December 10, 2014 Edition

The United States government declassified on Tuesday, December 8 a US Senate Intelligence Committee report on the torture practices of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used to interrogate suspected terrorist during the administration of president George W. Bush. The report says the CIA used cruel techniques such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation, physical abuse, and solitary confinement. The report adds that the CIA misled the White House and Congress with inaccurate claims about the program’s usefulness in thwarting attacks. President Obama said the CIA’s actions had been counterproductive and contrary to American values. The US government has warned embassies worldwide of reprisals following the release of the heavily redacted 500-page report.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Vice President Jejomar Binay dropped 5 percentage points while senator Grace Poe gained 8 percentage points in the latest Pulse Asia presidential preference survey released on Tuesday, December 9. Binay saw his lead slipping to 26% in November from 31% in September. Analysts say the single digit decline could either mean Binay has weathered the worst political storm of his career or that his political base is slowly eroding. The Binay camp was quick to dismiss the drop as “marginal.” Meanwhile, respondents scored Poe higher in all regions except the Visayas where she lost one point. Poe is in a tie with Binay among the ABC class. Poe has said she is not interested in seeking the presidency.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Alan Purisima said on Tuesday, December 9 that the 6-month suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman was “patently illegal.” Purisima, represented by his lawyer and cousin Kristoffer James Purisima, said the order designating the DILG secretary to implement the suspension was wrong and that only the National Police Commission (Napolcom) had administrative supervision and control over the PNP. By the reckoning of Purisima’s lawyer, the suspension order was therefore not served. Purisima, who is on leave, did not report for work on Tuesday. He is under investigation for corruption and for bypassing PNP bidding procedures.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Eleven people including many high school students were killed and 21 more were injured when a bomb exploded aboard a bus in Bukidnon. Most of the victims were high school students who had just boarded the bus. The bus operated by the Rural Transit company was traveling through the town of Maramag in the strife-torn island of Mindanao when the bomb went off, said regional military spokesman Major Christian Uy. Police are looking into extortion as a a possible motive. The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks on the bus company.

Read the full story on Rappler.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged nations Tuesday, December 9, to seize a shrinking opportunity to tame global warming as ministers negotiated for a new world pact to slash soaring greenhouse gas emissions. Ban called on negotiators to work harder to agree on limiting the global rise in temperature to under 2ºC (3.6ºF) from pre-industrial levels. “But the window of opportunity is fast narrowing,” Ban warned. “We can no longer afford to burn our way to prosperity.” Parties remain far apart on key aspects of a deal they have vowed to sign in Paris in December next year and implement from 2020.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A court in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, December 9, banned popular car-rental service Uber from operating in Spain. The court declared that drivers hired for rides using their privately-owned cars “lack the administrative authorization to carry out the job.” The court added that Uber constitutes unfair competition for taxi service companies. The Spanish court also ordered telecom companies and payment service providers to block Uber. The company said it will respect Spanish law but vowed to examine all its options. Uber last week announced it valuation at $40 billion. It now operates services in more than 200 cities across 45 countries.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A series of spectacular cyberattacks drew headlines this year, and the situation will only worsen in 2015 as hackers use more advanced techniques to infiltrate networks, security researchers said Tuesday, December 9. McAfee Labs’ 2015 Threats Predictions report sees increased cyber-warfare and espionage, along with new strategies from hackers to hide their tracks and steal sensitive data. McAfee said small nations and terror groups will become even more active and will “attack by launching crippling distributed denial of service attacks or using malware that wipes the master boot record to destroy their enemies’ networks.” McAfee also said hackers are targeting devices such as webcams with weak security systems.

Read the full story on Rappler.

After having 3 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) appearances this year, Ana Julaton will be making her much-awaited return to the boxing ring in 2015. Julaton, 34, was last seen wearing eight-ounce boxing gloves in November 2013 when she routed Perla Hernandez via majority decision, but she remained active in the fight scene by inking an exclusive contract with ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC), an international MMA promotion based in Singapore. The 5-foot-5 “Hurricane” doubled the feat by claiming the inaugural World Boxing Organization female super bantamweight strap in June 2010 when she closely outpointed Maria Elena Villalobos.

Read the full story on Rappler.

This year’s lineup of films for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is stacked high with sequels and remakes, but there’s still a lot to look forward to this holiday season. Whatever your thoughts on the festival, this year’s lineup showcases a diverse offering of horror films, love stories, historical epics, and family comedies. The MMFF runs from December 25 to January 8, with the festival’s New Wave selections showing from December 17 to 24.

Get the full lineup of movies on Rappler.

After a public backlash, the daughter of Korean Air’s CEO resigned Tuesday, December 9, and apologized for her behavior aboard a New York-Seoul flight that caused the delay of the plane. Cho Hyun-Ah, a top executive in Korean Air’s in-flight service, was served macadamia nuts in a packet, and not in a bowl, as the plane taxied to the runway. Cho got angry at the chief purser, and had him kicked off the plane. The plane returned to the gate where he disembarked. Cho issued a statement apologizing to customers and asking South Koreans for forgiveness. She’s not off the hook yet. A major Seoul civic group is calling for an investigation of Cho, who may have violated air safety procedures.

Read the full story on Rappler.