July 14, 2014 Edition

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is set to address the nation on “current issues” on Monday, July 14. He is expected to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), a spending program that the government said is designed to stimulate economic growth by transferring unused funds from slow-disbursing projects to fast-disbursing ones. On July 1, the High Court declared 3 schemes of the program unconstitutional. Following the decision, Budget Secretary Butch Abad took full responsibility for his role in the program and offered to resign. Aquino rejected the offer, saying that accepting the resignation would be “tantamount to acknowledging wrongdoing on my end, contrary to the fact that the DAP… proved beneficial to the country’s economy.” In a Sunday briefing, Palace communications secretary Bobby Coloma denied allegations Abad controls the President. He also denied the President was hiding something that’s why he couldn’t let Abad go.

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Read Palace denial that Abad controls the President

Timeline for the the disbursement acceleration

Storm signal number 1 has been declared over 5 provinces in the Bicol region and Northern Samar as Tropical Storm Glenda (international name Rammasun) entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. The 5 Bicol provinces are Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, and Sorsogon. State weather bureau PAGASA said the storm was spotted 750 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes as of 4 am. The storm has strengthened as it continues to move westward. It is expected to bring moderate to heavy rain to areas within its 400-kilometer diameter. PAGASA said Glenda may still develop into a typhoon as its path takes it across oceans where it may gather strength. The storm is expected to make landfall in Quezon province on Wednesday, July 16.

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Indonesia faces a long period of uncertainty after last week’s disputed presidential election until results are announced on July 22. Southeast Asia’s top economy growth sits at four-year lows, foreign investment has slowed down and corruption remains rife. After a bitterly-fought campaign, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo and his rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, both used unofficial tallies to claim they had won. Most credible counts showed Jokowi in the lead, sparking a rally in stocks and the rupiah, but the initial euphoria quickly wore off. The Jakarta stock market slumped as much as 2% the following day, and was 1.3% down at the close as investors dreaded a prolonged deadlock. Investors favor Jokowi, seen as a potential reformer and a clean leader, while Prabowo struck a fiercely nationalistic attitude towards foreign investments.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Read more on Jokowi from the Rappler team that covered the Indonesian elections.

Read more on Probowo from the Rappler team.

Pope Francis has been quoted as saying that “about 2%” of Catholic clergy are pedophiles. In a report by the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, the pope said the abuse of children was like “leprosy” infecting the Catholic Church. He added that the 2% estimate came from advisers, representing around 8,000 priests out of about 414,000 worldwide. Francis was quoted as saying, “Among the 2% who are paedophiles are priests, bishops and cardinals. Others, more numerous, know but keep quiet. They punish without giving the reason… I find this state of affairs intolerable.” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denied these were the pope’s exact words. Last year, the Vatican strengthened its laws against child abuse and asked for forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse by priests, amid criticism it was not doing enough to punish priests accused of the crimes.

Read the full story on BBC.

27 alleged prostitutes were killed in Iraq’s Zayouna district, but few people know the details of the murders, amid a culture of fear and secrecy. Zayouna residents said local apartments have long been used for prostitution. Alleged sex workers were found murdered every few months, with police unwilling or unable to prevent the attacks. Questions about motives and the identity of the gunmen were met with silence. Shiite militias with connections to political parties hold sway over parts of Baghdad, while suicide blasts by Sunni extremists are still frequent. Both groups’ antipathy to sex workers is probably one of the few things they have in common. Prostitution is a highly taboo subject in conservative Iraq, where religious political parties have risen to prominence in recent years.

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Israel stepped up its crackdown against Gaza on Sunday, July 13, as the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli air campaign hit 166, with 1,120 people wounded. AFP reported thousands of residents were fleeing for their lives and sought refuge in schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas “with growing force.” Meanwhile, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he would ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to “put the State of Palestine under the UN international protection system.” The latest escalation began on June 12, when 3 Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered, triggering a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank. The conflict worsened after a Palestinian teen was killed by Jewish extremists on July 2.

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Chinese state broadcaster CCTV called Apple’s iPhone a “threat to national security” because of the device’s ability to track and time-stamp a user’s location. The “frequent locations” function, which can be switched on or off by users, could be used to gather “extremely sensitive data,” and even state secrets, said Ma Ding of the People’s Public Security University in Beijing. The tool gathers information about the areas a user visits most often, partly to improve travel advice. The dispute is not the first time Apple has been embroiled in controversy in China. Just this week, the US tech giant lost a lawsuit against a Chinese state regulator over patent rights to voice recognition software. The privacy scare also reflects mutual distrust between the US and China after a series of allegations from both sides on the extent of cyber-espionage.

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Germany beats Argentina to win the World Cup after Mario Götze broke the deadlock in the second half of extra time with a beautiful left kick. Argentinian Superstar Lionel Messi had a chance to tie with a free kick late into extra time but his shot went way over the post. Germany’s win sparked an explosion of joy in their homeland and in host nation Brazil, which had dreaded the prospect of South American rival Argentina winning the title on its territory. Brazil’s traumatic World Cup ended with more pain on Saturday, as it lost 3-0 to Netherlands in the third-place playoff. Meantime, Football fan Pope Francis stayed neutral ahead of the World Cup final between his native Argentina and Germany. He tweeted from his @pontifex account: “The World Cup allowed people from different countries and religions to come together. May sport always promote the culture of encounter.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

Read more on Brazil’s tragic third place playoff.

Read more on Pope Francis and the World Cup.

Who is Mario Götze? Here are five facts on the only player to score a goal during the 2014 World Cup Final. 1. The 22-year-old Götze infuriated Borussia Dortmund fans by moving to arch-rivals Bayern Munich 12 months ago.  2. He is the first substitute to score the winning goal in a World Cup final.  3. He had a relationship with James Bond girl Eva Green for two years and now is dating top model Ann Kathrin Brommel. 4. Despite his glamor image, Götze insists he is not obsessed about his appearance. 5. He equates being a footballer to a boxer.

Read the full story on Rappler.

What do the online reactions to Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes’ pregnancy say about women? The Internet erupted into a frenzy – with fans, mostly women, taking to their social media accounts to rant about or bemoan the baby news. Words like “wench,” “holy sperm” and “set everything on fire” were casually thrown around to describe mother-to-be Mendes and 3-year partner Gosling. Rappler’s Merryl Yan looks into the explosion of what she calls “online Mean Girls Burn Book.”

Read the full story on Rappler.