October 3, 2014 Edition

Half an hour before the midnight deadline set by pro-democracy demonstrators for him to resign, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced he wouldn’t be stepping down. He, however, offered to have a dialogue with student protesters, appointing the Chief Secretary to “discuss [with them] constitutional development matters.” In August, China said Hong Kongers would be able to vote for their next leader but only those vetted by a loyalist committee would be allowed to stand – something demonstrators have dismissed as a “fake democracy.” Students agreed to hold talks with the government, but vowed to continue their occupation, keeping major roads and transport routes crippled even as Hong Kong was set to return to work Friday after a two-day public holiday.

Read the full story on Leung’s announcement on Rappler.

A new United Nations report revealed that the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) consider women – mostly youth from local communities – as goods to be raped, sold as sex slaves, or given as “war booties” to its fighters. ISIS even opened an office in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, for the sale of abducted women. Teenage boys are not spared from sexual assaults, however, and Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq are asked to choose between converting to Islam or being killed, the report said. The UN said these acts amounted to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Read the full report on Rappler.

While not taking sides in the dispute that Southeast Asian countries have against China over the South China Sea, the United States is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to Vietnam. This is help boost the defenses of its former foe in the sea where some 40% of the world’s seaborne trade passes through, and where the Asian superpower has been bullying claimants like Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia. “What’s driving this is not a sudden desire to transfer military equipment to Vietnam writ large, but a specific need in the region,” said one US official. The firearms ban has been in place since 1975, when the Vietnam War ended.

Read the full story on Rappler.

While the Philippine President Benigno Aquino III teases the public on his supposed openness to seeking a second term were it not for an existing term limit, Filipinos are clearer on their stand: even if the Constitution is amended to allow a president to seek re-election, 6 out of 10 won’t vote for Aquino again. This sentiment was highest in the vote-rich Luzon island and the capital Metro Manila, as well as among the poorest and richest segments of the population, according to a survey that also showed an alarming number of respondents having little or no knowledge of the country’s fundamental law.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Facing graft complaints over under-declared wealth and questionable contracts, the head of the Philippine National Police distributed photos of one of his properties in a province north of Manila to prove that it’s an “ordinary” house and “not a mansion or villa” as reported. Netizens quickly condemned General Alan Purisima supposedly for taking the public for fools – he said the 4.7-hectare land with a 240-square meter house, swimming pool, gazebo, and 4-car garage is only worth more than P3 million.

See the photos of the PNP chief’s Nueva Ecija property on Rappler.

Read as well on the undeclared luxury vehicle he was found to be using.

A Philippine climate envoy, environment groups, and volunteers kicked off their 1,000-kilometer advocacy walk from Manila to Tacloban, the city that sustained the most damage from Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Participants will traverse Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Bicol, Samar, and Leyte in 40 days, expecting to arrive in Tacloban in time for the first anniversary of the world’s strongest typhoon. They will pass through areas susceptible to disaster risks, where they hope to increase the residents’ awareness of the threats of climate change and how communities can prepare for these.

Read the full story on the start of the march on Rappler.

Bookmark our live blog for daily updates on the 40-day #ClimateWalk to Tacloban.

Health officials in Texas in the United States are monitoring at least 100 people for signs of Ebola after they were found to have had contact with the first confirmed Ebola patient identified as Thomas Eric Duncan of the city of Dallas. A health official said it is out of caution that they are casting a wide net, but expects the number to drop “as we focus in on those whose contact may represent a potential risk of infection.” Four “close family members” of the patient will be legally required to stay home without visitors until October 19. Duncan had travelled in Liberia in West Africa. The continent is struggling to contain the world’s largest outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic virus in history, which has taken more than 3,000 lives already this year.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The Kensington office of Prince William and his wife Kate has warned a photographer that legal action will be taken against him for stalking their 14-month-old son Prince George, who is third in line to the British throne. While the royal couple said they “understand the particular public role that Prince George will one day inherit, but, while he is young, he must be permitted to lead as ordinary a life as possible.” According to a report by The Star, “the statement came the Evening Standard newspaper reported that a photographer had tried to take pictures of the prince in London’s Battersea Park.” Princess Diana, Prince George’s grandmother, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while her car was being pursued by paparazzi.

At the 2nd Social Business Summit, social entrepreneurs and government officials urged those who want to help lift Filipinos from poverty to go to the countryside, saying Manila and Cebu, the country’s two centers of governance and activities, are “overcongested” with entrepreneurs. “To end poverty, we should go to communities and know the people by name. Personalize it, so no one is left behind,” a speaker said. A first step, they said, would be to develop state colleges and universities in the provinces to properly equip young people who aspire to start their own businesses.

Read the full story on Rappler.

You can also follow Rappler’s live blog of the Social Business Summit, which ends October 4.

Less than 3 years after its Facebook page was introduced, Rappler – the Philippines’ pioneering Web-TV and social news network – gained one million likes on the networking platform. It was considered a feat for an online publication that doesn’t have the backing of a broadcast network or national newspaper. As soon as the one millionth follower hit the “Like” button on its Facebook page, Rappler changed its cover photo with the message: “ It takes every single 1 to make 1 million strong, and a million can make a difference.”

See Rappler’s throwback posts and thank-you message here.

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