September 3, 2013 Edition

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad warned that Western military strikes risked igniting a “regional war” in the “powder keg” of the Middle East. In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, he also said France would face “repercussions” if it took part in US-led plans for military action in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad’s regime last month. “Everyone will lose control of the situation once the powder keg explodes. Chaos and extremism will spread. There is a risk of regional war.” Assad said that at the start of the crisis, now into its 3rd year, a solution could have been found through dialogue or political measures but the situation today was “different.”

Read more on Rappler.

Read more about the crisis in Syria.

Nokia announced it is selling its mobile phone unit to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros or US$7.2 billion on Tuesday, September 3. Nokia will grant Microsoft a 10-year non-exclusive licence to its patents and will itself focus on network infrastructure and services, which it called “the best path forward for Nokia and its shareholders.” Microsoft and Nokia already joined forces about two years ago in an alliance aimed at making inroads with handsets powered by Windows Phone software. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.

Read more on Rappler.

While President Benigno Aquino III does not want to abolish the pork barrel, now the subject of a scam involving alleged queen Janet Napoles, it was his great maternal grandfather who already said back in 1925 that the pork barrel was a violation of the rule on the power of the purse. The President should listen to his ancestor, said Rappler Thought Leaders writer Eric Gutierrez. In a speech by Sen Juan Sumulong, then the minority floor leader and leader of the opposition, he said ‘The power of the purse belongs to Congress, which is not allowed to increase the appropriations recommended by the President, although that rule is often violated as congressmen scramble to increase budget items for so-called pork barrel funds.” Juan Sumulong’s daughter Demetria was married to Don Pepe Cojuangco; Demetria and Don Pepe were the parents of Cory Aquino.


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US telecoms giant Verizon and Vodafone announced they had agreed the British company would sell out its 45% stake in their joint venture Verizon Wireless for $130 billion. The blockbuster deal, which would be one of the biggest transactions in corporate history, would allow Vodafone to bounce back from hefty losses, pay down debt, make new acquisitions and return money to shareholders, according to analysts. The deal also marks the group’s exit from the United States market and injects several billion euros into the British economy that is struggling to lift out of the doldrums. Verizon said it will pay Vodafone $58.9 billion in cash and issue common stock currently valued at approximately $60.2 billion, with other items accounting for the balance.

Read more on Rappler.

The council, which is tasked to formulate a fair revenue-sharing arrangement between government and mining firms, may scrap the proposed unified tax collection scheme for the mining industry in a bill it drafted. This followed a concern raised by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) regarding the proposal of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) seeking a government share of 10% of gross production value of mining projects or 50% of gross income, whichever is higher. MGB Director Leo Jasareno wrote the Board of Investments, saying the tax scheme being eyed will result in lower government share in mining revenues.

Read more on Rappler.

In a post-Snowden world, where the bounds of a government in providing national security have to be balanced with the privacy of its citizens, comes the Hemisphere Project. It is reportedly a cooperative between local and federal drug officials and telecommunications giant AT&T. The US government “pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country.” The employees help Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and local detectives, providing them with phone data from 1987 onwards – 26 years of records. The program began in 2007, according to the presentation revealed by the New York Times, which also said 4 billion call records get put into the database every day.

Read more on Rappler.

One of Japan’s two remaining working nuclear reactors was taken offline Tuesday, September 3, with Kansai Electric Power’s other to be shut down on Sept 15. There are no restarts in sight amid public hostility to nuclear power. The shutdown was aimed at allowing the operator to be ready for inspections legally mandated within 13 months of the start of commercial operation. The reactor is one of the only two still generating power in Japan. The other one, Unit No. 4 at Oi, is to be switched off on September 15. The two reactors were restarted in July 2012 after passing safety tests, ending a brief period in which no atomic power was generated in Japan. They were the only units to be brought back online after undergoing such tests in the aftermath of the disaster in March 2011 at Fukushima.

Read more on Rappler.

The lawmaker representing a district of Laguna province wants to the practice of using the Fort Sto Domingo in Sta Rosa, Laguna, as detention center for high-profile crime suspects which, he said, might soon include fellow lawmakers. Danilo Fernandez, in a speech at the House of Representatives, “Mr Speaker, I don’t want to be the host of the bicameral committee hearing in Cuartel de Sto Domingo.” The practice, he said, sullies the historic nature of the place, known since the Spanish time as Cuartel de Sto Domingo. He said this on the same day that Senate President Franklin Drilon proposed that hearings into the case of alleged pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles be conducted at Fort Sto Domingo, where she is detained.

Read more on Rappler.

A warrant of arrest will be issued to an heir of the Red Bull energy drink creator who failed to show up to hear charges against him in a fatal hit-and-run case that sparked nationwide outrage, the Guardian said. Vorayuth Yoovidhya, 28, is accused of driving his Ferrari sports car when it collided with an on-duty policeman in the early hours of 3 September 2012. “Investigators will issue an arrest warrant for the suspect tomorrow and he can be arrested anywhere in Thailand,” Reuchai Krairerk, a senior public prosecutor at Bangkok South criminal court, said. Vorayuth faces charges of causing death through reckless driving and failing to stop and assist the victim.

Read more on Guardian.

Diana Nyad, 64, swam into the history books on September 2 after completing a 3-day crossing from Cuba to Florida to become the first person to do so without a protective shark cage. A visibly exhausted Nyad, her face puffy and sunburned, told cheering crowds as she walked ashore that she realized her lifetime quest after 4 previous attempts failed amid stormy weather and jellyfish attacks. She was accompanied by 5 boats and a team of divers as she braved the perilous waters. Initially, the veteran swimmer had hoped to complete the treacherous 100-mile (160-kilometer) trek in 80 hours. But in the end, she did it in 52 hours, 54 minutes and 18.6 seconds, according to her Facebook page. Nyad’s pursuit was followed closely by people around the globe, who took to social media to first encourage and then congratulate her.

Read more on Rappler.

Watch CNN video here.