June 27, 2013 Edition

Starting July 1, Filipinos can apply for multiple-entry visas for short-term trips to Japan, part of the East Asian country’s relaxed visa rules for select Southeast Asian countries. “The Government of Japan has decided to begin issuance from July 1, of multiple entry visas for short-term stay to nationals of the Republic of the Philippines (ordinary passport holders) who reside in their home country,” the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a news release Tuesday, June 25. Japan has yet to release details on how to apply for the multiple entry visas, but the MOFA release said there will be “certain conditions” to be met by applicants. They will also be required to have machine-readable passports that meet standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), or an ordinary IC passport. The multiple entry visas will allow Filipinos to stay in Japan for a period of 15 days, and the visas will be valid for up to 3 years.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, May 26, that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. DOMA, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman only, also denies same-sex couples federal benefits in states where they reside. The Supreme Court ruling now allows same-sex couples in the 12 states and in Washington, DC where same-sex couples may marry, tax breaks and insurance for government employees. Voting 5-4, the US High Court said DOMA deprives American citizens of equal liberty, a violation of the Fifth Amendment.  

Read the full story on Rappler.

Read more in the Washington Post.

More information is available from the New York Times. 

94-year-old Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero, is on life support, unable to breathe on his own. “Yes he is using machines to breathe,” Napilisi Mandela, a relative, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. “It is bad, but what can we do?” he asked. South African President Jacob Zuma scrapped a planned visit to Mozambique on late Wednesday, June 26, after visiting Mandela in the hospital. It was the first time he did so since Mandela’s hospitalization nearly 3 weeks ago for a stubborn lung problem. Crowds have gathered outside the Pretoria hospital where Mandela is, singing hymns of prayer.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Pope Francis is launching a sweeping study of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank before a possible clear-out of top management at the Holy See, the Vatican revealed on Wednesday. In his first real step towards reform, the pontiff is to take a hands-on approach, ensuring that everything a special five-member commission uncovers will be reported directly to him. The 76-year-old is particularly keen to “better know the judicial position and activities” of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as it is known, which has struggled to shake off its murky image amid persistent reports of shady dealings. The Vatican said the commission would have top-level access allowing it to get its hands on all documentation.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Seven-time winner Roger Federer and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova suffered humiliating Wimbledon defeats on an injury-cursed black Wednesday which turned the All England Club upside down. Defending champion Federer, the third seed, lost to Ukraine’s world number 116, Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) in his worst Grand Slam defeat for a decade. Sharapova, the third seed, slumped to a shock 6-3, 6-4 loss to Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito, the world 131. The defeats came just two days after Rafael Nadal had exited in the first round.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story on Steve Darcis, the man who defeated Rafael Nadal, is also on Rappler. 

Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister Thursday, June 27, almost 3 years to the day since he was ruthlessly ousted from the job by Julia Gillard, as Labor desperately fights for electoral survival. The 55-year-old sealed his dramatic return after a leadership ballot on Wednesday, June 26, in which Gillard, the country’s first female premier, was deposed in a party-room vote and announced her retirement from politics. Rudd’s resurrection marks a stunning turnaround for the former premier who will now lead Labor to elections scheduled for September 14, which polls predict Tony Abbott’s conservative opposition will win by a landslide.

Read the full story on Rappler.  

Learn the context on Rappler. 

The World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, June 26, the Pacific climate patterns were expected to remain neutral throughout 2013, even as a “slight chance” of the La Niña or El Niño phenomena still developing has not been fully discounted. The United Nations agency predicted weak La Niña conditions between the months of June and September, while less than a fifth of climate models it studied showed El Niño developing before yearend. Scientists usually watch these two climate patterns, aware that rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, may actually affect their intensity and frequency.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Steve Darcis, who overpowered Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, was forced to pull out of the tournament because of a shoulder injury on Wednesday, June 26. He admitted he was devastated, saying, “It’s the biggest disappointment I have had. I thought it would be okay. During the match it was perfect. I was serving great, no pain at all. I was hitting great shorts. So I really don’t know why it was so much worse after. It’s so tough to withdraw like this,” Darcis said. He was due to face Poland’s Lukasz Kubot in the second round.

Read the full story on the BBC. 

Read the full story on Rappler. 

New drugs marketed as “legal highs” and “designer drugs” are emerging fast and in great numbers, and authorities are struggling to keep up, a new UN report warned Wednesday, June 26. So-called new psychoactive substances (NPS), often sold under harmless names like spice, bath salts or herbal incense, posed a serious health risk although they were legal, the UN office on drugs and crimes (UNODC) said in its annual World Drug Report. “Sold openly, including via the Internet, NPS, which have not been tested for safety, can be far more dangerous than traditional drugs,” it warned. These drugs, which could be synthetic or plant-based and could be easily altered to create new ones, were now outpacing efforts to control or ban them, it said.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

The Cambodian tailorbird or the Orthotomus chaktomuk, a bird species that is completely new, has been discovered in Phnom Penh. First spotted in 2009 when checks for avian flu were made, more specimens have since been seen in regions around the city, the BBC reported. Tests that include plumage to songs and genes have shown that Tailorbirds are a new species. It is unusual to find undiscovered bird species in urban areas. Tailorbirds, according to the BBC, live in a small area made up of dense scrubland in the floodplain of the Mekong River, near Phnom Penh.

Read the full story on the BBC.