August 21, 2014 Edition

US President Barack Obama called for a joint effort to eliminate the “cancer” of jihadist terror in Iraq and Syria after Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants murdered an American journalist. ISIS has released a video showing a masked militant beheading 40-year-old US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion and condemnation. As US jets continued to strike ISIS targets in Iraq, and despite a threat to kill a second American reporter, Obama said: “When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what’s necessary to see that justice is done.” The White House and the Pentagon also said US military forces had “recently” tried to rescue “a number” of American hostages held in Syria by IS, but had failed.

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The armed wing of Hamas warned foreign airlines against flying into Tel Aviv, and declared truce talks in Cairo over. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes across Gaza again August 21 in response to multiple rocket attacks on southern Israel, as nine days of calm exploded into bloodshed. “We are warning international airlines and press them to stop flying into Ben Gurion airport from 6 am,” the spokesman of the Hamas armed wing, Abu Obeida, said in a televised speech. Last month, many international airlines briefly suspended flights into Tel Aviv after a Hamas rocket struck close to the airport.

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A new study by the International Labor Organization and the Asian Development Bank on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) warns that inequality and labor issues could worsen unless countries started taking decisive action. The AEC could lead to 14 million additional jobs and increase overall growth by 7.1% by 2025 compared to a scenario where it isn’t implemented. But the gains will not be distributed evenly, the study said. The AEC, set to come into force in December 2015 is an ambitious plan to create a single market comprising the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Cambodia and Vietnam stand to gain most in terms of job generation under the AEC, according to the study.

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If their political rival is to be believed, the Binays provide services and gifts to Makati residents for fat commissions. Lawyer Renato Bondal told a Senate probe August 21 that Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay give away overpriced birthday cakes and build expensive buildings for their own personal benefit. The Senate blue ribbon committee is investigating the Makati City Hall Building 2, which was allegedly overpriced by at least $43 million. Two senators grilled Mayor Binay about it during the hearing. Commission on Audit  Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan told the Senate her agency did not issue a certification saying that the building was not overpriced. The Binays, on the other hand, said the probe was meant to target the patriarch, who is the current frontrunner in the 2016 presidential race.

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The Supreme Court may have a new member but his appointment also unmasks the problems at the Tribunal. Already at odds with President Benigno Aquino III over the high court’s decision to declare unconstitutional specific acts under a special government spending program, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno suffered a double setback in a span of less than 24 hours. Her own colleagues in the tribunal rebuffed her when they decided to include Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza, whose nomination she had opposed, in the short list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to the President. The President delivered the second blow when he appointed Jardeleza the following day. Sereno was appointed Chief Justice by Aquino in 2012 – the first female and the youngest justice to be named to the position.

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Ferguson, Missouri has been ground zero of a renewed debate about race and strong-armed law enforcement in America since the August 9 fatal shooting in broad daylight of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer. Protests and the events that followed have triggered mixed emotions in the US and abroad. US National Guard troops have been deployed to Ferguson to help control the unrest, amid criticism of the distrusted local force’s handling of the protests, with even President Barack Obama saying there was no excuse for local police to use “excessive force.” What are the issues at stake? Huffington Post has compiled documentaries that try to make sense of the events.

Watch the documentaries on Huffington Post.

The 2nd draft of the proposed law seeking to create a new autonomous government in Mindanao was submitted to President Benigno Aquino III on August 20. The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation will wait for Aquino’s review before meeting again to craft the final draft that will be certified as urgent to Congress by the President. The delay in the crafting of a new law threatens to break the historic peace agreement signed by both sides. The proposed law is a product of the final peace accord between the government and the MILF signed on March 27 aimed at ending 4 decades of war in the South. It seeks to replace the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a parliamentary form of government that has greater political and fiscal powers.

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Jakarta is the latest to target Uber, an app that has sparked protests from taxi drivers in several countries as it allows customers to hail private rides through their phones. Citing licensing issues, Jakarta authorities threatened to shut down the smartphone car-hailing service after it officially launched in the city. The fear is that Uber’s service will undercut the current market for taxis and that the company may evade tax if not registered legally. The transport agency is working with the ministry for IT and communications to have the app shut down.

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Young Filipino swimmer Roxanne Yu might have ended her Youth Olympic journey without a medal, but she said she has no regrets. “My goal upon coming here wasn’t really to do anything more than to break my personal bests (PB). My main priority was to beat my PB and I did that. I’m really satisfied,” the 17-year-old said. On August 17, Yu competed in the Women’s 100-meter backstroke event in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, breaking her personal record with a 1:05-second finish. On August 20, she topped her heat in the 200-meter women’s backstroke meet in 2:18 minutes. The young Olympian admitted that the YOG was “a different kind of competition” compared to all the other contests she’s been to.

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“I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends, and a few of my most valued political mentors. A death sentence awaits me.” This was part of the speech former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr planned to deliver upon his return to the Philippines 31 years ago, on August 21, 1983. He never got to deliver his speech. Aquino was shot in the head upon stepping out of the plane, in an assassination that served as the trigger of the People Power Revolution 3 years later. By posting the undelivered speech of Aquino on the government website, the administration hopes to remind people who were not born yet in 1983 why he made the choice to come home from years of exile.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Read the full story on Ateneo’s plan to name one of its schools after the Aquino couple.