Rappler Newscast | July 22, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo withdraws from the elections saying there’s been massive and systematic fraud as tally shows his rival Joko Widodo won. 
• The train carrying the bodies of MH7 crash victims leave Ukrainian rebel-controlled areas.

TALLY SHOWS JOKOWI WON INDONESIAN ELECTION

A tally of final results shows Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo or Jokowi and running mate Jusuf Kalla win Indonesia’s third democratic presidential election.
The count shows Jokowi with a lead of almost 8.5 million votes.
The final results are scheduled to be announced by the General Elections Commission or KPU at 8 pm Tuesday or 9 pm Manila time but the official count shows the pair winning in 23 provinces.
Jokowi and Kalla get almost 71 million votes, or 53.15% of the total voting population.
The two win two-thirds of the vote in 3 known strongholds – Central Java, South Sulawesi, and Bali.
Rivals former general Prabowo Subianto and former economics minister Hatta Rajasa, won in 10 other provinces and gained a total of about 62.5 million votes.
Prabowo and Hatta dominated the most populous province in Indonesia – West Java – with 59.78% of almost 23.7 million votes cast.
A few hours ago, Prabowo withdraws from the presidential elections, saying he rejects the process because of massive and systematic fraud.
His withdrawal comes less than 2 hours before the General Elections Commission or KPU was scheduled to officially announce the results.
Prabowo says the electoral process is problematic, undemocratic, and violated the Constitution.
He also accuses KPU of ignoring the recommendations of the Election Supervisory Board on alleged irregularities.
He says “We will use our Constitutional right to reject a flawed presidential election
and we are pulling out of the ongoing process.”
Prabowo calls on all his supporters to remain calm, saying they would fight through legal means and not through violence.
It was not immediately clear if the Prabowo camp will file a legal challenge with the Constitutional Court.
Legal expert Irman Putrasiddin says Prabowo’s refusal to sign the election’s result will threaten its constitutionality.
Prabowo’s rival Joko Widodo or Jokowi and running mate Jusuf Kalla are expected to be declared winners of Indonesia’s most divisive presidential election ever.
In response to Prabowo’s protest Jokowi says: “I’m sure Pak Prabowo is a statesman
who would prioritize the interests of the nation and the state above all else.”

 

MH17: BODIES LEAVE UKRAINE WAR ZONE, REBELS CALL TRUCE

The morgue train carrying the remains of 280 people from the MH17 disaster arrives in the Kiev-controlled city of Kharkiv and is out of Ukrainian rebel control.
The bodies will be put on a plane to the Netherlands.
193 Dutch citizens were killed in the crash.
The plane’s black boxes, which record cockpit activity and flight data, were handed over to the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai.
US president Barack Obama blames Russia, which he says has “direct influence over these separatists.”
Moscow hits back, saying records showed a Ukrainian military plane was flying a few kilometers from the Boeing 777 before it crashed on Thursday.
Ukraine dismisses the claim, calling it an “irresponsible and false statement” by Russia.
This is Malaysia Airlines’ second disaster in only four months after flight MH370 was lost, reportedly in the Indian Ocean.
The missing jet has yet to be found.

 

MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE DIVERTS FROM UKRAINE TO SYRIA

Malaysia Airlines confirms it diverted a plane from its former route over Ukraine in the wake of MH17 crash to another conflict area airspace– this time over Syria.
Defending itself, the airline said MH4’s new flight path was in accordance with routes approved by the United Nations’ aviation agency International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO.
It says “the Syrian airspace was not subject to restrictions.”
Dozens of airlines previously flying over crisis-stricken eastern Ukraine abandoned the route between Asia and Europe after the MH17 crash.
Air traffic tracker Flightradar 24 on Monday tweeted the July 20 flight flew over war-torn Syria, where the conflict is raging both on the ground and in the air.
It says “As far as we have seen #MH4 was the only transcontinental flight going over Syria.”
Right after the MH17 crash, Malaysia Airlines was also questioned about flying over conflict-torn Ukraine.
The airline denied it was negligent then and said that international air authorities had deemed the flight path over Ukraine secure.

 

BODY OF FUGITIVE SOUTH KOREA FERRY OWNER FOUND

South Korean police on Tuesday say they found the corpse of fugitive ferry owner Yoo Byung-Eun.
Yoo’s been the target of a months-long manhunt over April’s Sewol ferry disaster that killed nearly 300 people.
The heavily decomposed corpse of the 73-year-old Yoo was discovered on June 12  in Suncheon, a city 300 kilometers or 186 miles south of capital Seoul.
Police say the body was too decomposed to determine the cause of death, although several empty bottles of alcohol were found at the scene.
A more detailed forensic analysis will be done to determine the cause and date of Yoo’s death.
Yoo was the patriarch of the family that owned and operated the Sewol ferry that sank on April 16
with 476 people on board, including 325 high school children.
294 died, with 10 victims still unaccounted for.
A summons was issued for Yoo shortly after the sinking, but he refused to surrender to police and eventually went on the run.

 

PREPARE TO EVACUATE, 36,000 FILIPINOS IN ISRAEL TOLD

The Philippines warns around 36,400 Filipinos in Israel to prepare for possible evacuation due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Foreign Affairs Department or DFA issues a warning Tuesday as it raises crisis alert level 2, known as the restriction phase, over Israel and the West Bank.
Alert level 2 is issued when there are “real threats to the life, security, and property of Filipinos arising from internal disturbance, instability, and external threats.”
The DFA says its earlier order for Filipinos to evacuate the Gaza Strip still stands, under alert level 4.
Up to 109 Filipinos live in the Gaza Strip.
Escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 570 so far.
Leaders from all over the world continue to urge Israel to take “greater steps” to prevent civilian casualties,
with UN chief Ban Ki-moon appealing for the violence to stop.
Many of the dead are civilians, and a third of them children.
But Hamas has so far rejected calls for a truce.  
It says it will enter into a ceasefire if Israel stops the siege and the releases its prisoners.

 

PROPOSED BANGSAMORO LAW STILL IN LIMBO

The final version of the draft law that will serve as the legal basis of a new autonomous government in the Southern Philippines remains in limbo.
Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer says there continues to be “significant points of difference between the parties” after 4 days of discussions.
President Benigno Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim are set to meet again.
No date and time set at this point.
Aquino’s Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma says the planned meeting
aims to thresh out differences on the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Aquino earlier said he wants the Bangsamoro Basic Law submitted to Congress in time for the opening of its second regular session.

 

PLUNDER CASE FILED VS VP BINAY, MAKATI OFFICIALS

Vice President Jejomar Binay faces plunder accusations for an allegedly overpriced multi-million-peso parking building in Makati City.
The complaint filed before the Ombudsman says the contract for the Makati parking building
was supposed to have amounted to only P245.56 million but was overpriced by more than P1.314 billion.
The final contract price was pegged at P1.56 billion.
The complainants say Binay and his son, incumbent Mayor Junjun Binay,
“violated every rule in construction manuals and government procedures in pushing for a project
that was grossly overpriced and funded by various loans…”
irregularly passed through the City Council through supplemental budgets for 5 years.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

SCIENTISTS MARK NEW RECORD HIGH FOR JUNE
Climate scientists from the US say last month was the hottest June since record-keeping began in 1880.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA says June registered
a combined average temperature over land and ocean surfaces at 61.2°Fahrenheit or 16.22°Celsius…
.72°C or 1.30°F warmer than the 20th century average for the month.
The month of June has been warmer than the 20th century average for 38 years in a row, NOAA said.

TWITTER, FACEBOOK SPAMMERS EXPLOIT MH17 CRASH
Online security experts warn the public of scammers using the MH17 crash in east Ukraine to link to either pornographic websites or spam pages.
A security firm detects spam links on tweets pretending to be about MH17 but bore spam links.
On Facebook, a community page dedicated to one of the victims uses his name and photo but it links to a pornographic website.
Richard Cox of anti-spam body Spamhaus tells the BBC, “It is a fairly rapid and predictable response by the individuals behind it.
They are all to make money. There is no compassion involved.”

MAGICIAN DAVID BLAINE COMES TO MANILA
Manila will be in for a bag of tricks when magician David Blaine performs at the Araneta Coliseum on September 12.
The New York-born magician will stage a 90-minute show called Real or Magic.
It will be his first-ever performance in the Philippines.
He started his magic tricks in 1997 and took them to a higher level by performing death-defying performances inspired by legendary magician Harry Houdini.
These include being frozen in ice for 63 hours.  

For the full top 10 visit Rappler.com’s ‘the wRap.’

 

PRINCE GEORGE TURNS ONE

Britain’s Prince George turns 1 Tuesday.
The BBC reports the young prince’s parents, Prince William and Duchess Kate,
are expected to throw a simple birthday party for George at their Kensington Palace apartment Tuesday.
Here are two new pictures of the third in line to the British throne.
In a statement, the proud parents thank people for their “warm and generous good wishes”.
The couple says – “We would like to take this opportunity on George’s first birthday to thank everyone over the last year,
wherever we have met them, both at home and overseas,
for their warm and generous good wishes to George and our family.”

Newscast Production Staff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER	Lilibeth Frondoso
DIRECTOR	Rupert Ambil
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / PUBLISHER	Rodneil Quiteles
	Dindin Reyes
HEAD WRITER / PROMPTER	Katerina Francisco
	Marga Deona
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK	Exxon Ruebe
	Emerald Hidalgo
	Jaene Zaplan
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN	Charlie Salazar
	Adrian Portugal
	Francis Lopez
	Naoki Mengua
GRAPHICS	Jessica Lazaro
	Raffy de Guzman