Daily News Highlights – April 16, 2015 Edition

It’s groundless. Beijing dismissed Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s warning that the Asian giant’s actions in the South China Sea should “engender fear for the rest of the world.” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing: “The relevant accusations by the Philippines are groundless.” Aquino has said that China’s recent actions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) “should engender fear for the rest of the world.” But Hong said that Chinese construction “does not impact or target any other countries, or threaten the security of international shipping lanes and fishing activities.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

As Italian authorities said no more survivors had been found from a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, which may have killed 400 people, rights groups lashed out at the European Union for scrapping rescue operations in the Mediterranean. The EU stopped funding Italy’s Mare Nostrum rescue mission last year in favor of surveillance patrols. More than 500 migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan had died this year trying to cross Europe. Amnesty International said the EU is guilty of “negligence” toward a humanitarian crisis.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Why should the Senate be the one to investigate Court of Appeals (CA) justices? The camp of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said it prefers that the Supreme Court (SC) conduct its own probe into allegations that the mayor paid off two CA justices to obtain an order stopping the suspension order against him. A senator earlier filed a resolution asking the Senate to investigate his own claim about the supposed bribery that was based on his own unidentified sources.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Give me a few days to think about it. This was how President Benigno Aquino III reportedly reacted to the resignation letter tendered by the officer in charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, last March. Espina has been the PNP OIC since December 2014, following the preventive suspension of its former chief, Director General Alan Purisima. Despite Purism’s resignation this year, however, the President has yet to choose a permanent replacement for him.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The public’s trust in the Internet has been severely eroded by a cloak-and-dagger approach to collecting private data online leaving it open to abuse, the Global Commission on Internet Governance said in a report. Law enforcement should be allowed to gather data for their investigations but should be “specified in advance, authorized by law and consistent with the principles of necessity and proportionality,” the commission added. Around 1,500 delegates from almost 100 countries are to gather in The Hague at the fourth annual Global Conference on Cyberspace, which will discuss how to keep the Internet safe and free and how to use it to boost economic growth.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Google faces legal battles with European Union antitrust regulators that are reminiscent of what Microsoft, in its heyday, faced in the region. Buzfeed reports that the EU regulators announced a probe into Google’s possible abuse related to its Android mobile operating system. The European Commission is also accusing the tech giant of giving prominent placement on search to its own shopping service, depriving consumers of a full menu of options. The body said Google might be “stifling competition,” Buzfeed reports.

Read the full story on Buzfeed.

From New York City to Los Angeles, thousands of workers and protesters marched in front of fast-food locations to demand $15-an-hour wages. At least one McDonald’s in New York City was temporarily closed by protesters. Several McDonald’s stores kept drive-throughs operating, even while the restaurants were temporarily locked. What began two years ago as a fast-food workers movement has propelled into something wider, with the latest protests including a range of workers workers from adjunct professors to home care and child care providers to Walmart employees.

Read the full story on USA Today.

It’s just been 7 months since the Sweden-based H&M (Hennes & Mauritz AB) opened its flagship store in the Philippines in SM Megamall. Today the company runs 5 stores with at least 500 employees, and it intends to grow more. H&M launched on April 15 the newest H&M Conscious and H&M Conscious Exclusive – its collections that promote “fashion that looks good and does good.” That H&M shirt or pair of jeans you are buying could be made of recycled shirt or jeans.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murder of a semi-pro football player two years ago. The victim, Odin Lloyd, was a 27-year-old semi-pro football player whose bloodied body was found in North Attleboro, Massachusetts on June 17, 2013, less than a mile from Hernandez’s luxury home. Lloyd had been dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. The unanimous jury verdict cements a spectacular fall from grace for Hernandez, who once had a $40 million, 5-year contract with the New England Patriots.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Two giant boxing camps try to outdo each other in the media before their May 3 (Manila time) duel in Las Vegas, with one camp booting out a rival’s videographer and the other getting a Jimmy Kimmel version of its signature song. On his show Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy performed Manny Pacquiao’s “Lalaban ako para sa Pilipino” (I am going to fight for Filipinos), with the audience humming along with the music. Pacquiao and Mayweather are doing their individual workouts before the media – taking a swipe at each other in the process.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Catch Pacquiao’s latest workout for the media on Rappler.