May 22, 2014 Edition

The Philippines is hosting the World Economic Forum on East Asia, where it is expected to launch a high-profile bid to showcase its stellar economic growth before over 600 political and business heavyweights from around Asia and beyond. Once dubbed as Asia’s “sick man,” the Philippines is now the fastest-growing economy in the region, next only to China. For the first time in its history, the country won investment grade status in 2013 – an important vote of investor confidence. The Philippines has also shown marked improvement in the Global Competitiveness Index report of the WEF itself, jumping a total of 26 places since 2010. The WEF East Asia began on Wednesday, May 21, but President Benigno Aquino III will formally open the ceremony on Thursday, May 22, with a keynote on “PH: The next Asian miracle.”

Check our live blog on the WEF events on Rappler.

Watch the forum on PH: The next Asian miracle here.

Read the full story on Manila’s hosting on Rappler.

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in Manila on May 21 where they issued a joint statement against China’s aggression in the South China Sea, condemning recent actions as a “violation of international law.” Said Dung: “With regard to the situation in the East Sea, the President and I shared the deep concerns over the current extremely dangerous situation caused by China’s many actions that violate the international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and seriously infringe on the waters across our countries.” Vietnam and China are locked in a bitter maritime row that has prompted a forced evacuation of Chinese nationals in Vietnam, following China’s move to deploy an oil rig and vessels near the disputed Paracel Islands. Manila is also questioning China’s construction on Mischief Reef in the Spratlys. The two leaders said their countries “are determined to oppose China’s violations.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

It’s the perfect time to invest in the Philippines. President Benigno Aquino III gave this message on May 21 to 50 businessmen from the ASEAN Business Club who are in Manila to attend the World Economic Forum in East Asia. Many of the club members are owners of their countries’ largest businesses and represent ASEAN multinational companies. With the ASEAN integration on the horizon, the Philippines is poised to achieve “even more meaningful progress,” Aquino said. He called on the businessmen to expand connections and forge stronger relationships with their Filipino counterparts.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Watch the WEF session on lifting barriers to trade on Rappler.

A 71-page Human Rights Watch report identified former Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy as the alleged mastermind of a death squad in his city that was behind close to 300 unsolved killings in a span of 6 years. The report says that since his election as mayor of the southern Mindanao city in 1998, Uy, along with aides and police officers, “hired, equipped, and paid for an operation that at its height consisted of 14 hit men and accomplices.” Uy denied the charges, saying the report was a result of a conspiracy by criminals who want to stop him from running again for election in 2016.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A knife-wielding attacker went on a stabbing spree aboard a Taipei subway train on May 21, killing 4 people and wounding 21 others. Cheng Chieh, a 21-year-old college student, was immediately arrested after the incident, the first fatal attack on the city’s subway system since it began operations in 1996, police said. The stabbing spree happened around 0800 GMT when the student, wearing a red T-shirt, began attacking travelers on a subway train outside Taipei, sending hundreds of people screaming and fleeing for help. Cheng spoke of his motives during police questioning. “He told the police that he had wanted to do a ‘big thing’ such as this since his childhood,” a police official said.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Microsoft said it would maintain efforts to gain approval in China for its Windows 8 operating system after a ban announced by Beijing. News of the Chinese ban came amid a diplomatic row over an indictment in the United States of 5 members of a shadowy Chinese military unit for allegedly hacking US companies for trade secrets. Beijing has summoned the US ambassador and accused Washington of double standards. “We were surprised to learn about the reference to Windows 8 in this notice,” the company said in a statement, referring to a Chinese government official notice.

Read the full story on Rappler.

This graphic artist’s winning art work was plagiarized. Unfortunately it won the first place in the ASEAN-Philippines Painting Contest held from May to July 2013 in celebration of the 46th founding anniversary of the ASEAN. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office on ASEAN revoked on May 21 the top prize given to graphic artist Christian Joy Trinidad for his painting “Fast to the Future.” The department conducted an investigation after it received complaints that the artwork was plagiarized from the work of Spanish digital artist Nekro. Netizens were the first to spot the similarity in Trinidad and Nekros’ art works.

Read the full story on Rappler.

US online giant eBay said May 21 that cyberattackers broke into its database with customer names, passwords and other personal data earlier this year. Potentially affecting eBay’s 128 million active users, the attack could be one of the largest affecting a retailer, and comes just months after retail giant Target disclosed a breach which could affect more than 100 million. The California company said it was notifying its customers, and urging them to change passwords to protect their personal and financial information. An eBay statement said the database was compromised between late February and early March and “included eBay customers’ name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

“Europe is not meant to organize social and migratory dumping, almost systematically at the expense of France,” said former French president Nicolas Sarkozy as he called for the end of Europe’s visa-free Schengen area and the creation of a Franco-German economic bloc at the heart of the eurozone. As France prepares to vote in European Union-wide elections on Sunday, Sarkozy said in an opinion piece in Le Point magazine that “Schengen I must be immediately suspended and be replaced by a Schengen II of which member countries can only be a part if they previously agree to the same immigration policy.” Europe’s migration policy has failed and the need to replace Schengen I has become obvious, he added.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Fans can now contribute directly to Omaze.com/StarWars for a chance to appear in “Star Wars: Episode VII.” In a special video message from the set of “Star Wars: Episode VII,” director J.J. Abrams announced the creation of “Star Wars: Force for Change” – a brand new Star Wars initiative from Disney and Lucas film in collaboration with Bad Robot, dedicated to finding creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. Disney has committed $1 million to support the campaign launch. For each $10-contribution made through the Omaze fundraising platform, eligible participants will be automatically entered for a chance to win this once in a lifetime experience. The campaign runs from May 21, 2014 to July 18, 2014.

Read the full story on Rappler.