February 22, 2015 Edition

This is not a drill: the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight is official.
The fight 6 years in the making was finally confirmed by the American boxer on Friday, February 20 (Saturday Manila time). The clash between this generation’s two most successful fighters will take place May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Read more on Rappler; follow our coverage on rappler.com/pacquiao.

As alumni of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), one of the region’s top military schools, gather this weekend in Baguio, Rappler takes a look at the class of 1981. The class boasts of some of the country’s current (and former) top military and police officials, including AFP chief Gen Gregorio Catapang, retired AFP chief Gen Emmanuel Bautista, and resigned PNP chief Dir Gen Alan Purisima – who was a no-show at the homecoming. 

As of today, Class ’81 appears to be the favored class of President Benigno Aquino III.

Read more on Rappler. 

Europe on Friday, February 20, granted Greece a crucial four-month extension to its massive debt bailout, ending weeks of tension, but at the cost of huge concessions including a commitment to spell out reforms within two days. The 19 eurozone finance ministers reached the hard-won deal at tense talks pitting Greece against an angry Germany, suspicious that the new radical leftist government in Athens was looking to ditch its austerity obligations.

Read more on Rappler.

Australia was clearing up Saturday, February 21, after two severe cyclones left a trail of destruction, wrecking hundreds of homes and cutting electricity to tens of thousands, even as authorities warned of more flooding and gusty winds to come.

Tropical Cyclone Marcia slammed into central Queensland as a category five system Friday, February 20, while Lam made landfall in the Northern Territory as a category four just hours earlier. “An initial check of our database suggests this is the first time that we’ve had two severe tropical cyclones cross within 24 hours of each other within Australia,” Bureau of Meteorology official Adam Morgan told the Agence France-Presse from Darwin.

Read more on Rappler.

With finality, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima junked the appeal of US visiting soldier Joseph Scott Pemberton to overturn the finding of probable cause against him for the crime of murder.

The 9-page Department of Justice (DOJ) resolution released Friday, February 20, cleared a potential impediment to Pemberton’s arraignment before an Olongapo trial court scheduled on February 23. Pemberton is accused in the brutal slay of transgender woman Jennifer Laude at a hotel in Olongapo City, north of Manila, close to midnight on October 11.

Read more on Rappler.

The families of three British schoolgirls feared to be travelling to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria issued emotional appeals on Saturday, February 21, for them to come home. 

Close friends Kadiza Sultana, 17, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase left their east London homes Tuesday, February 17, and flew to Istanbul. Police believe the 3 girls – all of whom are academic high achievers – were following the example of a friend who fled to join ISIS jihadists in December.

Read more on Rappler.

A huge fire engulfed one of the tallest towers of the Gulf emirate of Dubai early Saturday, February 21. The blaze has gutted the upper part of The Torch residential skyscraper, which stands 336.1-meter (1,105-feet) high, triggering an evacuation of nearby towers in the Dubai Marina neighborhood. No deaths have been reported so far, with the blaze brought under control and hundreds of residents of the nearby towers allowed to return to their apartments.

Read Agence France-Presse’s dispatch on Rappler.

It appears that Filipinos are in high spirits about their personal prospects and the state of the Philippine economy in 2015.

The results of a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) – first published by media partner BusinessWorld – show that Filipinos are at their most optimistic in over a year, with 41% of respondents expecting their quality of life to improve, and 31% expecting the economy to get better.

Read more on Rappler.

It may as well be the wedding of the year – the nuptials between showbiz princess Heart Evangelista and one-time presidential aspirant Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. By any measure, the Escudero-Evangelista nuptial was anything but simple.

Question is: was the wedding itself within Escudero’s “visible means of income?” Does it measure up to the modest and simple lifestyle invoked by the law? And tapping biggies in the corporate world as principal sponsors has raised the eyebrows of some purists who think that Escudero crossed the thin ethical line between public service and private interests.

Read more on Rappler’s Inside Track.

Hollywood’s biggest night is upon us. Are your Oscar bets bringing home the coveted gold statue? 

Actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the event, which will be held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, USA. Rappler live blogs the event starting 6am, Manila time. 

Tune in for all the action, right as it happens.