January 12, 2015 Edition

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs raised to magnitude 6 the quake that hit Luzon early morning Sunday, January 11 after registering the quake at magnitude 5.7. The strong quake’s epicenter is located 43 km southwest of San Antonio town in Zambales. It also shook Metro Manila, with people online tweeting about how strong it was. Phivolcs also said aftershocks are expected from the quake. So far, no damage has been reported. Immediately after a quake, Phivolcs advises affected people to take “the fastest and safest way out of the building.”

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Millions marched against terrorism Sunday, in the largest protests France has ever seen. The interior ministry said nearly 4 million people took to the streets across the country, with the number in Paris alone at 1.6 million. Hundreds of thousands of turned out in other French cities Bordeaux and Lyon and marches were held in Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul and Madrid and in US and Canadian cities as well. At the head of a vast procession, President Francois Hollande linked arms with world leaders, including the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president aside from the British and Italian prime ministers, in an historic display of unity. Security in the capital was tight with so many world leaders present.

The vast crowd chanted “Charlie, Charlie”, in honor of the cartoonists and journalists slaughtered at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The demonstrators also carried banners that said, “I’m French and I’m not scared.” The crowd in Paris was also mourning four Jews killed when a gunman stormed a kosher supermarket.

The offices of a Belgian newspaper that republished cartoons from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were evacuated Sunday, after receiving an anonymous bomb threat.

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A man resembling Amedy Coulibaly, who shot a policewoman and took hostages at a Jewish supermarket in the Paris attacks, claimed to be a member of the Islamic State group in a posthumous video online. Speaking into the camera, the man says he coordinated with the two gunmen who attacked the Charlie Hebdo magazine on Wednesday, killing 12. Coulibaly died when police launched an assault on the Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris, where four hostages were killed. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula also claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo.

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Officials from 11 European Union countries, the United States and Canada say increased Internet surveillance and tighter border checks are “urgently” needed to foil jihadist attacks. They said it was “essential” that major Internet providers cooperate with governments in closely monitoring and, if necessary, removing online content “that aims to incite hatred and terror.” They also want to “step up the detection and screening of travel movements of European nationals” leaving or entering the EU’s external borders. The ministers also want to modify Europe’s internal Schengen freedom-of-movement rules to widen information sharing and subject suspect passengers to greater checks.

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A hero emerges from the kosher supermarket bloodbath at the hands of an armed terrorist. A 24-year-old Muslim immigrant from Mali, Lassana Bathily, hid the customers in the store’s freezer— where they stayed for nearly 5 hours. The gunman killed 4 people that day, but more people would have died if it weren’t for Bathily and other quick-thinking customers. Several reports said Bathily was able to get out of the store to the police where he was able to provide information to law enforcement to end the siege. Police initially thought that he was a suspect.

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Indonesian divers on Sunday, January 11, found the crucial black box flight recorders of the AirAsia plane that crashed in the Java Sea on December 28, 2014 with 162 people on board. Indonesia’s transport ministry said the divers failed to retrieve it immediately from the seabed because it was stuck under debris from the main body of the plane. Indonesia’s meteorological agency said stormy weather likely caused the Airbus A320-200 to crash as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. But a definitive answer is impossible without the black box, which should contain the pilots’ final words as well as various flight data.

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Five oil companies – Petron Corporation, Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT Philippines, and Seaoil – will cut pump prices the second time this year on Monday, January 12. Gasoline prices will go down by P1.70 ($0.038*) per liter, kerosene by P1.60 ($0.036) per liter, and diesel by P1.50 ($0.033) per liter. The price cuts reflect the continued “softening” of petroleum prices in the world market. Global prices of oil have fallen almost 50% since June last year due to excessive supply, weak global economy and a strong US dollar.

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Tesla Motors has been the darling of Wall Street. A-list stars including Hollywood’s leading men Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are all fans. Elon Musk, Tesla’s billionaire founder, hopes its mid-range Model 3 will propel the California manufacturer into the mass market. But Musk faces an uphill task and growing skeptics. The rapidly falling price of oil has put gas-guzzling cars back to the fore at the expense of electric vehicles. Morgan Stanley, one of the few US banks that believed in Tesla’s lofty ambitions, is now doubtful. So are financial markets, as its stock plunged down to $206 from trading at $275 in September.

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Days before Pope Francis’s visit to the Philippines, visual artist Dante Hipolito unveils a painting of him along with some of local celebrities – among them TV personalities Kris Aquino and Marian Rivera; and public servants Senator Grace Poe and Batangas governor Vilma Santos-Recto. Santos-Recto says the Pope serves as an “inspiration.” The painting can be viewed at the ARTleadoff 2015 group show. More details from the story below.

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Roger Federer captured his 1,000th victory in style Sunday, when he beat Canadian Milos Raonic in three tough sets to win the Brisbane International. Federer absorbed some superb shots and blistering serves from the 24-year-old Canadian before winning in two hours and 13 minutes at Pat Rafter Arena. Federer’s glittering career now includes 83 singles titles, including 17 Grand Slams, since his first victory over Frenchman Guillaume Raoux in Toulouse in 1998. He is third on the all-time list for matches won, behind Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071).The 33-year-old said, “I’ll never forget this moment.”

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