City state’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew dies

Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, one of the towering figures of post-colonial Asian politics, died Monday, March 23. Lee’s son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in a statement that he was “deeply grieved to announce the passing” of his father. He was 91. The elder Lee, who dominated Singapore politics for more than half a century, had been in hospital since February 5 with severe pneumonia. Two years before he died, he signed a medical directive instructing doctors not to use any life-sustaining treatment if he could not be resuscitated.

Read more on the father of Singapore.
Read more on Lee’s life and global reaction to his death.

British medical students feared to have joined IS

9 young British medical students flew to Istanbul from the Sudanese capital Khartoum on March 12 and then traveled by land to Syria. The BBC reported, they have been joined by two other medics from the United States and Canada, also of Sudanese origin. The students are feared to have joined the Islamic State (IS) as doctors.

Read more on the missing students.

A year in surveys: Binay bounces back

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay. The past year is also a testament to the resilience of this politician who survived a protracted televised Senate probe into corruption allegations against him. But other factors also intervened, most significant among them President Benigno Aquino’s fall from public affection after a mishandled police operation. Rappler’s leading investigative reporter Chay Hofileña charts the ebb and tide of Binay’s rocky political year.

Read the investigative piece on Binay’s survey record.

Express bus service on major Metro road to start Monday

The government’s express bus service along EDSA begins Monday with 50 buses. The buses will carry passengers from Fairview in Quezon City to either the Ayala central business district in Makati City or SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. The Express Connect bus service aims to cut travel time for commuters passing through the busy thoroughfare by making only one stop or two from starting point to destination.

Read more on the express bus.

Controversial sculpture of Spain’s ex-king Juan Carlos on display

A controversial sculpture of former king Juan Carlos of Spain being sodomized has finally gone on display in Barcelona. The decision to show the “very sensitive” paper mache sculpture by Austrian artist Ines Doujak comes after Bartomeu Mari, director of Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art, reversed an earlier ruling not to show it. The sculpture shows the former king, who abdicated in June 2014, being sodomized by the late Bolivian union leader Domitila Barrios, who is in turn being sodomized by a dog. Mari had originally asked curators to withdraw the piece from the Beast and the Sovereign exhibition of 30 works by international artists, according to Spanish media. The curators refused and instead pushed him to either show it or cancel the whole exhibition. Mari has offered his “sincere apologies” as well as his resignation to the museum over the decision. The exhibition opened to the public on Saturday, March 21.

Read more on the Juan Carlos’ sculpture.

English King Richard III gets final burial

Dug out of a municipal car park five centuries after his mutilated body was unceremoniously interred, England’s Richard III will finally be given a burial fit for a king this week. Some 530 years on from his violent death in 1485, Richard III will be laid to rest on Thursday, March 26, in Leicester Cathedral, across the street from where his remains were located in 2012. The discovery of the king’s remains was confirmed by a DNA match with Richard’s closest living relative – Canadian carpenter Michael Ibsen. The medieval king will be reinterred in the presence of royalty and England’s highest cleric, in a solemn service broadcast live on national television.

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Online shoppers warned on toxic beauty products

Environmental watchdog EcoWaste Coalition warned consumers against buying cosmetics and slimming products with dangerous chemicals online. The group said on Sunday that it found products banned by health authorities on major online retail websites Lazada and OLX. Skin whitening products, among them Angel Placenta Cream and Erna Whitening Cream, contain mercury, which causes damage to the skin, the brain and the central nervous system and the kidneys. The amphetamine, sibutramine and steroids found in slimming products including Brazilian Slimming Coffee and Sehat Badan Powder may cause severe health reactions, including increased cardiovascular risks.

Find out more on the supposedly toxic products.

Mayweather uncle says he’s beating up sparring partners

Boxing pro Floyd Mayweather Jr has been beating up his sparring partners in preparation for his May 2 super fight against Manny Pacquiao, according to his uncle Jeff Mayweather. Mayweather has been sparring with former two-division champion Zab Judah and former 140 pound champ DeMarcus Corley, two men he had previously fought, as part of a ten-man crew. Uncle Jeff told Mlive.com that Mayweather has been punishing Judah the most – “[beating] the sh-t out of him.” He added, his nephew has benefited from working with former Pacquiao strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.

Read more on Mayweather’s training.

Lea Michele sings as Rachel Berry in final ‘Glee’ episode

Did Pope perform miracle in Naples?

The dried blood relic of St. Gennaro liquefied in the presence of Pope Francis on Saturday, March 21. CNN shows a video of the blood relic’s liquefaction during a service in Naples, which St. Gennaro is the patron saint of. “The archbishop said the blood is half-liquefied,” Pope Francis joked. “It means the saint loves us halfway. We all have to convert a little more so that he loves us more.” This is not the first time this happened. In 1848, the blood relic liquefied in the presence of Pope Pius IX. The dried blood of St. Gennaro traditionally liquefies three times a year: on the saint’s September 19 feast, December 16, the date of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1631 and the Saturday before the first Sunday in May. St. Gennaro was bishop of Naples martyred in the year 305.

Read more on the supposed miracle by Pope Francis.