents he has been eating again. His mother says she was surprised that he was the way calming her down. Both parents insist both their sons are innocent. Tsarnaev’s father Anzor Tsarnaev says he is shocked at the lack of justice, “there is no justice. It’s impossible to understand what happened.” Tsarnaev tells his son they are going to be together in heaven.  

Read the full story on CNN

A candlelight vigil was held on Tuesday, June 4 as tens of thousands of Hong Kongers marked the 24th anniversary of China’s bloody Tiananmen crackdown amid torrential rain and Beijing blocking commemoration attempts. Authorities blocked online searches for a variety of keywords and patrolled landmarks of the crackdown. This didn’t stop the Hong Kongers from commemorating in the Victoria Park where 150,000 people were reported to have attended the vigil. China and Macau are the only places in China that openly commemorate the brutal military intervention.

Read the full story on Rappler

The Supreme Court has moved the oral arguments on various petitions regarding the controversial reproductive health law (RH law) to July 9, a week before the temporary restraining order (TRO) on its implementation will expire on July 16. Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said at a press briefing on Tuesday, June 4, that the high court has reset the oral arguments, which was originally scheduled on June 18, due to “many interventions filed and several petitions still coming.”

Read the full story on Rappler

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has paid the government P11 billion for the contract to build and operate the expressway that will connect the Manila airport terminals to the Entertainment City casino complex. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda announced that SMC turned over the amount to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Wednesday, June 5. Lacierda said SMC might start constructing the NAIA Expressway Phase II project “sometime in June.” SMC won the bidding for the expressway on April 15, beating lone rival Manila North Tollways Corp. of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. group, which gave an offer of only P305 million.

Read the full story on Rappler 

Seated on row 22 of the Cebu Pacific Flight that that overshot the Davao airport runway last June 2, Niño Ruel Alinsub contributes this first hand look into what happened on the flight. This blow-by-blow account starts when he boarded the plane with his family till the moment all passengers were safely inside the Davao airport. The piece also includes details of the missed landing, and the panic that ensued when passengers waited to be removed from the aircraft.

Read the full story on Rappler

LeBron James has the chance for revenge against the team that spoiled his first trip to the NBA Finals when the Miami Heat meet the San Antonio Spurs in this year’s championship series starting Thursday.  James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, will lead defending champion Miami into the best-of-seven showdown with the veteran Spurs, who won four titles from 1999 through 2007 but have not returned to the NBA Finals since. The Spurs have not sat on their laurels either, although they will have been off 10 days before the opener since sweeping Memphis in the Western Conference final while Indiana took the Heat to seven games in the East final. Which team has what it takes to take how this year’s NBA Finals Championship.

Read the full story on Rappler

American Comedian Dorothy Custer celebrates her 102nd birthday by base jumping from a bridge in Idaho. Base jumping is an extreme sport where people jump off Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth (hence the name BASE) and parachute before landing on the ground. Custer performed a tandem base jump with an instructor. After her jump she was quoted saying, “There’s nothing left to do now but live.” Last year on her 101st birthday Custer ziplined  over the Snake River Canyon.  

Read the full story on King5