The Commission on Higher Education is allowing 304 private colleges to increase tuition and other school fees for academic year 2016 to 2017. The average increase in tuition has been pegged at 5.1% or about P43.39 per unit, while the increase in school fees is at P115.58 per unit, equivalent to 5.41%. Kabataan partylist Representative Sarah Elago decried the increases saying it will “undoubtedly force more students to stop schooling due to financial constraints.” The National Capital Region listed the highest number of schools at 70, that will raise their fees.

Read more about how many schools will increase fees on Rappler.

US President Barack Obama supported the presidential bid of former rival Hillary Clinton and told Americans on Thursday, June 9, “Tens of millions of Americans made their voices heard. Today I just want to add mine…I’m with her.” Long expected, Obama’s endorsement is a shot in the arm for Clinton’s campaign. It also signals to Democrats it’s time to come together after a bitter primary campaign. Clinton clinched the Democratic nomination and had struggled against leftist rival Bernie Sanders.

Read more about the Clinton campaign on Rappler.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s comments on extrajudicial killings, saying these were “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms.” In a statement posted on the UN website, Ban said, “Such comments are of particular concern in light of ongoing impunity for serious cases of violence against journalists in the Philippines.” Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo had said the president-elect never said killing journalists was justified.

Read more about what triggered Ban’s strong reaction on Rappler.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that unemployment in April dropped to 6.1% from 6.4% a year ago. The National Capital Region recorded the highest unemployment rate with 7.7%, followed by the Ilocos Region with 7.5%, Calabarzon with 7.5%, and Central Luzon with 7.1%. Most of those unemployed were male (63.2%). Underemployment, however, climbed to 18.4% in April from 17.8% in the same period last year.

Read more about the employment situation on Rappler.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center declared on Thursday, June 9, the 2015-2016 El Niño weather phenomenon over. The Center said El Niño, one of the most powerful on record, has dissipated and been replaced by El Niño Southern Oscillation-neutral conditions. Under such conditions, neither El Niño nor La Niña will be present. ENSO-neutral conditions, according to the Center, were indicated by expanded “near-to-below average surface temperatures across the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.” Forecasters are predicting a weak or borderline moderate La Niña if ENSO-neutral conditions persist through the winter.

Read more about weather predictions for the rest of the year on Rappler.

The Office of the Ombudsman resolved 9,367 complaints in the first quarter of 2016 – nearly double the 5,016 cases disposed of for the same period last year. Of the complaints investigated, 25% resulted in the filing of criminal or administrative cases against public officials. Only 17% resulted in indictments. The anti-graft court reported 89% of cases filed by the Ombudsman in the first quarter of 2016 prospered, mirroring a slight increase from the previous year’s 88.65%

Read more about gains made by government in anti-corruption efforts on Rappler.

Indonesian police said Thursday, June 9, they had arrested 3 people planning to launch Islamic State (ISIS)-inspired suicide bombings in the country’s second-biggest city. The police’s elite anti-terror squad detained the men in Surabaya, on the country’s main island of Java, on Wednesday and seized bombs and firearms, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said. The group, according to him, planned to attack public places and government offices in the city in the coming weeks. Amar also said they were inspired by the speeches of ISIS leaders on social media.

Read more about the ISIS links of the would-be bombers on Rappler.

Manila and Beijing marked their 41st year of diplomatic relations on Thursday, June 9, as President-elect Rodrigo Duterte – seen as friendlier to China than incumbent President Benigno Aquino III – prepares to assume the presidency on June 30. Amid tension between the two countries arising from maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea, former Philippine ambassador Alberto Encomienda said he sees early positive directions in bilateral relation. For one, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua was “among the first to call on the president-elect” and was quick to show goodwill by allowing Filipino fishermen to fish in the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Read more about what others had to say on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries on Rappler.

One of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) students, who surfaced on Monday after being kidnapped over the weekend, said they were released by their captors at dawn Monday, June 6, and not rescued by law enforcers. 18-year-old Juhari Gubat told MSU-IIT’s Office of Publication and Information that kidnappers even handed them P200 for their fare. He likewise denied they were forcibly taken into a vehicle Saturday night, June 4. Two other companions remain in captivity. Besides Gubat, also released were former MSU-IIT student Hannah Yurong and non-MSU-IIT students Kevin Limpin and Eloisa Lacson. The motive for the kidnapping remained unclear.

Read more about the kidnapping incident on Rappler.

Roger Federer said he supports “zero tolerance” against doping and showed no sympathy for Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, who was slapped a two-year ban after testing positive for the prohibited medication meldonium. Sharapova had been taking the medication for 10 years and said last March she hadn’t realized it was no longer allowed. Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned substance list in January. Federer said, “…you have to scare away the people who think they could cheat.”

Read more about Federer’s take on the doping ban on Rappler.