The family of slain broadcasters, as well as various journalists’ groups, denounced incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for his “hasty and crass generalizations” that most journalists who had been killed were corrupt and were natural targets of assassination.

Read on Rappler about the statement of the family of environmentalist broadcaster Gerry Ortega. 

Duterte’s camp said the media should be more “discerning” of the President-elect’s statements, after they “misinterpreted” the remarks he made at a press conference in Davao City.

 

The remittance businesses PhilRem Service Corporation, Werquick Incorporated, and Peso Remittance Express Incorporated can no longer operate legally in the Philippines, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas evoked their registration. Their services were used in an elaborately planned money laundering scheme to move $81 million stolen by unknown hackers from the account of Bangladesh Bank in New York last February.

Read the full story on Rappler Business.

The National Bureau of Investigation nabbed 5 persons who were allegedly involved in the manufacture and sale of “ecstasy” that were sold at the Closeup Forever Summer concert, which left 5 attendees dead. The suspects, whose ages range from 20 to 30 years old, were apprehended at a buy-bust operation in Parañaque City. They were found in possession of marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy. Their condominium unit also contained several equipment used in manufacturing prohibited substances.

Read the full story on the arrest.

Are illegal drugs part of the rave party scene? Read “Music, drugs, and alcohol: Do young Pinoys party to get high?”

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has been in the intensive care unit of the Makati Medical Center since the evening of May 31 due to “complication,” said her husband Narciso Santiago Jr. She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2014, and recently she revealed she is suffering from anorexia (inability to eat), a side-effect of her medication.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A proposal to transform Indonesia’s former leader Suharto, one of the 20th century’s most brutal dictators, into a national hero sparked anger from rights activists and netizens. General Suharto led Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, and his military-dominated rule was marked by severe repression and corruption. The Golkar party, which was Suharto’s political vehicle during his time in power, put him forward.

Read the full story on Rappler Indonesia.

Furious officials sent troops to Indonesian islets near Singapore after an online map of an eco-resort mistakenly suggested they belong to the city-state. Anger mounted at the map of the under-construction “Funtasy Island,” which initially showed Pulau Manis – islets that make up the resort – in blue, the same color as Singapore. Indonesian media said it was an attempt to claim their country’s territory by stealth.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would delay a sales tax hike planned for 2017, after it was already delayed once. The decision drew a warning from credit rating agency Fitch, which said it would “undermine the credibility” of Japan’s commitment to paying down one of the world’s biggest national debts. Abe said that raising the tariff to 10% from 8% would be pushed back to late 2019, when he is likely no longer in office.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

A signal has been detected from one of two black boxes belonging to the doomed EgyptAir flight that crashed en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19, French investigators and Egypt confirmed. The flight recorders could help solve the mystery of why the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea with 66 people on board. The signals were picked up by a French navy ship that is searching for the wreckage using specialist equipment to listen for the pings emitted by the flight recorders.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

Transport chaos hit France 9 days before the Euro 2016 football tournament, as railway workers went on strike in the latest salvo of a months-long battle between the government and unions. Around half of France’s trains were cancelled as workers from railway operator SNCF launched their 8th strike in 3 months, this time saying they will continue until demands for better pay and conditions are met.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

It may be time to dig up the old MySpace credentials you created. MySpace confirmed on May 31 that stolen Myspace user login data “was being made available in an online hacker forum.” The stolen data came from a portion of accounts made before June 11, 2013, prior to a reboot of the platform which enabled enhanced security features. A report from LeakedSource.com said over 360 million accounts were part of the breach, with records having an email address, password, and a second password in certain instances.

Read the full story on Rappler Technology.