May 24, 2012 Edition

The impeachment court will be deciding the fate of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday, May 29, at the latest, according to Presiding Officer Sen Juan Ponce Enrile. The announcement caps a dramatic week for the court, when Corona appeared in his own trial but walked out of it after a 3-hour testimony. His lawyers were given until Friday, May 25, to present him again and wrap up their defense for him. The Chief Justice remains in the hospital where doctors are monitoring his heart condition; he’s had two heart bypass surgeries.

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In its annual report, Amnesty International has said the UN Security Council has failed to match the courage of protesters around the world and is becoming “unfit for purpose.” It’s about time UN leaders put rights over profits, says AI, noting the failure of the organization to stop global arms trade – one factor for the persistence of conflicts in the world. The world body has to change the way it behaves or risk total irrelevance, says AI.

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Pakistan has jailed a doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States collect DNA samples of Osama bin Laden. The US government believes this has no basis, and Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton had called for his release. Shakil Afridi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system in Khyber district for running a fake vaccination program to gather information on bin Laden. The raid on bin Laden’s safe house, which led to his killing last year, strained the relations between the two allies.

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BBC has other details here

Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp (MPTDC), led by its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, and San Miguel Corp-backed Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp (CMMTC), headed by San Miguel president Ramon Ang, presented on May 23 their proposals to the Aquino government on their respective tollway projects that will connect the north and south Luzon expressways. Worth P45-B, the projects must be approved by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee first before they can be awarded to the proponents. This has been in the pipeline since 2010, as part of overall plans to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.

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As the euro hit a two-year low, leaders of the European Union met at a summit that saw Germany and France locked in fierce debates on existing austerity measures. New French President Francois Hollande stepped up his proposal for the launch of eurobonds, jointly pooled eurozone debt, which was rejected by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the French president said he wanted to see eurobonds in the EU’s agenda for the future. “We have no time to waste,” the freshly elected Socialist leader stressed at his first EU summit.

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Investors and lawyers are suing Facebook and its underwriters after the company’s US$16-B initial public offering flopped. Facebook shares have plunged 18% over the first 3 trading sessions, prompting allegation that institutional investors had received privileged information that drove them to dump the shares at the expense of small investors. Bloomberg reported that a Massachusetts regulator has decided to subpoena to Morgan Stanley, one of Facebook’s underwriters. 

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The world’s biggest personal computer maker plans to cut 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its global workforce, by next year in a major restructuring effort. Hewlett-Packard, which is struggling amid a move to mobile devices and tablet computers, said the move is expected to generate annualized savings of US$3.0-3.5 billion by the end of the 2014 fiscal year. The workforce cuts will include an early retirement package for employees. HP intends to re-invest the savings into the company’s other segments such as cloud computing, big data and security.

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China insisted it only has 20 fishing vessels in the disputed Scarborough Shoal after the Philippine government protested the supposed presence of up to 92 Chinese vessels in the area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a press conference that the number of fishing boats in the area – 20 – is roughly the same as in previous years. Earlier, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippine Coast Guard has monitored at least 16 Chinese fishing vessels and 76 utility boats in Scarborough Shoal as of May 22. Utility boats, which Hong did not include in the count he released, usually operate alongside bigger fishing vessels.

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A Filipina former nanny of Sharon Stone has sued the US film star for wrongful dismissal and harassment, including by allegedly making derogatory remarks about her ethnicity and religion. In legal papers filed in Los Angeles on May 22, Erlinda Elemen claims the actress equated being Filipino with being stupid, and ordered her not to speak in front of her children so they would not “talk like you.” Stone dismissed Elemen last year. Elemen accused Stone of subjecting her to slurs and criticizing her habit of going to church. The actress slammed the lawsuit as Elemen’s attempt to cash in on her. 

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Jessica Sanchez lost her bid to become American Idol’s first female winner after a long drought. Host Ryan Seacrest announced the winner at the end of a two-hour, star-studded season finale that gripped Filipinos all over the world. Phillips bested Sanchez, ending the weeks-long competition in the search for the “next American superstar.” The finale was dubbed as the battle of opposites: the sassy “diva-in-training” pitted against the dreamy, boy-next-door singer with a guitar as his best friend. Why did Phillips win American Idol?

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Read the full story on the winner’s announcement on Rappler