September 8, 2014 Edition

Metro Manilans didn’t think traffic could get worse, but it did. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has formed “Task Force Pantalan” which will take over traffic management of roads affected by congestion in the ports of Manila. The high volume of cargo trucks in the port of Manila caused heavy traffic in areas around the NLEX. The agency will be resorting to counterflow measures and heavy fines to manage the worsening nightmare.

Read the full story on Rappler.

It’s been a year after a rebel group laid siege to Zamboanga city, but all the signs of the bloody siege are still there. Bullet holes are still seen on the walls. While some of the residents dislocated by the war have rebuilt their lives, most still squat in roofless homes. Most residents of Lustre, Barangay Sta. Catalina, have not returned to their homes. A total of 15,130 city residents continue to live in evacuation centers, most of them in the Joaquin Enriquez Sports Complex where they were first brought at the height of the firefight.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Colonel Ezra Enriquez posted on Facebook: “I have been in the military service for 30 years and never defied tactical, operational or administrative orders from my superiors until that standoff in Position 68.” Enriquez was referring to Filipinos defying the order of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) commander Iqbal Singha to surrender their weapons to Syrian rebels. The Filipinos instead sneaked out after hours-long firefight. Singha would later call the escape “an act of cowardice.” The UNDOF commander also accused the Filipinos of jeopardizing the safety of the Fijian peacekeepers who are being held hostage. Enriquez was not only the commander of the Philippine battalion, he is also the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) chief of staff. It means Singha is Number 1 and he is Number 3 in the overall command of all the peacekeepers. Enriquez has resigned as UNDOF chief of staff.

Read the full story on Rappler.

TV host and singer Billy Crawford admitted he was under the influence of alcohol when he was arrested at the Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Sunday morning. Crawford said the incident was his fault, but added that he did not hurt anyone when he became aggressive. The TV host said that he went to the police because he was stressed and he did not want to “make a fool” of himself” roaming around drunk. He also said he calmed down when he was handcuffed by the police. The incident happened just hours after he attended the 8th Star Magic Ball at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel on Saturday, September 6.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Hong Kong police launched an animal cruelty investigation after a man joked online about killing a dog by trapping it inside a churning washing machine. An image uploaded to Facebook by a man calling himself Jacky Lo shows a small, white dog attempting to climb out of the machine, while another apparently portrays the animal struggling to keep its head above water with the washing cycle in full flow. “Lo” said he posted the pictures to show “a super quick way to bathe a doggy”. In reply to another user who asked if he had killed the dog, “Yes (it’s dead). Do you wanna see?” An online petition which had urged the authorities to take action had gone viral and drawn nearly 20,000 signatures.

Read the full story on Rappler.

US authorities say former Boston resident and U.S. citizen Ahmad Abousamra may be the social media guru behind the torrent of ISIS’ brutal propaganda on social media. CNN reports that while there’s no specific evidence pointing to Abousamra’s involvement in the terror group’s social media campaign, federal investigators think he may have joined the group and is helping with online efforts. Abousamra, who holds dual U.S. and Syrian citizenship, is wanted by the FBI on terrorism charges issued in 2009. He’s fluent in both English and Arabic, and and has a college degree in computers.

Read the full story on CNN.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama criticized Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as “self-centered” in a German newspaper interview on Sunday. Pointing out that Putin had served as Russian president, then prime minister and then president again, the Dalai Lama commented: “His attitude is: ‘I, I, I’ … This is very self-centered.” The Buddhist leader also had more criticism for Russia than for China, which has ruled Tibet since its 1950 invasion. The Dalai Lama said he hopes the “modern world supports China becoming a democratic country.” But he said that Russia, which is now in the worst standoff with the West since the Cold War, appears to want to “rebuild the Berlin Wall,” alluding to the shattering of the Communist bloc begun 25 years ago.

Read the full story on Rappler.

CNN columnist Agnes Poirer looks at the impact of a tell-all book by former French First Lady Valérie Trierweiler. She says publishing a book about her relationship with President Francois Hollande, Trierweiler has damaged Hollande’s image beyond repair. Since the book came out, a new poll showed Hollande’s approval rating reached a historical low of 13%. But Poirier said the ex-First Lady also appears as a “scorned woman…full of revenge and full of herself” by dishing the details on Hollande’s affair with actress Julie Gayet. Poirier also said the book “reads like a cheap romance” and was “an embarrassment for a former Paris Match literary critic.” She added that French political commentators are not taking well to another invasion of the president’s privacy and ” are clearly showing signs of farce fatigue.”

Read the full story on CNN.

Instead of Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer for the U.S. Open title, first-time Grand Slam finalists Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic will vie for the championship after a pair of semifinal surprises Saturday. In an Associated Press report, Federer said, “It’s fairly simple, I think: Marin played great and I maybe didn’t catch my best day.” For the first time in nearly a decade, a major final will be contested without at least one of Federer, Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. Nadal didn’t attempt to defend his 2013 U.S. Open title because of a right wrist injury. That trio won 34 of the past 38 Grand Slam trophies, including two months ago at Wimbledon, when Djokovic edged Federer in a five-set final. Federer added, “It’s exciting for the game to have different faces from time to time… It’s big for Croatia; it’s big for Japan.” Cilic is the first man from Croatia to get this far at a major tournament since 2001. Nishikori is the first man from his country to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since 1933.

Read the full story on Associated Press.

Two adventurers went into an active volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, and lived to upload the video of their descent online. The video showed adventure enthusiast Sam Cossman and photographer George Kourounis diving into an area of the Mt. Marum volcano just above the lava. They got so close that specks of lava melted their protective gear as they descended. In a Huffington Post report, Kourounis said diving into the volcano was “kind of like a reverse climbing of Everest…The volcano fought back at us, we had to deal with terrible weather, tremendous heat from the lava, descending and ascending 400 meters of near vertical, loose rock face, acid rain so strong that it could have come from a car battery, and a variety of other craziness.”

Read the full story on Huffington Post.