March 8, 2012 Edition

Mrs Cristina Corona will testify in the impeachment trial of her husband, Chief Justice Renato Corona, according to the defense panel. Mrs Corona is expected to explain the source of their wealth, the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc (BGEI). But the dissolved corporation is mired in a messy legal dispute. On March 2, the Basa family asked a Manila court to remove Mrs Corona as BGEI administrator due to, among others, claims she borrowed money from BGEI to purchase a Quezon City lot. An estranged relative, Ana Basa, has told the Inquirer that Mrs Corona used her husband’s power to control BGEI. The Coronas have denied this; Mrs Corona herself is expected to go public and air her side of the story.

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Mrs Corona’s relatives want her removed from post

A Filipina who asked women to withhold sex from their husbands in exchange for peace in their community in Maguindanao landed on the list of the “World’s 150 Fearless Women” compiled by Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

Hasna Kandatu, a seamstress from Manguindanao, led a campaign for wives to withhold sex from their husbands in exchange for peace in their conflict-torn community. Kandatu is on the list with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, music icon Lady Gaga and Grammy winner Adele. Kandatu “decided to employ an ancient tactic to stop a separatist rebellion in their region: they withheld sex from their husbands until they promised to quit fighting. The strategy worked. It took only days for sectarian struggles to quell, and the main road to be reopened,” according to her short bio posted on the website. The Kandatu-led “sex strike” in July 2011 in Barangay Dado, Datu Piang town in Maguindanao helped ease tensions and restored normalcy for 102 families living there, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).

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The US and other countries have agreed to resume talks with Iran over its nuclear program, even as Iran showed willingness to allow inspectors to visit a military base. Iran sent overtures for talks last month. News reports quoted US President Barack Obama as citing the possibility of talks amid what he described as “unprecedented pressure” world leaders have been placing on Iran. The US, France, Britain, China, Russia, and Germany agreed on March 6 to return to the negotiating table. Talks broke off in January 2011.

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He just can’t seal it, screamed the Huffingtonpost after Republican Mitt Romney had a “squeaker of a win” in Ohio over rival Rick Santorum in what’s been dubbed as Super Tuesday for the Republican primaries. Romney won his home state of Massachusetts as well as Ohio, Idaho, Vermont, Virginia and Alaska, while Santorum took North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee, according to CNN. Romney failed to attract strong support from the conservative base, according to observers. The Republican bets are now preparing for the Kansas caucuses on Saturday and primaries in Mississippi and Alabama on March 13.

Read the full story on CNN

Read more insights on Huffingtonpost

World champion boxer and Sarangani Rep Manny Pacquiao filed a P75-M libel suit against journalist Edwin Espejo, who is based in General Santos City and contributes to Rappler and other news organizations. Espejo wrote stories for the Asian Correspondent and Mindanews that a dealer of stolen cars was last spotted with Pacquiao. Espejo wrote that the last time car dealer Mohammad “Bong” Akia was eyed in public was on a flight with Pacquiao from Manila to General Santos City. They then got into a car and headed for Pacquiao’s house allegedly to seek refuge, according to Espejo’s story. Akia has reportedly not been seen since. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines criticized Pacquiao for filing the suit, saying it was meant to “stifle reasonable criticism and critical coverage.”


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Read Mindanews’ take on it here

A Jakarta court has found a former executive at Citibank guilty of fraud and embezzling money from customers’ accounts. Malinda Dee’s lavish lifestyle finally caught up with her when the South Jakarta District Court ruled that she used customers’ money to buy 2 Ferraris, a Humvee, a Mercedes, a Porsche, among others. She was ordered jailed for 8 years. The case has prompted a wide-scale probe into banking fraud in Indonesia, home to some of Asia’s richest people. The charges against Dee also caused sanctions on Citibank.

Read the full story on BBC

High definition screen. A 5-megapixel camera sensor. Faster connection. Apple CEO Tim Cook launched its third-generation tablet computer in San Francisco on Wednesday, March 7. It is set to go on sale on March 16 in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Japan. At least 25 more countries will be added a week after, Apple said. The new iPad will start at US$499 and cost up to $829 for the highest-end version. But what to call it? Journalists and netizens asked Apple for a name. Is it iPad 4? Is it an Anonymous iPad? “It’s just iPad,” said an Apple spokesman.

Read the full story here on CNN

Mercury News and BBC also featured the launch

Police in India have arrested a New Delhi-based freelance journalist in connection with the bombing of an Israeli diplomatic vehicle in the Indian capital last month. Syed Mohammed Kazmi was arrested on Tuesday, March 6, following information he was in touch with a suspect who might have stuck a magnetic bomb to the Israeli diplomat’s car, which exploded last February 13, hurting 4 people. The Press Trust of India said the suspect had claimed to work for an Iranian organization.

Read the full story in The New York Times

After refusing to allow her into the country, the UN emergency relief chief arrived in Syria on Wednesday, March 7, to assess the situation of villages suffering from weeks of government attacks. The UN’s Valerie Amos met with Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem; the visit lasted only 45 minutes. The United States and other countries have stepped up the pressure on the Syrian government to end the civil strife, which has plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis. In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reminded Syria of its pledge to “withdraw its forces, release political prisoners, permit peaceful protests and allow international journalists to do their jobs, which is to tell the truth.”

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Lady Gaga lives up to her title, becoming the first person to get 20 million followers on the social networking site, according to Mashable. Lady Gaga first became the number one Twitter personality in August 2010, when she surpassed Britney Spears. She joined Twitter in March 2008. The top 5 most-followed people in Twitterverse are all musicians; Lady Gaga is followed by Justin Bieber (18 million followers), Katy Perry (15.7 million), Shakira (14.5 million) and Rihanna (14.4 million).

Read the full story on Rappler