SINGAPORE, Singapore – Singaporeans dressed in overalls squirted paint onto walls and canvases using water pistols and syringes at a new pop-up art studio where people get messy to relieve stress.

For Sg$39 (about $28), guests at Splat Paint House get a package including canvas, paint, gloves and overalls.

There are no rules and no time limit – people can keep going until they run out of paint, and let themselves loose on the walls when their canvas is full.

The studio has been compared to "rage rooms", where people can vent their anger by breaking objects.

But its founder Andrea Lim wants her clients to leave with a beautiful creation that they can proudly display in their homes.

She was inspired by a friend who converted a spare room in his warehouse into a paint studio while she was studying in the United States, and started the project when she returned to Singapore.

"A lot of people come with almost like a fear or a belief that they can’t really do art," she said.

"I want them to come, just have fun, and realize that you can actually create something quite beautiful with very little effort, or while just messing around."

Emil Bianii, 20, spun around, jumped and ran at her canvas while using her hands to throw streaks of blue, green, and orange paint.

"I think this is a fabulous and genius way to... de-stress, get your mind off the world," she said.

"It’s like you’ve entered a whole other realm, you've entered a totally different world, all your worries, everything gets left by the door."

The pop-up studio will run until October, after which Lim will consider looking for a permanent space if it is financially viable. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A 2.2-hectare patch of green land located in Antonio Villegas Street in the central district of Ermita, the Arroceros Forest Park is known as Manila's last lung. Inside, it provides a home to over 3,000 trees of 61 varieties, 8,000 ornamental plants, stray animals, and even abandoned vehicles. Outside, along its walls, some of Manila's homeless sleep. 

Advocates have been fighting for the preservation of the park for years. It had been under threat after the administration of then-Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada outlined a plan to build a gymnasium inside. The plan angered not only Manileños but also envrionment advocates from outside the capital city. A 96,000-signature Change.org online petition called on the city to stop the plan.

New Mayor Isko Moreno has given advocates a reason to hope. 

Shortly after his election, he said he would not allow the construction of a gymnasium inside. He even said he aimed for the construction of a "Manila civic center" that would incorporate the park into a bigger green space that would help bikers and pedestrians move comfortably from Rizal Park to Escolta. 

Advocates for the park's preservation – groups like the Winner Foundation and the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society –  have welcomed Moreno's plans. They are part of what is collectively called the Save Arroceros Movement.

Here are photos of the park taken by Rappler's photo chief, LeAnne Jazul during a Saturday stroll:

– Rappler.com

NEW YORK, USA (3rd UPDATE) – Disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein has committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial on charges that he trafficked underage girls for sex, officials and US news media reported Saturday.

Epstein, a convicted pedophile who befriended numerous politicians and celebrities over the years, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center from "an apparent suicide," the US Department of Justice said.

He was discovered around 6:30 am (1130 GMT) and rushed to hospital in New York where he was pronounced dead, it added in a statement.

"The FBI is investigating the incident," the department said.

The New York Times and other media quoted officials as saying Epstein had hanged himself. 

The city medical examiner's office confirmed Epstein's death but said nothing about what caused it. It said a medical investigation has been opened.

Epstein's death comes a day after a tranche of sealed legal documents were released for the first time providing new details about what prosecutors allege was Epstein's sex-trafficking operation.

It also comes just over 2 weeks after the 66-year-old was found unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck after an apparent suicide attempt.

Epstein did not appear to be showing any visible signs of injuries when he appeared in court on July 31 following that incident, to be told that his trial wouldn't begin before June next year.

The hedge fund manager had been charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. 

He was denied bail last month in a New York court because he was deemed a flight risk.

Epstein denied the charges and had faced up to 45 years in prison – effectively the rest of his life – if convicted. 

The Metropolitan Correction Center, a federal facility in Manhattan that is often used to house suspects awaiting or during trial, is considered one of the most secure penal establishments in the US. 

The infamous Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman spent more than two years there before being convicted and transferred to a federal prison in Colorado.

Sexual massages

Epstein's death quickly raised questions about how he could take his own life despite reportedly being put on suicide watch after his first failed attempt.

"We need answers. Lots of them," tweeted New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

On Friday, two thousand pages of documents focusing on testimony by a victim who claimed she was a "sex slave" of Epstein were released by a New York court.

In them, Virginia Giuffre, now an adult, claims that she was forced to have sex with some well-known American political and business personalities. They have all strenuously denied the allegations. 

Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage teenagers, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.

They claim that Epstein was "well aware that many of the victims were minors."

The girls were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him, perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors allege.

They say Epstein had an army of recruiters, often not much older than their targets, who would approach vulnerable teens.

Epstein is also accused of paying off possible co-conspirators to "influence" them, US media have reported.

Epstein, whose friends have included President Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew, was convicted previously of paying young girls for sexual massages at his Palm Beach mansion.

They have all denied knowing anything about his alleged crimes.

Epstein avoided federal prosecution under a plea deal that required him to admit to a single Florida state charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor and register as a sex offender. 

He served 13 months in a county jail before being released in 2009.

Last month, Alex Acosta resigned as US labor secretary amid a backlash over the deal that he negotiated with Epstein in that case while he was a federal prosecutor in Florida. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, USA – US President Donald Trump said Saturday, August 10, that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to resume denuclearization talks after US-South Korean war games end.

Trump tweeted that in a letter to him, Kim apologized for a recent spate of missile tests, the latest of which came at daybreak Saturday Korean time, and said they were to protest these joint military drills.

Trump said he looks "forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!"

"In a letter to me sent by Kim Jong Un, he stated, very nicely, that he would like to meet and start negotiations as soon as the joint U.S./South Korea joint exercise are over," Trump wrote.

The exercises began Monday, August 5, and are due to last another week. North Korea has said the recent short-range missile tests are designed to protest the war games. 

On Saturday, Trump again seemed to side with Kim by criticizing the exercises, which are a cornerstone of US-South Korean military cooperation.

"It was a long letter, much of it complaining about the ridiculous and expensive exercises. It was also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end," Trump said.

Trump has appeared determined to secure a denuclearization agreement with North Korea ahead of next year's US presidential elections, despite faltering talks since he first met Kim in a historic ice-breaking summit in Singapore in June 2018.

'A very beautiful letter'

Even after their abortive second summit in February, Trump has been reluctant to criticize the North Korean leader. (READ: Trump-Kim II: The summit, the script, and the sequel)

Trump has repeatedly talked up his close personal relationship with Kim, as his administration seeks to resume the stalled denuclearization talks with the North.

On Friday, August 9, he described the message he got from Kim as "a very beautiful letter."

In June he offered an olive branch by meeting Kim in the Panmunjon truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, becoming the first sitting US president ever to step inside the North.

On Friday, Trump said the missile launches were not important.

"I'll say it again. There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range. No ballistic missile tests, no long-range missiles," Trump said.

Defense officials in Seoul said what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles were fired at daybreak Saturday, August 10, from near the northeastern city of Hamhung, flying 400 kilometres before splashing down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan. 

Washington and Seoul pledged in March to scale down their joint drills in an effort to foster denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. 

In contrast to Trump's dismissal of the missile launches, others in the US administration have voiced opposition to them.

After Pyongyang's fourth launch early this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was ready to resume talks, but that the target of the "full, final denuclearisation of North Korea" had not changed. 

A senior State Department official who refused to be named told journalists last week that the missile tests were an impediment to peace.

"The missile launches, any kind of provocations, are not helpful to advancing the cause of diplomacy," the official said. – Rappler.com

HONG KONG  – Police in Hong Kong fired tear gas on Saturday, August 10, at pro-democracy protesters who defied orders to cancel a rally and blocked intersections across the city in "hit-and-run" demonstrations.

The new protests came after the city's leader warned she would grant no concessions to the demonstrators, whose movement is now in its third month.

Activists who have embraced the mantra "Be Water" took their commitment to flexible protest action to new heights, splitting up into groups to spread quickly across the city and block roads.

"The whole day is flash-mob style, because we don't want to be beaten up and arrested," a female protester who declined to give her name told Agence France-Presse.

"I don't know the plan either, we decide at the scene here. I will go to wherever people are needed."

The protesters gathered first in the Tai Po district, despite police denying their request for a march permit there, and quickly faced off against officers dressed in riot gear.

But before any clashes erupted, the demonstrators split into smaller groups and moved to different areas to block roads and chant "reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times."

One group of protesters wearing their movement's signature black and armed with helmets and gas masks arrived in the Tai Wai district, where they dismantled railings along the road to set up barricades and chanted "triads, triads" at nearby police, in a reference to the city's infamous criminal gangs.

'This situation will continue' 

Riot police quickly moved in and began firing tear gas, sending demonstrators running to the sides of streets and into a nearby bus terminal.

The gas drifted into the nearby subway station, where a mother and child covered their faces along with other travellers caught in the confrontation.

"I was just walking leisurely nearby and was shocked when I heard they fired tear gas. Me and my friends had to help other older residents to quickly walk away," said a 23-year-old who gave only his family name, Tsang.

"I can understand why the protesters would block the road. The government has no response to their demands, so this situation will continue."

Protesters also briefly blocked traffic in the city's Cross Harbour Tunnel, and faced off with police in the popular Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, where tear gas was also fired.

The fresh protests mark the 10th weekend that demonstrators have taken to the streets in a movement that began in opposition to a bill allowing extradition to mainland China but has become a call for greater democratic freedoms.

Demonstrators also staged a second day of protests in the city's airport and earlier hundreds of parents and children gathered for a family rally.

Faye Lai attended with her 3-year-old niece and said she hoped the demonstration would help children understand the recent tumult.

"Hong Kong's future is theirs. We are fighting for rights that children should have," Lai told Agence France-Presse.

Many attendees held balloons and a leaflet was circulated featuring a "Hong Kong Protest ABC", offering "demonstration" for the letter D, and "protest" for P.

Lam rules out concessions

Demonstrators have committed to continuing their rallies despite Lam insisting she would not meet their demands, which include direct election of the city's leader and an investigation into police violence.

"I don't think we should just sort of make concessions in order to silence the violent protesters," Lam said on Friday, August 9.

"What is right for Hong Kong... is to stop the violence, and to say no to the chaotic situation that Hong Kong has experienced in the last few weeks, so that we can move on."

Beijing has thrown its support behind Lam and warned protesters that "those who play with fire will perish by it".

China's aviation regulator on Friday, August 9, ordered Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific to turn over information on staff working on mainland-bound flights.

It warned that all personnel involved with or supporting "illegal protests" would be banned from flying to the mainland or through Chinese airspace.

In a circular sent to its staff, the airline said it was committed to following regulations "in the countries to which we fly, or over which we fly." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said that the Department of Education (DepEd) should “do its homework” in the delivery and procurement of textbooks and other school equipment. 

The problem, Recto said in a statement released on Saturday, August 10, was not just in the books’ errors but also in their delayed delivery. 

“Last year, of the 38.6 million target number of books, only 11.2 million were bought and delivered. This translates into a dismal 31% failing grade,” Recto said.

Recto's statement comes as the Commission on Audit (COA) found that DepEd spent P254 million for contracts to produce textbooks which were found to be erroneous. State auditors also called out that the contracts to develop the textbooks within the agency were wrong in the first place. 

Teachers also reportedly told auditors that the textbooks were "not in line with the curriculum guide," and that they have had to "resort to using supplemental resources such as books in private schools and internet." 

“Nothing cripples a school system and crushes a child’s desire to learn more than the lack of books. Books are the sources of intellectual nourishment. Schools without textbooks are like restaurants without food,” the senator added. 

He said that the agency’s material resources “must be constantly replenished,” with 22.6 million learners, 890,000 teachers and non-academic personnel as its direct constituents. 

DepEd received the highest allocation of funds at P501.12 billion in the 2019 national budget. Funds will mostly be used for repair and construction of school buildings, the hiring of teaching and non-teaching personnel, as well as developing and providing learning materials to students.  

Recto said that the agency “has no choice but to hire procurement, logistics and supply chain experts who will cut through the red tape and run a system which will ensure that books and the other contents of its annual shopping cart of education materials, equipment and facilities reach end-users on time.” 

The senator added that “a national lesson plan” is needed to fix "across-the-board failures from [gaps in] computers to classrooms to science and vocational equipment." He also told the agency to consider a “multiyear framework” to address schools’ long-term needs. – Rappler.com

BENGHAZI, Libya – A car bombing in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi killed 2 United Nations staff on Saturday, August 10, a security official said.

"Two members of the UN mission, one them a foreigner, were killed and at least 8 others wounded including a child, by a car bomb" in a shopping area of the Al-Hawari district, the official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which happened as a UN convoy was passing through the area.

Benghazi, Libya's second city and the cradle of the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi, was hit by years of violence targeting diplomatic offices and security forces after his fall.

An attack on the US consulate on September 11, 2012, killed US ambassador Christopher Stevens and 3 other Americans.

In 2017, military strongman Khalifa Haftar drove hardline Islamists and jihadists out of Benghazi after a three-year battle.

Haftar, who backs an eastern-based administration that opposes the Tripoli-based unity government, went on to seize Derna, the last city in eastern Libya outside his control.

But bombings and kidnappings have continued. (READ: UN warns of worsening humanitarian situation in Libya)

A May 2018 attack left 7 people dead and last month, a car bombing at the funeral of an ex-army commander killed at least 4 people and wounded more than 30 others.

A Libyan lawmaker is also feared to have been abducted by an armed group in the eastern city, the UN and lawmakers said in July.

Haftar controls most of eastern Libya, and early this year he ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) to purge the south of what he called "terrorist groups and criminals." 

On the heels of that campaign, his LNA launched in April an offensive to take the Libyan capital from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord. 

The LNA on Saturday announced a truce around Tripoli for the three-day Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, after the unity government conditionally accepted a ceasefire called for by the UN. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Countries with territorial claims in the South China Sea must work together to declare marine protected areas and address environmental degradation in the maritime site.

University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute Assistant Professor Deo Onda highlighted the need to do so in a recent in Rappler Talk interview, saying it was one way to ensure food security and protect the livelihood of fishermen who worked in the area and in nearby coastlines.

"We need to have a multilateral network of MPAs - marine protected areas – in the South China Sea region.... dahil yung mga coral reefs nakakalat sa buong (because the coral reefs are scatterd across) South China Sea and Spratlys Island group. We need to work with other countries and we really need to have an international cooperation that does not have any prejudice to territorial dispute," Onda told Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug.

Among the countries with claims in the South China Sea include the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, China, and Taiwan. But apart from fishermen of these countries, more than half of the fishing vessels in the world were also estimated to operate in the maritime area, according to US-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

The area serves as a main source of fish with some 16.6 million tons of fish sourced from the South China Sea annually, according to CSIS.

Experts, however, have warned intense competition has left the area dangerously overfished.

Why this matters: Ensuring the protection of the South China Sea despite ongoing territorial disputes is crucial, Onda said, because fisheries in surrounding coastlines are dependent on marine resources from the South China Sea.

For instance, fish stocks near the coast of Palawan, Mindoro provinces, Batangas, and Zambales, among others come from fish eggs that have been laid in corals in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea. Aside from this, other industries such as tourism also rely on biodiversity that is connected to areas in the South China Sea. (READ: U.P. marine scientists: 'West Philippine Sea is for Filipinos')

This is true not just for the Philippines, but for other countries surrounding the South China Sea.

"'Yung issue ng West Philippine Sea, nakadugtong yan sa bawat bituka ng mamamayang Pilipino.... Kung gusto natin protektahan ng isang lugar, kailangan pinoprotekta yung pinanggalingan at pinoprotektahan din natin kung saan pumupunta yung mga itlog (Every Filipino's gut is connected to the West Philippine Sea. If we want to protect an area, we need to protect where fish eggs come from and where they go). It's a source and a sink," Onda said.

What's stopping it? But protecting the area is easier said than done. Onda explained that territorial disputes in the South China Sea have complicated efforts to preserve biodiversity in the area. (READ: An environmental turn in the South China Sea disputes)

He cited the example of China's move to declare fishing bans in the area, which countries cannot readily follow.

"Other countries feel if they follow China they will be following their authority in all other matters although lahat kami nagkakasundo na kailangan talaga ng fish ban, kailangan ng closed seasons for fishing (we all agree that we need fishing bans, need closed seasons for fishing)," Onda said.

Unlike other claimant countries, China has claimed almost the entire South China Sea on the basis of a supposedly historical 9-dash line outlining its ownership of the area. The landmark 2016 Hague ruling spearheaded by the Philippines invalidated China's claims and asserted the Philippines' rights in the West Philippine Sea. China has chosen to disregard the ruling.

Despite this, Onda stressed the importance of prioritzing the marine area which held crucial resources for the region. 

"Let's put humanity and... the environment at the forefront. Pag-usap natin paano pag protektahan, bago natin pag usap teritoryo (Let's talk about how we can protect the area before talking about territory)," he said.– Rappler.com

JAKARTA, Indonesia – An Indonesian man is walking 700 kilometers (435 miles) from his home on a volcano in East Java to Jakarta in the hope of drawing attention to the archipelago's quickly shrinking forests – and he is doing it backwards.

Medi Bastoni, a 43-year-old father of 4, set out on his arduous, in-reverse journey in mid-July, with the goal of reaching the capital by August 16, a day before the Southeast Asian nation's independence day anniversary.

"Of course I'm exhausted, but I'm willing to do this to fight for the next generation," Bastoni told AFP.

"(My home) is losing all of its trees so I have to do something. I can take the pain and fatigue."

When he arrives, Bastoni said he hopes to meet with president Joko Widodo and highlight deforestation across the archipelago including at his home on Mount Wilis, a dormant volcano.

Indonesia suffers from one of the high rates of deforestation in the world, according to Greenpeace.

Bastoni walks 20 to 30 kilometers backwards every day under the scorching sun, with a rear-view mirror attached to his backpack to avoid bumping into objects.

Along the way, supporters cheer him on, offer him meals or a place to stay overnight. But Bastoni always leaves at dawn to stay on schedule.

Walking backwards is meant as a signal to Indonesians to reflect on the past and remember how national heroes fought for the good of the country, he said. – Rappler.com

OSLO, Norway – A gunman armed with multiple weapons opened fire in a mosque near Oslo on Saturday, August 10, injuring one person before being overpowered by an elderly worshipper and arrested, Norwegian police and witnesses said.

Hours after the attack, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a home in the suburb of Baerum, where the shooting took place earlier in the day, police said Saturday evening.

Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe.

The head of the mosque described the assailant as a young white man dressed in black, and said he was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest.

He said only 3 people had been inside the Al-Noor Islamic center at the time of the attack.

Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 4 pm..

Officers first reported that a victim had been shot, but later clarified one person had sustained "minor injuries" and that it was unclear if they were gunshot wounds.

Police said the suspect appeared to have acted on his own.

"It is a Norwegian young man, with a Norwegian background. He lives in the vicinity," Oslo police spokesman Rune Skjold had told a press conference earlier Saturday. 

Skjold added that the suspect had been known to police before the incident but could not be described as someone with a "criminal background."

Norway was the scene of one of the worst-ever attacks by a right-wing extremist in July 2011, when 77 people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik. 

'Blood on the carpets'

"One of our members has been shot by a white man with a helmet and uniform," Irfan Mushtaq, head of the mosque, told local media.

Mushtaq said that the man had carried multiple weapons, but that he had been subdued by a member of the mosque.

Mushtaq himself had arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted about the gunman, and had gone to the back of the building while waiting for police to arrive.

"Then I see that there are cartridges scattered and blood on the carpets, and I see one of our members is sitting on the perpetrator, covered in blood," Mushtaq told Norwegian newspaper VG. 

He said the man who apparently overpowered the shooter was 75 years old and had been reading the Koran after a prayer session.

According to Mushtaq, the mosque had not received any threats ahead of the shooting.

The attack took place on the eve of the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the Muslim pilgrimage Hajj. 

Police said Saturday they would be sending out more officers so that those celebrating would "be as safe as possible."

New Zealand connection? 

There has been a recent spate of white nationalist attacks in the West, including in the United States and in New Zealand where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in March in shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

The Al-Noor Islamic center in Norway shares its name with the worst affected mosque in the New Zealand attacks.

Local Norwegian paper Budstikka said it had contacted the mosque in March after the Christchurch massacre and that officials there had said security would be tightened.

The suspect in the Christchurch killings wrote a hate-filled manifesto in which he said he was influenced by far-right ideologues, including the Norwegian mass murderer Breivik.

Breivik detonated a massive bomb in Oslo that killed 8 people and then opened fire on a gathering of the Labor Party's youth wing on the island of Utoya, killing another 69 people, most of them teenagers. 

Norwegian police said they were aware that Saturday's suspect had been active online prior to the shooting.

Broadcaster TV2 reported they had learned the identity of the man and located a post to an online forum from someone using the same name, posted only hours before the attack.

The post seemingly praising the New Zealand attacker and ended with the words "Valhall awaits." – Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea (UPDATED) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a "new weapon" test, state media reported Sunday, August 11, the latest in a series of launches that United States President Donald Trump has played down as Washington seeks to restart nuclear talks with Pyongyang.

The report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) followed Trump's comments that Kim had expressed a willingness to meet once the US-South Korean exercises are over and apologized for the slew of missile tests.

Saturday's launch was the North's 5th test in two weeks as it protests the annual military drills under way between Seoul and Washington, which always infuriates Pyongyang.

Defence officials in Seoul said Pyongyang fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles  Saturday, flying 400 kilometers before splashing down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

KCNA provided no technical specifications but said Sunday they were a "new weapon" developed to suit the country's "terrain condition."

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried several photos showing a broadly grinning Kim surrounded by his aides as he observed the test.

Kim Dong-yub, a researcher at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the weapons were likely to be new short-range ballistic missiles that are part of Pyongyang's modernization of its military capabilities.

They were the "North Korean version of a low-cost, high-efficiency retaliation system" aimed at "incapacitating missile defence systems" in the South, Kim added.

In a statement issued by KCNA on Sunday, the North's foreign ministry said the South's refusal to cancel its joint drills with the US had effectively scuppered any prospect of future talks with Seoul.

"They had better keep in mind that this dialogue would be held strictly between (North Korea) and the US, not between the North and the South," it said.

'Small apology'

Trump has appeared determined to secure a denuclearization agreement with North Korea ahead of next year's US presidential elections, despite a breakdown in talks since he first met Kim in a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018.

Even after their abortive second summit in February – and as Pyongyang has continued to test short-range missiles – Trump has been reluctant to criticize the North Korean leader.

On Friday, August 9, the US president said he agreed with Kim's opposition to the war games– albeit for financial rather than military reasons – and indicated the missile launches were not important.

"I'll say it again. There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range. No ballistic missile tests, no long-range missiles," Trump said.

Then on Saturday, Trump said Kim had expressed in a letter his willingness to meet and resume negotiations once the US-South Korean exercises are over.

Kim also offered a "small apology for testing the short range missiles," the US leader noted, and said the tests would end once the military drills wrap up on August 20.

The pair last met in late June for brief talks in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas – and Trump became the first sitting US president ever to step inside the North. 

'Licence to fire'

Shin Beom-chul, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said Trump's downplaying of the launches were equivalent to endorsing the missile tests. 

"If Kim felt the missile tests could jeopardise the dialogue momentum, he would refrain. But right now, it's as if North Korea has a licence to fire short-range missiles," Shin told AFP.

The foreign ministry in Pyongyang said Trump's comments effectively recognized the North’s "self-defensive rights” as a sovereign state to conduct "small" missile tests.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said by appealing directly to Trump, Kim was "trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul" as Pyongyang seeks to break the alliance.

Washington and Seoul pledged in March to scale down their joint drills in an effort to foster denuclearization efforts.

While past exercises involved extensive combat field training – with thousands of American troops coming in from several countries to take part – the current games are decidedly low-key, with the emphasis on computer-simulated scenarios. – Rappler.com

HONG KONG – Cathay Pacific said Saturday, August 10, it will comply with new rules from China banning staff who support Hong Kong's protesters from working on flights to the mainland or through its airspace.

The Hong Kong carrier also confirmed it had suspended a pilot charged with rioting and fired two ground staff for misconduct apparently related to the protest movement that has engulfed the city. (READ: Hong Kong protesters stage airport rally to win visitor support)

China's aviation regulator on Friday, August 9, had ordered the airline to hand over identifying information for staff on mainland-bound flights starting Sunday.

It warned that staff deemed to support Hong Kong's "illegal protests" were banned from flights landing in mainland China or travelling through its airspace.

CEO Rupert Hogg said in a message to employees on Saturday that the carrier was obliged to comply with the new rules set out by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

"Cathay Pacific Group's operations in mainland China are key to our business. In addition to flying in and out of mainland China, a large number of our routes both to Europe and to the USA also fly through mainland China airspace," Hogg wrote.

"We are therefore legally required to follow CAAC regulations and, as is the case with any notices issued by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction over us, we must and will comply," he added.

Cathay appears to have become a target of Beijing's ire after some of its crew joined protests and media reported one of its pilots had been charged with rioting. (READ: U.S. upgrades Hong Kong travel warning as airport protest planned)

Pro-democracy protesters have staged two months of increasingly violent protests in the semi-autonomous financial hub, which Beijing has viewed as a challenge to its control.

The carrier's chairman John Slosar earlier this week defended his staff's right to freedom of thought, saying "we certainly wouldn't dream of telling them what they have to think about something."

But Hogg cautioned staff about their behavior.

"Though people may share different views, it is essential that we all respect each other, our customers and members of the public," he wrote.

"We have zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour that affects the safe operation of our flights and the service experience we provide to our customers," he added.

Cathay separately confirmed to reporters that it had suspended at the end of July a pilot who has been accused of rioting after allegedly participating in the Hong Kong protests.

It also said two airport ground staff had been fired, without specifying why, but local media reported that they were accused of leaking the travel details of a Hong Kong police soccer team that was travelling to the mainland. – Rappler.com

Almost 30 years ago, when I was just beginning to consciously learn (which, in big part, also meant unlearning the wrong things that I have previously learned) that everything and everyone in nature is connected, among the first things that really struck me was why eating meat was leading us into a planetary mess. Now, based on the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), headlines around the world are flashing "Eat Less Meat" to stop this head-on trajectory to irreversible changes to the planet. But why is this news? This was textbook knowledge decades ago.

We humans knew this then. We elevated it to an intergovernmental panel in 1988 to get our politics aligned across countries so we can orchestrate an intercontinental response. But we did not respond then and we are still not responding now. We all get scared, get momentarily stunned, lapse into our old ways and somehow find a way to find hope at least for the day so we could go on. We are as self-destructive as we are optimistic about our future. In fact, one of the things we have an enormous surplus of as humans is our capacity to generate our own ironies. If only ironies could be a substitute to fossil fuel, we would have solved the climate crisis in a snap. 

The science behind the climate crisis is solid and robust. All the IPCC reports even list down the things that we have to do to help stop or even reverse the climate crisis: no coal plants, go solar, ride bikes, use electric vehicles, stop cutting more trees, plant more trees, prevent food wastes, consume less products, eat less meat. But we are still generally on a planetary stupor. We can think of so many reasons why we are not making progress in solving the climate crisis. One of them, I think, is because the science is incomplete. 

By incomplete, I refer not to the science behind the climate crisis. That is very well studied, with solid data to back it up across time. I refer to the science behind human response. Parallel to the IPCC reports, I think that another intergovernmental report should also exist to lay out the scientific terrain (behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience) that gives us insights about human behavior – individual and collective – that are relevant to what it takes for ironic species like us to understand, connect, and positively respond to the climate crisis.

There are connected "mountains" to overcome in the terrain of human behavior related to the climate crisis. I can spot a couple for this column. 

One mountain is the "Language Mountain." Language is one of the most amazing things that humans have developed that help us conceptualize reality because we cannot literally bring reality with us and share it with others. We use language to describe, explain, and express it to others. But around the world, we have given birth to so many languages which have, over time, been shaped by natural conditions in the breeding places of those languages as well as by the interactions of people in those areas. We have also developed "guild languages" that we now term as "jargon" – languages that are so specialized that they either are known to only the ones trained in that profession, or those words that take on completely different meanings in the context of specific professions. Climate is panahon in our language. But panahon is also weather, time, and season. Depression is a rock bottom financial season in economics. It is a low pressure area in atmospheric science. It is also a mental condition in medical science. What sway of eloquence do we employ to scale the Language Mountain of the climate crisis?

A connected mountain is what I call "Lazy Mountain." Our brains are naturally wired to find the easiest way to make sense of something. Try running the gist of the IPCC report, replete with scientific data, by the average human.  Most likely, he or she will lapse into a confirmation or a denial based on his or her own experience and not on the enormous amount of relevant data that supports the existence of the climate crisis. A lot of data that also requires a lot of prerequisite knowledge (physics, ecology, statistics) to understand is not easy. Our brains "default" mode is "easy" because it gets tired.  When something is not easy, we grasp what is easier to understand, as well as our own personal experiences, which we value more, are tied to our self-identity, and are a lot easier to grasp. If our own experiences do not confirm the climate crisis, then it must not be true. What rousing creative format can we build to rope our way over the Lazy Mountain of the climate crisis? 

A third mountain is the "Lying Mountain." Experiments have shown that in the face of incontrovertible data that would require us to change, we would rather lie than change ourselves or our ways. The incontrovertible data behind the climate crisis shows that there is no way we can continue with coal plants, develop more concrete jungles, eat meat in these proportions, and still have a livable planet. But if we really take those seriously, then we have to swallow personal realities. These may include our own family business and feasting traditions, personal investments, employment, company's financial prestige in coal plants and business-as-usual real estate and agriculture business which are major causes of the climate crisis. In the face of this disconnect, we humans generally simply justify our own actions – whether it is investing in a coal plant or in another development that takes over a forest, beach or lake, or even when we take our friends and families to meat-heavy all-you-can-eat buffets. What gentle but effacing stroke can we give each other to pivot ourselves away from the Lying Mountain of the climate crisis?

I just do not think the science behind the planetary crisis is complete if we only lay out the science behind the climate crisis. This is a crisis calling for the only species who could deliberately act and turn the tide. It has to include the science of human response, so we equally need a global report that also calls us out on what to look out for within our own human nature. Only if we are aware of the mental hurdles within our own individual selves, our own nation, even in our own company culture and family traditions, could we eyeball with this crisis. Only then could we meet it with a response that could match its crisis proportion. Only then can we get it right and deserve to be called "parents" that are passing on this planet to our children. – Rappler.com

Maria Isabel Garcia is a science writer. She has written two books, "Science Solitaire" and "Twenty One Grams of Spirit and Seven Ounces of Desire." You can reach her at sciencesolitaire@gmail.com.

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo urged the public to continue praying for residents displaced by the Marawi siege, as Muslims around the globe celebrated the Eid’l Adha, the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.

“Sa araw na ito, sana ay alalahanin din natin ang mga kapatid nating nagsasakripisyo at nagsusumikap makabangon, tulad ng mga kababayan natin sa Marawi at mga kapatid nating Muslim refugees na nawalay sa kanilang mga pamilya at naghahangad ng mas magandang bukas,” the Vice President said on Sunday, August 11. 

(On this day, let us remember our brothers and sisters who continue to make sacrifices and are striving to recover, like our countrymen in Marawi and the Muslim refugees who were separated from their families are dreaming of a better tomorrow.) 

“Yakapin natin sila at patuloy na ipanalangin sa kanilang pagharap sa mga hamon ng buhay (Let us embrace them and continue to pray for them as they continue to face their trials in life),” she added.

Thousands of Marawi residents have been displaced by the months-long war that erupted on May 23, 2017 between government troops and the homegrown terrorists  from the Maute Group and a faction of the Abu Sayyaf group in Marawi. 

The city remains in shambles, as the government began rehabilitating the main battle area only in October 2018. 

The Office of the Vice President, through Robredo’s flagship anti-poverty program Angat Buhay, has previously donated P11.53 million worth of resources to help residents of Marawi recover from the war. 

Angat Buhay and its partner institutions also raised funds to help build transitional shelters and school buildings in Marawi. 

Eid’l Adha is one of the most important Islamic celebrations. Also known as “The Feast of the Sacrifice,” the Eid’l Adha commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son to God. It also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the 5th Pillar of Islam. – Rappler.com

SHANGHAI, China (UPDATED) – The death toll from Typhoon Lekima rose to 30 in eastern China, local authorities said Sunday, August 11, as rescue teams worked to find more than a dozen missing after the storm triggered a landslide and forced more than a million people to evacuate.

The monster storm arrived in Wenling city in the early hours of Saturday, packing winds of 187 kilometers per hour (116 miles per hour), with waves several metres high hitting the coastline.

At least 18 people were killed in a landslide triggered by torrential downpours in the municipality of Wenzhou, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Shanghai, national broadcaster CCTV said Saturday.

A further 12 deaths were announced Sunday but it was unclear if they were from the same incident.

Eighteen people were still missing, according to Zhejiang provincial authorities.

"Currently, search and rescue work from various regions is still ongoing," they said on social media platform Weibo.

More than a million people were evacuated from their homes ahead of the typhoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Some 110,000 people were housed in shelters.

According to Zhejiang authorities, the natural disaster has incurred economic losses of more than 15.8 billion yuan ($2.2 billion).

On Sunday, footage from CCTV showed rescue workers on boats navigating through Linhai city, where streets were completely submerged in muddy water.

Local Chinese media reports also showed teams pulling stranded people from bright orange inflatable boats, with skies starting to clear as the storm moved further up the coast.

Lekima had crossed into Jiangsu province north of Shanghai and was expected to hit Shandong province later on Sunday, CCTV reported. Both provinces have already issued a red alert for torrential rain.

More than 3,200 flights have been cancelled due to the typhoon, the state broadcaster reported, as Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities grounded planes. – Rappler.com

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (UPDATED) – Strong rain and wind did not stop members of Baguio's Muslim community from handing out roses to the Catholic faithful going to the Baguio Cathedral on Sunday morning, August 11.

The Muslim community in Baguio went to the famous Catholic Church of the city to offer their support to the efforts of all the sectors and the government against threats of terrorism.

This comes after reports of alleged terror threats and plans to bomb so called "Crusade Churches" by members of the ISIS network. The report itself, according to the AFP on Sunday, appears to have been caused by a family feud gone awry.

Imam Samsudin Monib, Baguio Muslim community president, led the group in joining members of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) in guarding and inspecting the perimeters of the Baguio Cathedral as part of the city to address terrorism threat targeting the churches. They added terrorism has no religion and no place in Baguio City.

The Baguio churchgoers felt safe as they willingly accepted the flowers given to them by Muslims clad in their Muslim religious garments.

Both Muslim and Catholic religious leaders and the officials of Baguio City and the police linked arms in front of the altar inside the Baguio Cathedral to show their solidarity against terrorism. – Rappler.com

BEIJING, China – China warned Britain to stop "meddling" in Hong Kong, after a top British official called the international financial hub's leader to voice concern about protests that have rocked the city for two months.

The pro-democracy protests, which are partly fuelled by widespread anger at an erosion of liberties in Hong Kong, have become the biggest threat to Beijing's rule of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city since its handover from the British in 1997.

On Friday, August 9, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had a call with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, where he emphasised the need for a "fully independent investigation into recent events", according to Britain's foreign ministry – prompting a furious response from Beijing. (READ: UK warns China of consequences over Hong Kong freedoms)

"China solemnly demands that the British side immediately stop all actions that meddle in Hong Kong affairs and interfere in China's internal affairs," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying Saturday.

Slamming Raab's decision to call Carrie Lam as "wrong," Hua urged Britain to stop "stirring up trouble" in Hong Kong in an online statement. (READ: China, Britain wage war of words over Hong Kong)

Beijing has increasingly pitched the anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous region as funded by the West, but has provided little evidence beyond supportive statements from some Western politicians.

Last week, the Chinese government slammed Washignton after reports emerged that some United States diplomats based in Hong Kong had met with pro-democracy activists.

The Chinese foreign ministry urged the US to "immediately make a clean break with various anti-China rioters" and "stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs immediately".

Tensions are high in the Asian financial hub after two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms.

Last week, the city witnessed a rare general strike and the most widespread unrest in two months of demonstrations – with police firing 800 rounds of tear gas in a single day at a dozen locations.

A total of 420 people have been arrested since rallies began on June 9, according to Hong Kong police in early August. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – As the world celebrated Eid’l Adha, President Rodrigo Duterte challenged the public to engage in endeavors that would benefit the greater good.

“Now, more than ever, we are called to lend a piece of ourselves to endeavors that redound to the common good and benefit the most number of people,” said Duterte in his Eid’l Adha message on Sunday, August 11. 

“Let us, therefore, reflect on the lessons we can learn today and deepen our faith and strengthen our resolve to bring about a society that is worthy of Allah’s continued blessings and protection,” he added.

Eid'l Adha or “The Feast of the Sacrifice” commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son to God. It also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the 5th Pillar of Islam. 

In his message, Duterte said Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his own son is “one of the most remarkable demonstrations of faith of all time.” 

“This account not only teaches us the importance of personal sacrifice, but also inculcates in us the value of submission to a higher authority, even though, at times, our feelings and emotions compel us otherwise,” said the President. 

Duterte earlier declared Monday, August 12, a regular holiday in honor of Eid’l Adha.

In a separate message on Sunday, Vice President Leni Robredo also urged Filipinos to continue praying for the residents displaced by the Marawi siege. – Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said the Philippines will “not allow or tolerate” abuse against foreign nationals in the country.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the promise on Sunday, August 11, after he was asked to react after a handcuffed Chinese national, who was allegedly handcuffed by his Chinese employer, fell to his death in Las Piñas City.  

“We want to tell everybody, whether they are national of a foreign country or not, we will not allow nor tolerate any abuse committed against foreign nationals either by their own countrymen or by our own citizens,” said Panelo in a press briefing.

“We will have to implement the law strictly. There will be no exemptions on the enforcement of the laws of  the land,” he added.

Panelo said President Rodrigo Duterte has already ordered an investigation on the death of 27-year-old Yang Kang, who jumped from the 6th floor of an office building in Las Piñas.  

A GMA-7 report said a security guard who found Kang’s lifeless body saw the Chinese national’s hands were handcuffed. Las Piñas police suspect Kang may have been held prisoner by his Chinese employer.

Malacañang earlier urged Chinese nationals maltreated by their employers in the Philippine Online Gaming Operations sector to file a complaint with local authorities. 

A Chinese online gambling worker told Rappler that abusive recruiters often lie about the salary, work hours, and other working conditions the workers will get when they arrive in the Philippines. – Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr sought assistance from the United States via Twitter on Sunday morning, August 11, in searching for a plane and its student pilot in Aurora. The plane and its pilot have been missing for two weeks.

Tagging the Twitter account of the US Embassy in the Philippines, Locsin said, "We need help. A missing plane and pilot dropped into dense mountainous jungle in Baler, Aurora 14 days ago."

While the Philippine Army and the Philippine Air Force are part of the search, recent weather conditions and the response to earthquakes which struck Batanes on July 27 have stretched their resources. 

The two military branches then recommended to the Department of Foreign Affairs that they request help from the United States Marine Corps. 

@USEmbassyPH We need help. A missing plane and pilot dropped into dense mountainous jungle in Baler, Aurora 14 days ago. The PH Army/Air Force—on it from get go but resources stretched with weather & Batanes—say rightly @DFAPHL must request USMarineCorps. My OAA has requested…

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) August 11, 2019

In another tweet to the US Embassy and US Ambassador Sung Kim, he mentioned that a "special satellite [imagery] that can penetrate jungle to detect a plane's aluminum" is needed to aid in the search. 

"One more day and it won't be search & rescue but search & recovery of cadaver. Please US help," he added. 

The US Embassy in the Philippines responded that they are "ready to assist."

"We've been in touch with Philippine authorities to determine what assistance is needed and how we can help," the embassy said. 

@USEmbassyPH is ready to assist. We’ve been in touch with Philippine authorities to determine what assistance is needed and how we can help. #FriendsPartnersAllies@DFAPHL@PCOOgov@CAAP_Operations

— U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (@USEmbassyPH) August 11, 2019

Locsin then replied, "Owe you big time. On behalf of the Filipino people: Thank you." 

The Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported on August 1 that the search is ongoing for the Cessna C-152 aircraft which had been missing since July 28. 

The plane, flown by student pilot Aaron Dizon, was among 5 planes which took off from Baler airport that day, heading for Clark Airport in Pampanga. Only 4 planes landed in Clark, reported PNA. – Michael Bueza/Rappler.com