Both Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr and Representative Leni Robredo are claiming victor in the highly-publicized race for the vice presidency. Marcos made the statement in an interview with CNN Philippines after attending mass at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church on Sunday, May 15, with members of his family, and his supporters. Meanwhile, Robredo has had to fend off or downplay Marcos’ claims that the elections were rigged in favor of the LP candidate. She also called for an end to the divisiveness caused by the elections.

Read about Marcos’ claim on Rappler. 

Read about Robredo’s claim on Rappler. 

Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte revealed his top choices to lead the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), on Sunday, May 15. Duterte said that for the AFP, he was considering Lt. General Ricardo Visaya for the position of AFP chief of staff. Three former Davao City police chiefs are the top candidates for PNP chief. These are Chief Inspector Ronald dela Rosa, brigade commander of the Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF) who was relieved from his post after declaring his support for Duterte on Facebook, Chief Inspector Ramon Apolinario, Mimaropa police officer-in-charge, and Sr. Supt. Rene Aspera, chief of staff of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

China on Sunday, May 15, accused the United States of deliberately distorting the facts in a report on the Asian giant’s defence policy, warning Washington it had “severely damaged” trust between the superpowers. The Pentagon on Friday, May 13, said Beijing had been building up military facilities on reefs and islets in a bid to assert its claims to the contested waters of the South China Sea.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte vowed Sunday, May 15, to reintroduce capital punishment and give security forces “shoot-to-kill” orders in a devastating war on crime. In his first press conference since winning the May 9 elections in a landslide, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City warned his campaign threats to kill were not rhetoric. He also said he would give security forces “shoot-to-kill” orders against organized criminals or those who violently resisted arrest.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Venezuela was seen teetering on the verge of chaos Sunday, May 15, after President Nicolas Maduro ordered a state of emergency allowing the seizure of paralyzed factories and military exercises to counter alleged plans for an “armed intervention.” The United States believes the oil-rich South American nation may be sliding toward popular revolt amid food and power shortages, runaway inflation, protests and political uncertainty, according to senior US intelligence officials.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

US authorities and Internet giants are boosting attempts to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s online propaganda, though it is unclear how effective these efforts are in hampering the jihadists’ public-relations machine. With calls to jihad and highly produced videos of ISIS fighters in battle or killing captives, the ISIS group has long used the Internet and social media to recruit fighters for its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and to incite individuals around the world to commit terrorist attacks. To try to stop this, web giants like Twitter and Facebook are working hard to shut down jihadist accounts, though these often pop back up under a new name.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Bangladesh police have arrested a suspected Islamic militant over the hacking to death of two gay rights activists, part of a spate of murders of intellectuals, writers and religious minorities, officers said Sunday, May 15. Police have arrested Shariful Islam Shihab, who they said was a member of a local Islamist militant outfit that has been blamed for a string of similar gruesome murders of secular and atheist bloggers.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Under a proposed new bill hailed by activists as one of the most liberal in the world, people who want to change gender in Norway would no longer be required to undergo any physical transformation. All you would have to do is notify authorities – a click on a website would suffice – to change your legal gender if the bill becomes law. The legislation, which activists hope will be voted on by parliament before the summer break, has met little opposition.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Russian lawmakers on Sunday, May 15, lashed out at arch-rival Ukraine’s “political” victory in the Eurovision song contest, as pro-Kremlin media insisted Moscow’s entrant was robbed. Ukrainian performer Jamala won the glitzy contest Saturday, May 14, with her ballad “1944” about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Soviet authorities during World War II, in a performance widely seen as a swipe at Moscow over its annexation of the peninsula in 2014.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

A fake terror attack panicked guests at the French Riviera hideaway of several Hollywood stars at the Cannes film festival, police said Saturday, May 14. The publicity stunt, by a French internet company aimed at the super rich, saw a speedboat full of men in helmets and military style uniforms attempt to storm the dock of the 5-star Hotel du Cap just around the bay from Cannes. Guests said the men were dressed as an “ISIS-like” militia group, referring to the Islamic State group which killed 130 people in a night of attacks on Paris six months ago.

Read the full story on Rappler.