April 4, 2012 Edition

Despite protestations from the international community, North Korea is keen on pushing through with its long-range rocket launch next week. The United States sees the launch as a pretext for long-range missile testing which is banned by the United Nations. Filipinos should care more about the launch, with the Philippines being near the firing line, and with the potential of rocket debris falling just east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea.

Full details on Rappler

The Philippines wants Asean to take up a unified position on the South China Sea issue. Speaking at the Asean Summit in Cambodia, President Benigno Aquino III called on fellow Asean leaders to finalize a code of conduct before they negotiate with China. Several Asean countries, including the Philippines, as well as non-member China have asserted claims over the potentially resource-rich South China Sea and the Spratly Islands. Several recent naval run-ins have raised tensions further.

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While the Republican primaries don’t end until June, it looks like Republican front runner Mitt Romney and US President Barack Obama have their sights set on a head-to-head race for the presidency. Romney is still campaigning for a Republican nomination with primaries still to come, but his focus seems to have moved on to his future rival. Recently, Romney took a jab at President Obama saying Obama’s version of a perfect world is one with “a big spending environment”. The Obama camp, on the other hand, has put out advertisements directly naming Romney as a backer of “Big Oil” companies despite steep prices of gasoline.

Read more on Time.com

Is something brewing over at the Al Qaeda? Terrorism experts seem to think so after key Al Qaeda forums have fallen silent over the last few weeks. These forums are where passionate members come together to discuss ideology and loyalty to the cause. According to reports, the last message from any core group was posted on March 23. CNN’s National Security Analyst Fran Townsend hinted that the outages sound like a “covert activity.”

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After photos of a woman standing on a whale shark made the rounds of social networking sites last weekend, government agencies in Central Visayas have committed to releasing ordinances and guidelines on proper animal treatment. A campaign is being planned for areas where whale sharks appear, including the town of Boljoon, Cebu where the photos were taken.

Read more on Rappler

SALNs are useless unless there is a system for them to be checked regularly. According to a World Bank and United Nations study entitled “Public Office, Private Interests: Accountability through Income and Asset Disclosure”,  sanctions should be imposed as an enforcement mechanism against corrupt behavior. The study comes amidst the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona where supposed misdeclarations in his SALN are among the issues tackled.

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Transgender candidate for Miss Canada, Jenna Talackova, is back in the running for the beauty title after the Miss Universe Organization decided she could compete, provided that she meet “legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions.” While the statement didn’t go into details what these standards are, Talackova’s participation would be a landmark case. Previous rules by the Miss Universe Organization only allowed naturally born women to compete. Talackova says she knew she was a woman at age 4, started hormone therapy at 14, and underwent sexual reassignment surgery at 19.

Read more on CNN.com

Marvel comics is set to change the face of comics with the launch of new Infinite Comics format coming out on Apple’s iPad tomorrow, April 4. The first edition is for the title, “Avengers vs. X-Men #1 Infinite”. Infinite comics is a new form of story telling which is similar to how print magazines have adapted to new digital advances by going digital and interactive. Infinite comics will have the same look and feel as traditional comics, but with new digital advancements. Text bubbles, for example, can appear all at once or staggered depending on when the artist wants them to come out. Panels may also appear one-at-a-time depending on the feel the artists want to convey.

Watch the full interview with Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada on Gizmodo

Less than two months after her death, viewers get to see for the first time footage from the last movie Whitney Houston shot. The trailer of the movie “Sparkle” – a remake of a 1976 original – was released Monday in the US. The movie stars American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and is very loosely based on the story of the Supremes. Whitney plays the role of Emma Williams, the mother of a girl group who rise to fame during the Motown-era. Sparkle also stars pop-star Cee Lo Green. It is scheduled for a US release on August 17, 2012.

Read more on CBS News

The wait is over. San Miguel Corporation and Philippine Airlines have to come an investment agreement. According to a disclosure filed at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, April 4 , the agreement was inked in the afternoon of April 3 following delays after PAL owner Lucio Tan asked for more time to study the offer. There was no mention of how much the deal was worth or how much of PAL would be owned by SMC. Previous reports indicated that San Miguel would acquire anywhere between 46% to 49% of the PAL for about $500-M.

Find out what more is at stake on Rappler.