Jeane Napoles, Lee Kuan Yew, Arum on fight earnings | The wRap

Today on Rappler:

BREAKING: An Airbus A320 plane crashes in the southern French Alps.

• Jeane, the daughter of scam mastermind Janet Napoles is back in the Philippines. 
• What is Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy?
• Promoter Bob Arum says the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight could earn more than $400 million.

We bring you breaking news: Security officials report an Airbus A320 plane crashes in the southern French Alps Tuesday.
One of the sources say the plane belonged to Germanwings, an affiliate of German airline Lufthansa, travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf.
French President Francois Hollande says it is likely all 148 passengers and crew on Germanwings flight GWI18G died in the crash.
Details to follow on Rappler.com

JEANE NAPOLES: BACK IN MANILA
The daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles – Jeane – is back in Manila.
The younger Napoles has been in the Philippines as early as October 2014, although the Bureau of Immigration confirmed her return only last March.
Janet Napoles had denied her daughter was back, but a smiling Jeane was photographed with family members in a children’s party… October last year in Manila.
The younger Napoles was with siblings, some of whom also face graft charges.
She came into the spotlight after social media posts of her lavish lifestyle went public – from a luxury condominium at the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles to a wide collection of designer bags and shoes triggering public outrage. 

LEE KUAN YEW’S LEGACY AND SINGAPORE’S FUTURE
With the death of Singapore’s founding father, two questions remain – what is Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy, and what future lies for the city-state?
Singaporean political analyst Cherian George says Lee led Singapore from backwater port to first-world economy by embracing the inevitability of globalization.

CHERIAN GEORGE, POLITICAL ANALYST: He put Singapore on the winning side of late 20th century history. He realized in the 60s that the way forward for Singapore was to be open, and he made sure that Singapore played the game very well, giving it advantage in a word dominated by global capital.

George also says Lee’s 30-year rule was characterized by both charisma and fear.

CHERIAN GEORGE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well the fear part is obvious, that’s a key part of his brand. He may be harder than what we remember of him now but Singapore grew up with the knowledge that if anyone crossed him, there would be a price to pay. But the charisma part of it… there are times Singaporeans will follow because he acted like a leader and that by very definition, it’s charismatic leadership.

George also says with or without Lee around, Singapore is already going through some changes.

CHERIAN GEORGE, POLITICAL ANALYST: There’s no doubt that the kind of Singapore we had in the 70s and 80s was an anomaly – led by a ruling party that monopolized power. That wasn’t gonna last; at some state, Singapore will become more normal. What we’re seeing now is the normalization, people being harder to please, issues becoming harder to resolve mainly because of things that Singaporeans want now are not bread and butter issues, they are no longer simple things.

‘CLEAR MAJORITY’ OF FILIPINOS FAVOR LEGALIZING DIVORCE
The Philippines may be the only country aside from the Vatican where divorce remains illegal, but a new survey shows many prefer change.
A Social Weather Stations or SWS survey released Monday shows 6 out of 10 Filipinos support divorce.
The SWS says it’s the first time public support for the legalization of divorce grew to a “clear majority.”
Support for the legalization of divorce in the Philippines has been on an upward trend since 2005.

OIL FIRMS SLASH PUMP PRICES ANEW
Oil companies slash pump prices for the second time this month effective Tuesday.
Pilipinas Shell and Seaoil’s gasoline prices go down by P1.10 centavos or $0.025 US cents per liter, diesel by P0.95 or $0.021 US cents per liter, and kerosene by P0.90 per liter or $0.020 US cents.
Other oil firms are expected to follow suit.
The latest price rollback reflects the movements in the international petroleum market.
A weak US retail sales report for February affected the oil market including a decrease of crude prices in Dubai.

MAYWEATHER VS PACQUIAO REVENUE TO EXCEED $400 MILLION
Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum tells Entertainment and Sports Programming Network or ESPN the revenue totals for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight could surpass $400 million.
Arum says the fight on May 2 in Las Vegas will generate $74 million from selling just over 15,000 tickets at MGM Grand, surpassing the more than $20 million record of Mayweather’s 2013 fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the same venue.
Calling it a “mania,” Arum says a handful of tickets will probably go on sale to the public next week.
There will be only about 1,100 seats at $10,000, none of them for public sale.
Mayweather’s camp receives 60 percent of the revenue with Pacquiao’s side taking home 40 percent.

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