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Hello, Rappler readers!
President Rodrigo Duterte swung by Cambodia and Singapore this week and brought home agreements with the two ASEAN-member countries, too.
In the United States, President Barack Obama wasn’t too pleased with the news that Russia hacked into email accounts of Democratic Party officials and institutions to help Republican candidate Donald Trump win. He vows revenge.
In Europe, the $11-billion Galileo satnav system, said to be the most accurate in the world, is now live.
Be up to speed with the news. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss:
The United States will retaliate against Russian hacking that sought to interfere in the recent US elections. President Barack Obama told NPR radio the US retaliation will come “at a time and place of our choosing” and some of it may be “explicit and publicized” or some may not. The Russians better watch out.
President Rodrigo Duterte and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to help each other fight terrorism, drugs, and transnational crime. In a video message to reporters, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr said these were among the topics discussed during the expanded bilateral meeting between the two leaders and their ministers on Thursday, December 15.
No renewal of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant, a major aid package from the US to the Philippines. This is because of “significant concerns around rule of law and civil liberties in the Philippines,” according to a statement from the US embassy on Thursday, Decmeber 15. The previous 5-year grant, which was worth $433.9 million, expired in May this year.
Mindanaoans have become increasingly concerned about President Rodrigo Duterte’s curse-laden insults against foreign leaders, but most Filipinos still gave him a “very good” net satisfaction rating. A December 3-6 survey of Social Weather Stations showed Duterte obtaining a net satisfaction rating of +63%, just a slight drop from his previous +64% net rating in September.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Thursday, December 15, President Rodrigo Duterte should release his medical records after Duterte himself said he might not live long enough to complete his term. In a news briefing, Lacson said in Filipino that because he already gave indications (he told businessmen he suffered from back pains, daily migraines, and Buerger’s disease, which leads to blockages in blood vessels), Duterte should say what his ailment is.
The two-day state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Cambodia yielded 4 cooperation agreements. These are: (1) Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Combating Transnational Crime (involving the Philippine National Police and Cambodian National Police); (2) Memorandum of Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Labor; (3) Memorandum of Agreement on Sports Cooperation (involving the Philippine Sports Commission and Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport); (4) Implementation Program of Tourism Cooperation 2016-2020 (involving the Philippines’ Department of Tourism and Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism).
After 17 years, numerous setbacks and 3 times over budget, Europe’s Galileo satnav system, “the most accurate satellite navigation system in the world”, went live on Thursday, December 15, EU Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska announced. The 10 billion-euro ($11 billion) project should be fully operational by 2020, providing time and positioning data of unprecedented accuracy. There will be lesser reasons to get lost and increased chances of finding lost persons and things.
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