September 19, 2014 Edition

Most of Luzon island as well as the northwestern provinces of the Visayas, were flooded and threatened with possible landslides after Tropical Storm Mario (international code: Fung-Wong) gained strength Friday morning, September 19. Forced evacuation were being implemented in areas in Metro Manila where rivers reached critical levels. Classes and work in government offices were suspended in the the capital region and 16 provinces where storm signals were raised. Several local and international flights were cancelled as well. Weather and disaster response officials, however, told Rappler that, contrary to people’s fears, the amount of rainfall and possible damage have yet to reach the levels of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in September 2009.

Follow Rappler’s live blog of weather updates and rescue operations.

Submit critical reports through Project Agos Map, and Move, Rappler’s citizen engagement arm, will connect you to authorities and volunteers.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has submitted to the UN Security Council a report that detailed the events behind the standoff between Syrian rebels and Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights. However, it was silent on the crucial point that resulted in a word war of sorts between the Philippine military and the UNDOF: that the peacekeeping mission’s Indian commander Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha ordered the Filipinos to heed the rebels’ demand to give up their arms. Except for that omission, the UN chief’s account of the events in the September 12 report, a copy of which was obtained by Rappler, was similar to that of Philippine military chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr’s.

Read the full report on Rappler.

After 5 Senate hearings on alleged corruption in Makati City when he was mayor, Vice President Jejomar Binay made a televised addressed, where he answered the claims of his and his family’s critics and political rivals “point by point.” Basically denying that a city hall construction and other projects and supplies in his city were overpriced for his benefit, he said these allegations would not stand in court and were good only for the ‘circus-like’ Senate probe presided by politicians who have openly expressed their intention to seek higher office like he does in 2016.

Read the full story on Rappler. See for yourself as well if Binay answered the allegations sufficiently by reading and listening to his full speech.

A 51-year-old man in the small town of Bell in Florida shot to death his daughter and 6 grandchildren before killing himself, in the latest of shooting sprees by by civilians in the United States. The sheriff said the small community is like a family, and will be devastated by the incident.

Read the story on Rappler.

American aircraft have targeted a training camp for Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in northern Iraq – the first time the United States targeted a training camp since the air campaign began on August 8, according to a US military officer. Some 40 jihadist fighters were at the training camp southeast of Mosul when the aircraft bombed buildings, fighters, and vehicles. Meanwhile, in Australia, hundreds of police officers staged a major pre-dawn anti-terror operation across Sydney and Brisbane based on reports that jihadists were targeting the Prime Minister and the parliament building. The ISIS also released a video of a British freelance photojournalist, John Cantlie, in which he says he is being held captive, although there was no immediate threat to his life apparent in the video.

Read the full story on the US airstrike here.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will remain as is, after Scottish voters narrowly rejected independence in a historic referendum, results showed Friday, September 19. Overnight, people in counting centers, pubs, and living rooms across Scotland waited nervously for the results, and as dawn broke across the land, the count showed 55% of the voters chose “No” over “Yes.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

The United Nations is planning to set up a new mission to combat the Ebola outbreak, the UN chief said on Thursday, September 18. A special representative will be appointed soon by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead the mission, which is to be the focal point for the international response to the epidemic. “The single strategic objective and purpose of the mission will be to work with others to stop the Ebola outbreak,” Ban said in a letter to the UN Security Council.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Smoke-filled bars and packed cancer wards reflect decades of neglect of no-smoking policies in Asia, where both high- and low-income countries are belatedly waking up to a growing tobacco-related health epidemic. Roughly 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia, where “tobacco control programs are less well-developed, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like China and India”, said a major regional study published April in PLOS Medicine. Researchers say inadequate public awareness of smoking risks, coupled with aggressive tobacco marketing, has left Asian nations with some of the highest smoking rates in the world at a time when sustained anti-smoking campaigns have lowered rates in the US and parts of Europe.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said Thursday progress is being made on developing a “next-generation” ultra-thin, skin-like condom that could offer better sexual pleasure, help population control and be financed by first-world investors. Last year, the Microsoft co-founder and one of the world’s richest men offered inventors $100,000 in start-up grants to develop a “next-generation” of super-sheath condoms through the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It looks like “there are some technological materials that will be able to maintain a (condom) barrier with a very thin, thin material”, Gates said in New Delhi.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Rappler, Microsoft and the Global Center for Journalism and Democracy are in Tacloban Friday, September 19, to continue its workshop on the changing landscapes of disasters, journalism, and technology as part of the PH+SocialGood Summit #2030NOW. A team of international experts share their first-hand experiences in working in disaster situations on September 19, 2014. Filipino journalists also recount the heartbreaking and inspiring stories of Super Typhoon Haiyan and why it is important to empower those who report and write about disasters.

Read the full story on Rappler.