June 28, 2013 Edition

The United States Senate approved the most significant overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws with broad bipartisan support, with 14 Republicans voting in favor, ending with a strong 68-32 vote. The bill provides a 13-year path to citizenship for 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the US. The Republicans prioritized overhauling the nation’s immigration system after the 2012 presidential election, where Mitt Romney was rejected by Hispanic voters. The bill’s $40 billion  border security package substantially beefs up security along the southern border including 20,000 new Border Patrol agents and 700 miles of fencing. The bill also includes raising the annual minimum number of visas for high-skilled foreign workers.  House Speaker John A. Boehner threw cold water on any hope that the House would vote on the Senate plan saying, “We’re going to do our own bill.”

Read the full story on Rappler and NY Times

Edith Windsor lived in the closet for decades with the woman she loved, Thea Spyer. They were together for 40 years before they married in Canada in 2007. When Spyer died 2 years later, the US government ordered Windsor to pay $363,000 in estate taxes because legally, they were nothing more than friends.  Windsor fought it, and now her victory at the US Supreme Court is rippling through the lives of gay and lesbian couples.  For Steven and Sean, the decision comes just in time to prevent one of them from being deported.  For Filipina Kia Sison living in New York City, it means living with her wife and receiving more than 1,000 benefits denied to gay couples.  It was a day of joy and tears.

Read the full story here, here, and here 

A US grand jury on Thursday, June 27, indicted teenager Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the April bomb attack on the Boston marathon that killed three people and injured more than 260.  The 30-count indictment includes using a weapon of mass destruction and causing death by bombing a public place.  Dzhokhar and his brother Tamerlan, earlier killed in a shootout with police, are accused of leaving two pressure cooker bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15.  The indictment alleges that Tsarnaev was inspired by Al Qaeda publications and left a confession in a boat in Watertown where he was captured. In it, he said, “I don’t like killing innocent people” and noted that “it is forbidden” in Islam to do so, but he justified his actions as a response to US military action in Muslim countries. “The U.S. Government is killing our innocent civilians. …. I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished. … We Muslims are one body, you hurt one, you hurt us all,” Tsarnaev allegedly wrote. Federal prosecutors said 17 of the charges carry a possible death penalty. Tsarnaev will be formally arraigned in Boston district court on July 10.

Read the full story on Rappler and Boston Globe

US President Barack Obama says he will not be ‘scrambling jets to get a 29-year old hacker,” referring to fugitive Edward Snowden, the man who leaked details of US internet surveillance to the media. Obama adds Snowden’s stay in a Moscow airport shows he did not possess documents allowing him to travel further. Kremlin says he is in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong Sunday. There has not been a single sighting of Snowden at the airport and his travel plans remain a mystery. His ultimate destination appears to be Ecuador. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Thursday described the situation as “complex”, insisting that Snowden needs to arrive in Ecuador first so his request can be processed. The comments are the latest mixed messages from Ecuador, which said it will consider Mr. Snowden’s asylum request but denied it had granted him travel papers.

Read the full story on Rappler and Wall Street Journal 

South African President Jacob Zuma offered reassurance to a worried nation Thursday, saying beloved anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is in “now stable” condition, though still critically ill. An official briefed on his condition said he was on life support. In an interview earlier Mr. Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, described his condition as “very critical” and warned, “Anything is imminent.” “I won’t lie,” she added. “It doesn’t look good.” Mandela was admitted to the hospital with a serious lung infection almost three weeks ago. The alarms began sounding late on Wednesday, when Mr. Zuma abruptly canceled a visit to neighboring Mozambique, and later visited Mr. Mandela in the hospital for the second time in just over 12 hours. The worries increased as South African leaders prepared to welcome President Obama on Friday.

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The Philippines plans to give the United States and Japan greater access to its military bases. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin says the government is drafting a plan that would allow US forces to spend more time on Filipino bases. The same plan could also be offered to Japan’s military. President Benigno Aquino says the Philippines will welcome an increased US military presence as tensions continue with China over competing claims to the South China Sea. Gazmin’s statements indicate the Philippines plans to expand its standard military exercises with the two nations. But he clarifies the plan will not lead to new bases or a permanent US presence in the Philippines. The United States had thousands of troops stationed at the Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base north of Manila until the early 1990s, when they were forced to abandon the bases in the middle of anti-US sentiment and a row over rent. The constitution now bans any permanent foreign bases in the Philippines.

Read the full story on Rappler

Outgoing Cagayan de Oro Rep Benjo Benaldo attempted suicide in his office at the House of Representatives late Thursday.  Benaldo is the husband of model Daiana Menezes, who recently became controversial when rumors of alleged domestic abuse circulated. According to the House public information office, Benaldo, drenched in blood, was seen being carried Thursday night from the South Lobby. He was rushed to the New Era Hospital before being transferred to St Luke’s Medical Center. In an interview with reporters, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr says the cause of the incident is not yet determined.  He says Benaldo was found wounded with a gun on top of his table, after staff members heard a bang from inside his office. Belmonte says Benaldo sustained a “single wound in the heart going downward” but was “very stable” by the time he arrived at the hospital. Deputy Majority Leader Miro Quimbo says Benaldo’s family is appealing for privacy. The outgoing congressman served in Cagayan de Oro’s first district for only one term. He ran for re-election in the midterm polls this year, but lost to Klarex Uy of the Liberal Party. Belmonte said police are investigating the incident.

Read the full story on Rappler

Seven Philippine companies rank among Southeast Asia’s most sought after companies to invest in. Real estate giants and diversified conglomerates in the Philippines come out as investor favorites in a poll by institutional investment magazine Alpha Southeast Asia. The 8 companies voted as among those sought after are conglomerates SM Investment Corp (SMIC), Ayala Corp, and San Miguel Corp; real estate company Megaworld Corp; bank company BDO Inc; and telecom giants Globe Telecom and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

The companies were ranked on their financial management, adherence to corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and investor relations’ strategy, transparency and disclosure. On the opposite end, Philex Mining, Melco Crown Resorts, and Eton Properties were noted for their poor and unpredictable investor relations’ strategy. The best CFO in the Philippines was awarded to Jose Sio, CFO of SMIC.

Read the full story on Rappler

Skyline image from Shutterstock

Philippine police rescue 29 women from a mail-order bride scheme with Korean men. Acting from complaints from the victims, authorities raid a house Wednesday in Bacoor, Cavite and arrested 2 Korean nationals and 3 Filipinos who were allegedly members of a syndicate. The executive director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission says the syndicates collect thousands of dollars from Korean men looking for Filipina wives. The women are often promised prosperous lives in South Korea but end up in abusive or unhappy marriages.

The Philippine embassy in Seoul has reported receiving many complaints from abused Filipino wives, most of whom were wed through illegal “marriage brokers” in the Philippines. Republic Act 6955 prohibits the business of organizing marriages between Filipinas and foreign men.

The suspects will be charged with violating the human trafficking law and the Anti-Mail-Order Bride law.

Read the full story on Rappler and Huffingtonpost

Google is cracking down on adult-themed blogs hosted on its Blogger site. The Verge reports the Internet giant is contacting users with blogs marked as Adult or are identified to be running explicit advertisements. The email notice says Google will change its terms of service to “strictly prohibit the monetization of Adult content on Blogger.” Blogs that make money from displaying ads or links to commercial porn sites will be removed after June 30. Google’s current terms of service do allow posting and sharing of adult content on Blogger, but says users shouldn’t use the site “as a way to make money on adult content.” Affected blog site owners can switch to Yahoo after the clampdown. Yahoo, which recently acquired website publishing service Tumblr, has said it won’t restrict porn on the popular blogging site.

Read the full story on Rappler and The Verge

Flying kiss image from Shutterstock