Daily News Highlights – December 1, 2015 Edition

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday slammed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for cursing Pope Francis in a speech. In a rare and strongly worded statement, the CBCP described crimes such as murder and adultery as “a great scourge of Philippine politics.” CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said, “When a revered and loved and admired man like Pope Francis is cursed by a political candidate and the audience laugh, I can only bow my head and grieve in great shame. My countrymen have gone to the dregs.” Duterte on Monday cursed Francis for the heavy traffic triggered by January’s papal visit. Duterte said in a speech: “Pope, you son of a bitch, go home. Don’t visit here anymore.”

Read more on the CBCP reaction to Duterte.

Read more on Duterte cursing Pope Francis.

PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan) proclaimed Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano its official tandem for the 2016 elections Monday. Duterte said, “I never expected this even in my wildest dreams, never aspired more than the boundaries of the mayorship.” The room of a hotel in Manila was jampacked with his supporters from all over the country. The event marks the party’s acceptance of Cayetano as Duterte’s running mate. Cayetano belongs to another political party, the Nacionalista Party, but he filed his Certificate of Candidacy as an independent.

Read more on the PDP LABAN proclamation

Senator Francis Escudero and Congresswoman Leni Robredo have many things in common: both are lawyers, both are Bicolanos and both are UP graduates. What sets them apart? Their views differ on the Aquino administration and the role a vice president should play. In the same forum Robredo said a vice president should concetrate on the job and not use the office to gain mileage in preparation for a presidential bid.

Read more on the VP forum

Robredo on VP’s who aspire to be president

Speaking before leaders of 150 nations and 40,000 delegates from 195 countries US President Barack Obama told delegates in Paris that “never have the stakes been so high” and that they “have the power to change the future”. He added, “Our generation may not even live to see the full realization of what we do here. But the knowledge that the next generation will be better off for what we do here – can we imagine a more worthy reward than that?” The leaders aim to come up with a legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions meant to hold global average temperatures short of a 2 degrees Celsius increase.

Read more on Obama’s speech at the climate summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on rich nations to honor their commitment to provide $100 billion a year to developing countries to tackle climate change, saying they should accept “more shared responsibilities” for limiting global warming and helping poor countries adapt to a climate-afflicted world. Rich nations pledged at a UN summit in Copenhagen in 2009 to muster $100 billion (94 billion euros) annually in financial support to poor countries starting in 2020 to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions. Six years later poor nations are frustrated that rich countries have yet to fully commit to the fund.

Read more on Xi’s statement at COP21

The United States warned its citizens in Kabul, Afghanistan, of an “imminent attack” in the city within the next two days, amid renewed official efforts to revive stalled peace talks with the Taliban. The US embassy in Kabul urged extreme caution during this period of “heightened threat” but gave no details on potential targets or methods of the planned attack. “US embassy Kabul has received credible reports of an imminent attack in Kabul… within the next 48 hours,” it said in an emergency warning posted on its website. The embassy frequently issues such warnings but the latest post comes as the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to meet on the sidelines of a UN conference in Paris.

Read more on the US emergency warning

Pope Francis said fundamentalism is “a disease of all religions” as he returned from a 3-nation tour of Africa in which he preached reconciliation and hope. “Fundamentalism is always a tragedy. It is not religious, it lacks God, it is idolatrous.”  He added, “Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself,” he said. Francis said Islam was not the only religion to suffer from violent extremists. “We Catholics, we have a few, even many fundamentalists. They believe they know absolute truth and corrupt others.”

Read more on what the Pope said on fundamentalism

Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author and motivational speaker, told Filipinos, “If you want to be an employee, go to school. If you want to be rich, you don’t need school.” Speaking before an audience in Manila, Kiyosaki, best known for his 1997 book, Rich Dad Poor Dad said, “The reason most people are poor is that they graduate out of school but they don’t learn entrepreneurial skills. Today, there are so many ways to get rich.”

Read more on Robert Kiyosaki’s financial advice

Pedro Mendes of Switzerland won the title of Mister International 2015 in a pageant held in Manila, Monday night. Runners-up are contestants from Brazil, Korea, Panama, and Czech Republic. The Philippines’ representative Reniel Villareal won Best in National Costume and finished in the top 10. Mister International 2014, the Philippines’ own Neil Perez, awarded the new winner.

Read more on Mister International

The conflict between two iconic superheroes heats up in a new sneak peek from the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.The teaser debuted in an episode of Gotham Monday, November 30. In the new teaser, Superman (Henry Cavill) is seen marching towards a captive Batman (Ben Affleck), and rips off his mask to reveal a glowering Bruce Wayne.  Directed by Zack Snyder, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, will hit theaters March, 2016.

Read more on the Batman trailer