Binay case, Miriam health update, Internet to ‘disappear’ | The wRap

Today on Rappler.

• The Boy Scouts of the Philippines denies Binay got 200 million in kickbacks in a land deal. 
• Senator Miriam Santiago will complete her term as senator in spite of cancer. 
• Google executive Eric Schmidt predicts the Internet will ‘disappear.’ 

BOY SCOUTS: NO TRUTH TO BINAY KICKBACK CLAIMS
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines or BSP denies Vice President Jejomar Binay shortchanged the organization in a land deal. BSP says it is not aware of any transaction with a real estate company, contrary to charges that Binay pocketed close to P200 million in a deal with Alphaland. Alphaland Corporation plans to sue Ernesto Mercado for criminal libel and defamation. Mercado claims Binay received a 5 percent kickback from the deal with the company.

PH TO TAKE UP CHINA RECLAMATION BEFORE ASEAN
The Philippines plans to raise China’s “massive reclamation” in the South China Sea in an upcoming meeting. Foreign secretary Albert del Rosario considers Beijing’s work in disputed reefs, a “blatant violation” of agreements of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN with China. Del Rosario calls China’s construction work a “threat” to all 10 ASEAN members. Despite accusations of a “massive reclamation,” China says it is “against the bullying of small countries.”

MIRIAM: I’LL FINISH MY TERM AS SENATOR IN SPITE OF CANCER
Senator Miriam Santiago will complete her term as senator until 2016 despite her lung cancer. In a letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon, Santiago says she decides to stay under “qualified medical leave.” In July 2014, Santiago announced she had stage 4 lung cancer.

SAUDI’S ABDULLAH DIES, REPLACED BY BROTHER KING SALMAN
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah dies at age 90 after a lung infection. Under Abdullah’s leadership, Saudi Arabia was a key US ally in the Arab world. Most recently joining the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Malacañang says Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah granted clemency to Filipinos under trial, and reached into his own coffers to assist OFWs on death row. King Abdullah is replaced by his brother Salman as the ruler of the world’s top oil exporter and the spiritual home of Islam.

INTERNET WILL ‘DISAPPEAR,’ GOOGLE BOSS TELLS DAVOS
Google boss Eric Schmidt predicts the Internet will ‘disappear’. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Schmidt explains the Internet will be part of our presence all the time. Schmidt says, “Imagine you walk into a room and… you are interacting with all the things going on in that room.” “There will be so many sensors, so many devices, that you won’t even sense it, it will be all around you.” He adds, as the internet disappears into the background… “A highly personalized, highly interactive and very interesting world emerges.”

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– Rappler.com

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