Friday, August 5, 2016

Let's Do The News! (August 5, 2016)


- The Malacanang Palace has stressed that the shoot-to-kill order of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte against "narco-politicians" is in line with his policy in maintaining peace and order in the country. The president earlier demanded Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and his son Kerwin to surrender on the grounds of drug trafficking and coddling. A shoot-on-sight order was supposed to be issued if they resist and endanger the lives of arresting police officers. Duterte is yet to release the list of 27 mayors allegedly protecting the illegal drug trade.

- The Supreme Court rejected the Office of the Solicitor General's plea to temporarily release 10 leaders of the communist National Democratic Front with criminal cases. The 10 NDF panel members are facing criminal charges, including a multiple murder case in connection to the killing of 15 government spies in Inopacan, Leyte in 1985.

- Vice President Leni Robredo left the Philippines for a one-week trip to the United States to speak at a conference and meet with supporters. Robredo is scheduled ot speak at the National Empowerment Conference of the National Federation of Filipino-American Association in Pennsylvania tomorrow.

- Reports told that US President Barack Obama has decided to seek the UN Security Council resolution that would call for countries to end nuclear testing. Obama will seek the resolution next month and senior administration officials have briefed lawmakers on the president's decision. Sources told that Obama has begun to consider ways to reduce nuclear dangers by working with other UNSC members to support the suspension of nuclear testing. However, that does not mean they would legally ban nuclear tests. 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty since 1996.

- Just hours before the Rio Olympics kicks off, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee has complained about the decision to prevent Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbaeva and other Russian track and field players from competing in the Games. Alexander Zhukov told reporters in Rio on Thursday that most Russian track and field players are being discriminated against. On a related note, an international sporting tribunal has ruled in favor of appeals by three Russian athletes who were banned from the games. The ruling could pave way for their participation in the Games. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Thursday that the Olympic ban on the three athletes was unenforceable and they had all been sanctioned for doping offences. On the same day, the IOC announced that 271 out of the 389 Russian athletes have been approved to participate in the games.

- Baltimore policemen shot a 13-year-old boy Wednesday afternoon after seeing him holding a BB gun, according to reports. Two officers saw the boy holding what they thought was a gun on the street near a recreation center and basketball courts, and chased after him. One of the officers shot the boy after he tried to escape from them. The commissioner said his injuries are not life-threatening. The shooting occurred as marches in another part of the city were taking place to commemorate the first death anniversary of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black male who died in police custody last year. Earlier this week, the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice reached a $6 million settlement with the city of Cleveland after a policeman shot and killed Rice while he was playing with a toy gun.

- Manny Pacquiao, despite retired from his boxing career and entered the politics since his May 2016 senatorial win, has picked WBO welterweight champ, Jessie Vargas, as his opponent in his comeback fight from retirement this November. It was confirmed by his business manager Eric Pineda on Wednesday following Pacquiao's jig on the Mahindra Enforcers' win against the Alaska Aces on the PBA Governors Cup match.

- Nissan showcased its functional BladeGlider concept car in Rio, in time before the games. Similar to the one as seen on last year's Tokyo Motor Show, it now comes with two 130kW electric motors that combine for a total output of 268HP of power and 521lb-ft of torque. It even comes with a 220kWh li-ion battery.


- Mitsubishi Motors will showcase their XM Concept at this year's Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show, open to the public from the 12th to the 21st of August, 2016.


- As the Pokemon Go app game launches on Brazil, developer Niantic Labs announced that they're working on fixing bugs that affect the throwing accuracy and players' chances for capturing Pokemon. The bug began affecting players on Tuesday when Pokemon became harder to catch. No specific timeline for this update was given yet.

TTFN!!!

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