April 11, 2014 Edition

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned leaders of 18 European countries that Russia could cut gas supplies to Ukraine. This posed a threat Europe because Russia “meets 30% of Europe’s natural gas demand and half of its gas transit to the EU goes through Ukraine,” according to Reuters. In a letter, Putin said if Ukraine fails to settle its 1.6 billion euro energy bill, natural gas giant Gazprom would be “compelled to switch over to advance payment for gas deliveries, and in the event of further violation of the conditions of payment, will completely or partially cease gas deliveries.” He suggested, however, that Moscow and Brussels work together to help restore the ex-Soviet country’s battered economy.


Read the full story on Rappler.

Read related stories on Reuters and the Washington Post.

To win the Indonesian presidency, leading candidate Joko Widodo “may need to form a coalition” as his party won by a slim margin in the parliamentary elections last April 9, the Jakarta Globe reported. His party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, won 19.7% of the votes according to an unofficial tally. This “would limit his ability to carry out reforms in Southeast Asia’s largest economy,” the Indonesian news outlet said. “The party must work harder to persuade the Indonesians who did not back them that they – and by extension Jokowi – can be trusted with power,” analyst Karim Raslan wrote on Rappler.


Read the full story on the Jakarta Globe.

For more insights, read this Thought Leaders piece on Rappler.

Veteran China analyst Chito Sta Romana said he backs the historic case filed by the Philippines against China, but believes Manila will have to talk with Beijing in the end. He said the Philippines can combine negotiation with arbitration, the course that the Philippines took after more than 17 years of fruitless dialogue. “I support arbitration. I think we should push it to the end, but we should have no illusion that this will be a quick solution or that it will be a final solution,” Sta Romana said. Unfortunately, he said, the dispute has become a “dialogue of the deaf.”


Read and watch his interview with Rappler.

KC Concepcion, a Filipino celebrity, said hunger and malnutrition remain the world’s greatest health risks. It is baffling, she added, that hunger persists in the Philippines even if it is an agricultural and maritime country. “Why should there be a lack of resources? And that’s exactly the point, there’s enough food in the whole world, to feed the whole population of the world. So it’s more about equal distribution of food and being able to have access to that food,” Concepcion said in an interview for Rappler’s #HungerProject.


Watch her interview with Rappler editor Chay Hofileña here.

Read a related story on Rappler.

A group of commuters called on the general manager of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3), Al Vitangcol III, to resign in the face of an alleged extortion attempt. The group Riles Network, which held a rally at the MRT depot in Quezon City, said Vitangcol failed to manage the rail line properly. “If we can’t ask him to resign, he should at least have some shame because he’s a public servant…. He’s not focused on his job, he’s focused on corruption,” said Riles convenor Sammy Manules. While Riles staged this protest, the Ombudsman invited Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar – again – to shed light on the alleged extortion attempt.


Read Rappler’s stories on this here and here.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it wonders why only few companies from the petroleum, gas, and steel import industries made it to the list of top taxpayers. The BIR asked, “Where are the other corporations from these industries?” In the meantime, the BIR teamed up with Philippine Medical Association (PMA) to improve tax collection. The new president of the PMA, Dr Minerva Calimag, appeared with BIR Commissioner Kim Henares to urge taxpayers, especially doctors, to pay their taxes. The deadline for filing income tax returns is on April 15.


Read more about this issue here and here.

An attack by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) wounded at least 18 soldiers in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan on Friday, April 11, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said. Soldiers were deployed to the area following information that ASG leader Furiji Indama was there, AFP spokesman Ramon Zagala said. An encounter followed.


Read the full story on Rappler.

Philippine-based kidnappers demanded more than $11 million (P487,905,000) in ransom for a Chinese tourist abducted from a Malaysian dive resort, a Malaysian senior minister said. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, the family of Gao Huayun, who was kidnapped by gunmen on April 2 along with a Filipina resort worker, have been negotiating with abductors through an intermediary. Gao, 29, had been kidnapped along with Filipina resort worker Marcy Dayawan, 40, at the Singamata Reef Resort in Malaysia’s Borneo island state of Sabah in a late-night raid by a group of gunmen.


Read the full story on Rappler.

An overzealous Facebook app might be draining your iPhone battery, two researchers discovered in separate studies. Scott Loveless, a former Apple Genius Bar employee, and Sebastian Düvel, a German iOS app developer, arrived at similar conclusions about draining iOS batteries, according to The Guardian. Clue: It has something to do with location services.


Read the full story on Rappler.

Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao said he is ready to prove himself on Sunday, April 13 (Philippine time), when he faces WBO welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley. The upcoming fight is “very important” for Pacquiao, who is facing his first opponent with a winner’s chance since his back-to-back losses to Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. “I feel like when I started boxing and I get a chance to fight a championship. I’m so motivated for this fight,” he said.


Rappler sports editor Ryan Songalia is in Las Vegas to cover the boxing match. Read his report here.


Watch related videos here and here.