May 4, 2012 Edition

He was anxious about his image and advised against attacks within the Muslim world. The US Military Academy Combating Terrorism Center released on May 3 at least 17 documents from a cache of 6,000 seized during the raid on a Pakistan compound that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The documents cover September 2006 to April 2011, including letters to and from deputies. The slain terrorist leader wrote about a new phase to correct his group’s earlier mistakes. The documents also show a divided Al-Qaeda and its preoccupation with media.

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For more on the bin Laden papers, check BBC

In a dramatic turn of events, blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng phoned in to a U.S. congressional hearing Thursday, May 3, from a Beijing hospital and pleaded for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help get him to America. Clinton is at present in China for crucial bilateral talks. “I want to meet with Secretary Clinton. I hope I can get more help from her,” Chen told Rep Chris Smith in a phone call carried live on the speaker system where Chen’s case was being examined in a congressional commission on human rights in China. Chen helped expose abuses in China’s one-child policy in his home province, escaping house arrest on April 22 and making his way to the US Embassy in Beijing. He left Wednesday, May 2, but has repeatedly expressed fears for his life. He earlier told CNN he wanted to go to America.

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Asia will need to raise its tax collections if it wants to achieve higher economic growth, world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs said during an Asian Development Bank governors’ seminar on Thursday, May 3. Sachs says taxes are the price one pays for civilization. “You need to spend enough for health for the poor, education, infrastructure, science and technology,” he said. “The U.S. doesn’t do this any more. That is why we have a chronic fiscal crisis.” Sachs was one of the bets for the lead World Bank post this year, but he withdrew his nomination in support of U.S. nominee and now World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

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As the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the dismembered bodies of two news photographers in Mexico were found and one Somalian radio reporter was shot dead. UN leader Ban Ki-moon led international outrage over the killings, noting the “dire threats” faced by journalists and the fact that more than 60 were killed in 2011 alone. Reporters Without Borders said even before the bodies of the Mexican photographers were found, 22 reporters and six bloggers and “citizen journalists” have already been killed since the start of 2012.

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At its annual governors’ meeting in Manila, the Asian Development Bank announced Thursday, May 3, the establishment of the Asean Infrastructure Fund (AIF), the largest financing initiative for the 10 member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Fund, with initial equity of US$485-M, aims to help fund crucial infrastructure needs in the region such as road, rail, power, water and other critical projects. The ADB would provide additional co-financing for every AIF project through long-term loans of 15 to 20 years.

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Days after officials announced the United Nations’s approval of the Philippines’s latest territorial claim, experts said the government should now make the next move by crafting a law defining the country’s continental shelf. More than this, it should announce its new territory to the whole world, they added. Benham Rise, a 13-million hectare underwater territory off the province of Aurora, marked the first time the Philippines won a territorial claim under a United Nations (UN) maritime convention. The area is potentially rich in steel-producing minerals and natural gas.

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Barring hitches, Japan on Saturday, May 5, will become a nuclear-free nation — even if temporarily — for the first time in more than 4 decades, according to various reports. At least 50 commercial reactors are scheduled to go offline in response to local criticism of their use. Public distrust in nuclear plants grew after last year’s devastating tsunami and earthquake that damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Local executives managed to seize this sentiment to question what they call Tokyo’s bias for big business at the expense of public safety. Japanese experts though dread a future scenario without nukes.

Read the full story in The NewYork Times

Sarangani representative and world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao retains his title as the lone billionaire (P1.353-B) in the House of Representatives following the release of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of public officials. The list of the Philippines’s 10 richest representatives carries old names from the past. Two of the 10 richest represent Ilocos Norte, the province where the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was born. His wife Imelda Marcos, now representative of Ilocos Norte’s 2nd district, is this second richest on the list with a P932.8-M net worth. Another Ilocos Norte lawmaker, Rodolfo Fariñas, is No. 9 on the list with a net worth of close to P200-M.

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South Korea’s Samsung Electronics unveiled on Friday, May 4, its latest flagship smartphone at a London launch. The Galaxy S3 is 22% larger than the Galaxy S2, boasting of a 4.8-inch screen and “intelligent camera features” which use face recognition technology and improved voice-activated controls. With the launch, Samsung aims to strengthen its position as the world’s best-selling mobile phone maker.

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Vogue editors around the world pledged on Thursday, May 3, to use only healthy models no younger than 16 on their editorial pages. The editors said that in a six-point pact to appear in their respective June issues, they would pledge not to knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or with those “who appear to have an eating disorder.” It is Vogue’s attempt to shift fashion’s approach to a healthy body image amid public criticism of how the fashion industry has been exploiting young, anorexic models. In 2010, Vogue sparked a furor over its use of a 10-year-old girl on its spread.

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