March 10, 2015 Edition

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle rejected calls for President Benigno Aquino III to resign in the face of his worst political crisis. He told ABS-CBN News in an interview Monday evening there is a need to mobilize and strengthen institutions, adding that the country should “let the electoral process and let the people determine” its next leader. Various religious leaders have taken different positions on Aquino and the Mamasapano operation that killed at least 65 people.

Read the full story on Rappler.

During a gathering with religious leaders in Malacañang on Monday, March 9, President Benigno Aquino III said he was tricked by Special Action Force commander Getulio Napeñas. “The most generous way of looking at it is that Napeñas had a lot of wishful thinking as opposed to reality. But it’s clear to me that he tricked me,” Aquino said, putting the blame on the SAF commander for “acting alone” in the deadly Mamasapano operation. Napeñas, according to Aquino, gave him wrong information, did not follow his orders to coordinate with the Armed Forces, and did not abort the operation when he should have. 

Read the full story on Rappler. 

With startling sophistication, the Islamic State or ISIS is recruiting young kids around the world through social media. After using Twitter and Facebook, which have tried to control the spread of its message, ISIS launched its own social media network on Sunday, March 8. ISIS uses state-of-the-art, glossy videos, including videos shot from drones. A recent study said there are at least 46,000 Twitter accounts used by ISIS and about 200,000 social media content created daily by 2,000 accounts. During a White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in February, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the terrorist threat has no precedent. “It is new, and the terrorism that we confront today is very diffused and is everywhere, and recruit people who are born and grew up among us.” 

Read the full story on Rappler.

A case questioning the detention of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now with the United Nations’ Working Group on Involuntary and Arbitrary Detention. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirmed that the petition linked to Arroyo’s alleged arbitrary detention and political persecution is now with the Geneva-based working group. Human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin-Clooney, who is representing Arroyo before the UN in Geneva, called her detention “unfair”. Malacañang said it had yet to be notified about the case but will respond accordingly once it receives notice.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story on Amal Clooney and the Palace is also on Rappler.

Four Filipinos were among the 9 foreigners abducted during the March 6 attack on the Al-Ghani oilfield in southern Libya, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said. The attack by alleged jihadists linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) left at least 8 guards dead. The Filipinos are employees of VAOS Oil Services, according to Jose, who also said the Philippine embassy in Tripoli is coordinating with Libyan authorities and VAOS to locate the kidnapped foreigners. No demands have been issued so far.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story is on the BBC.

Overseas Filipino worker Joven Esteva was executed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday, March 9, for murdering his employer, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. Esteva was convicted in 2007 for the killing of his employer and was likewise charged for injuries sustained by his employer’s son. Despite efforts by the Philippine government, DFA spokesman Charles Jose said, “the family of the victim refused to grant forgiveness.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public order committee, criticized the decision of resigned police chief Alan Purisima not to allow Smart Communications to release a log of mobile phone numbers he texted onJanuary 25. The doubt only grows, Poe said, when he refuses to cooperate in relating what happened based on his knowledge of events in the operation that resulted in the deaths of 44 elite troops, 18 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and at least 3 civilians. Purisima also only submitted an affidavit to the Board of Inquiry and rejected requests for an interview. “If you are not hiding something, then what are you afraid of?” Poe asked in Filipino.

Read the full story on Rappler.

In its Spring Forward event, Apple unveiled its Apple Watch which can receive calls, pay for items, read emails, check heart rates, check in at airlines and hotels, and maintain home security. All these for prices that range from an entry-level $349 to a limited high-end version $10,000. The new Apple Macbook with a 12-inch retina display weighs only two pounds and is 24% thinner than the current MacBook Air. Its new keyboard is 34% thinner yet 4 times more stable, enabling better precision typing. It costs at least $1,299 for 8GB of memory and a 256GB drive. A more expensive $1,599 has a faster processor and offers twice the storage.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story is on the New York Times.

A solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse-2, completed its first leg of a record-breaking attempt to fly around the world. Completing a 12-hour, 400-kilometer flight, the plane touched down in Oman from Abu Dhabi, with businessman and pilot Andre Borschberg at the helm. It is scheduled to cross the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans over the next 5 months, with Swiss Bertrand Piccard sharing pilot duties.

 Read the full story on the BBC.

Filipino stage actor Jon Jon Briones has been nominated for “Best Actor in a Musical” at the 2015 Olivier Awards. Briones played the role of The Engineer in Miss Saigon. Actress Lea Salonga, who played Kim in the original cast, displayed her excitement on Twitter over the nomination. The Awards will take place on April 12.

Read the full story on Rappler.