March 23, 2012 Edition

The American soldier who went on a shooting spree in Afghanistan on March 11 will be charged Friday, March 23, with 17 counts of murder and various other charges, including attempted murder. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, 38, is being held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansan. He was serving his fourth combat tour overseas when he was reported to have walked away from his remote base in southern Afghanistan and to have killed 16 civilians. Bales, according to his lawyer, could be affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more details from the New York Times.

The impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona is taking a 6-week break with big questions hanging over his central defense, his wife’s family corporation Basa Guidote Enterprises Inc (BGEI). On Day 34 of the trial, the defense panel’s surprise witness, former Mayor Lito Atienza, testified on the city’s 2001 purchase of a BGEI-owned lot in Sampaloc for P34.7-M. City hall issued the check to the Chief Justice’s wife, Maria Cristina. The saga of the Basa Guidote Enterprises Inc. is important to both the prosecution and the defense. The defense mentioned it to try to explain Corona’s accounts with Philippine Saving Bank (PSBank) and his purchase of at least one property. The prosecution has, however, insisted that Corona is using the money of BGEI as an excuse, suggesting that his assets are ill-gotten. Read more in Rappler.

After earning her 3^rd standing ovation from the judges of “American Idol,” on Wednesday night, March 21, 16-year-old contestant Jessica Sanchez remains in the competition. She got praise from no less than Billy Joel himself for her rendition of his Everybody Has a Dream during the contest’s Billy Joel night. During that night, Jennifer Lopez said, “That song was just written for you. That was a defining song, that’s you.” Randy Jackson was effusive with praise, too. “You have a moment every time you step up on that stage. It was flawless, it was perfect.” The third judge Steven Tyler told the part-Filipino, part-American singer, “You’ve gone way past my judging…Thank you for letting me hear you sing, baby.” More in Rappler.

The French police siege to capture a suspected al Qaeda-trained militant came to a bloody end Thursday morning in Toulouse when commandos shot Mohammed Merah in the head as he fired wildly back at them, CNN reported authorities as saying. Merah emerged from a bathroom in his apartment and fired more than 30 shots at police as they burst in to end a standoff that had lasted more than 31 hours, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. He jumped out a window, still shooting, and was found dead on the ground, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said. Two police officers were injured in the raid, Gueant added. More from CNN.

Star singer Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use” were contributing factors in her death, according to an initial autopsy report released by the Los Angeles County coroner. Houston, 48, was “found submerged in bathtub filled with water” and “no trauma or foul play is suspected,” the one-page release said. Her cocaine use appeared to have “in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel,” Assistant Chief Coroner Craig Harvey told reporters. 60% of the singer’s arteries were discovered to have narrowed. More from CNN. 

This year, the number of vehicles that will use NLEX and SCTEX may grow to 3% as against a decline of 1% in 2011 compared to a year ago. Traffic stood at 158,000 vehicles a day in 2011 as against 159,000 recorded in 2010. MPTC is setting aside P360-M to integrate NLEX and SCTEX. Another P140-M will be earmarked for repairs and rehab. By April, it will open a new interchange in Balagtas, Bulacan worth over P100-M. The group of Manuel Pangilinan is also expanding the NLEX. Dubbed as the NLEX Harbor Link project, this road will link the NLEX to Manila’s Port Area via another tollway connecting the NLEX main to the newly built cloverleaf junction in Valenzuela City. The total project cost is estimated at P10-B. MLEX stands for Northern Luzon Expressway, while SCTEX is the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway. Read more in Rappler.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo prefers to have her bail application processed at the presidential suite of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) where she is presently detained on a separate election sabotage charge. The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division yesterday granted Arroyo’s request that a court official be sent to the VMMC to process her bail. Otherwise, she would have had to go to the Sandiganbayan to post her P70,000 bail bond on criminal charges — just like what deposed President Joseph Estrada did in 2001. The prosecution did not object. Now serving a 3-year term as congresswoman of Pampanga, Arroyo was given 5 days to send her lawyers or a representative to post the required P70,000-bail bond on her behalf. Read details in Rappler.

You can’t just friend or unfriend on Facebook,  you can also “acquaintance” people. If you haven’t yet noticed, an update to its lists tool, allows users of Facebook to improve the relevance of users’ news feeds by making it easier for individuals to sort distant friends into an “acquaintance” category. People demoted to acquaintance status will still be listed as a user’s Facebook friend, but the social network will show less of their content in the user’s the News Feed. The shift follows Facebook’s introduction of the subscribe button in 2011, which gave users the option to “subscribe” to someone, rather than friend them. More in The Huffington Post.

Gameplay rises to a new level with Angry Birds Space. New elements include using gravitational fields from planetary bodies which, if used the right way, will help players set up spectacular trick shots. The game also comes with a whole new line of Angry Birds that have new destructive powers. Ice Bird debuts in this series. Game developer consulted NASA during the development phase of the game, ensuring the most education experience possible. NASA’s partnership with the Finland-based game manufacturer began over Twitter. More in Rappler.

Read also in The Huffington Post.

The men’s Philippine rugby team fell to the stronger Canadian side in their first ever game at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens. Canada scored the opener within the first 3 minutes of the game, putting them up 7-0. They followed it up with a 2^nd try 4 minutes later. The Canadians broke away yet again right before the half, to lead the game 21-0 at halftime. Justin Coveney tried to score towards the end of the 2^nd half. The game ended at 35-5 in favor of Canada. Details in Rappler.