Floyd Mayweather Jr has withdrawn his offer of a rematch with Manny Pacquaio, saying the Filipino boxer is a “sore loser and he’s a coward.” Mayweather, who won by unanimous decision on Sunday, May 3, added, “If you lost, accept the loss and say, ‘Mayweather, you were the better fighter.’” Mayweather said Pacquiao knows he lost. “I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this,” referring to what he saw as Pacquiao making excuses for his loss. Mayweather had previously said he would offer Pacquiao a rematch in a year’s time after Pacquiao recovers from surgery on his right shoulder.

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At a Senate hearing on Thursday, May 7, National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia Jr said territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea have “overtaken all security issues in our hierarchy of national security issues.” China’s aggressive reclamation of reefs in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) highlights the importance of territorial defense and the need for increased funding for military modernization. Garcia said the Armed Forces of the Philippines should shift from internal security to external defense.

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The alleged recruiter of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina granted a reprieve from death by firing squad by Indonesian authorities, was part of an international drug syndicate that operated within and outside the Philippines. Quoting the National Bureau of Investigation, the DOJ resolution released on Thursday, May 7, said Maria Cristina Sergio, along with her partner and co-accused Julius Lacanilao, recruited “willing and/or unwilling participants” in the drug trade and were drug mules as early as 2010. Sergio’s lawyer refuted claims Sergio confessed about her involvement in the drug trade to investigators.

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A related story on Sergio’s counsel denying admission by her client is also on Rappler.

From being the economic laggard of the region, the Philippines has become the “Darling of Asia” under this watch, President Benigno Aquino said during a meeting with members of the Filipino community in Chicago. Among reforms and other economic gains, he cited the Bloomberg forecast that said the country will become the world’s second fastest growing economy in 2015. He reiterated the importance of choosing in the 2016 elections the next leaders who will not revert the country to the old system marked by corruption.

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Defying predictions, Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are leading in Britain’s general election, falling just short of a clear majority they need to govern alone, exit polls showed on Thursday, May 7. The center-right Conservatives were expected to win 316 seats against the center-left Labor party’s 239. Earlier opinion surveys indicated that the Conservatives and Labor were almost tied. If the exit polls are borne out, Cameron’s promise of an in-out referendum on European Union membership could spell trouble with the EU.

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A related story is on the BBC.

Malaysian non-governmental organization Tenaganita is asking authorities to investigate whether a deadly human trafficking operation in Thailand has crossed over to Kuala Lumpur. Tenaganita said it had received reports of undocumented migrant workers missing in Malaysia, even as Thai authorities reported 6 more bodies were found near the two countries’ borders. Over the weekend, the bodies of 26 migrants were found in a mass grave.

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Manny Pacquiao had a successful surgery on his injured right shoulder, doctor Neal ElAttrache of the Kerland Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles declared. He will be able to return to the ring after the rotator cuff tear on his shoulder, which was aggravated early in the fight, was fixed. His doctor said recovery would take 9-12 months. The operation came after Mayweather’s unanimous win over Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 3.

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A related story on Mayweather knowing about Pacquiao’s training is also on Rappler.

Irish-trained medical doctor Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, also the wife of jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, is taking over her husband’s seat in parliament after winning in a by-election. Unofficial poll results show her winning again the same seat she won in 1999, replacing Anwar after he was sacked as deputy prime minister and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges believed to be politically motivated. Her victory is seen as a test of support for the 3-party alliance Anwar headed.

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The Philippines jumped 8 spots up, landing in 74th place in the 2015 World Economic Forum’s annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Titled “Growth Through Shocks”, the study rated 141 countries across 14 separate dimensions. The Philippines ranked 24th in the area of price competitiveness, 27th in terms of putting priority on travel and tourism, 49th in natural resources, and 29th in international openness. In Asia-Pacific, the top 3 performers were Australia, Japan and Singapore.

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It’s not an ideological information bubble for users of social media networks like Facebook. A study published in the journal, Science, found that many stories shared by 10 million Facebook users exposed people to diverse viewpoints. The results of the study assuaged fears that social networks bring about political polarization because, as in the case of Facebook, algorithms that deliver content to users based on their interests, are used. In a statement, Facebook said it’s “the friends you choose and the content you click on” that are more important factors in determining diversity of content.

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