MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III on Friday, January 8, rejected calls to sack Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.

The President made the statement in a news briefing in Davao City, where he led the inauguration of a 300-megawatt power plant.

Asked whether Abaya was staying on as transportation chief, Aquino said, "Yes."

He explained the government's problems in terms of its maintenance provider for the  Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3), which is the basis for the call of presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe for Aquino to sack Abaya.

"Let’s go back. Why is there a problem with the maintenance contract? The entity that used to have the maintenance contract at the time the contract was about to expire said, 'We want an increase in the fees that we charge.' Aside from increasing the fees, they also said, 'We will not give you warranty on the service because the ridership far exceeds the original plans,'" Aquino said.

He said that the government did not want a contract with a service provider that refused to provide a warranty, prompting it to look for another entity.

Aquino said the government just signed a 3-year contract that day with the new MRT3 service provider, the Busan Group.

"There was never a moment when MRT3 did not have a maintenance provider," the President said.

Asked if he thought Poe's call for Abaya's replacement was politically motivated, Aquino said in Filipino: "You have to ask Senator Poe. I'm not authorized to be her spokesperson."

Poe, who had investigated the Metro Rail Transit management, had called on Aquino to fire Abaya immediately. She said “the safety of the riding public is in peril' because of the DOTC chief's ‘incompetence and shortsightedness.’” (READ: Poe to Aquino: Fire transport chief Abaya now

Abaya is acting president of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), which Aquino chairs. The LP is fielding former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II as its standard-bearer in the 2016 national elections. (READ: Should Jun Abaya choose between DOTC and LP?) – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is the latest addition to the list of reproductive health (RH) law advocates condemning the removal of the P1-billion allocation for contraceptives in the 2016 budget.

"The P1-billion budget cut threatens to deprive some 7 million women of reproductive health services. This abandonment is immoral in a country where some 200 out of 100,000 women who give birth die," the RH law co-sponsor said in a statement Friday, January 8.

Health Secretary Janette Garin earlier said the cut was made during the deliberations of the bicameral conference committee on the 2016 budget. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said it was "deducted in the Senate."

Either way, Santiago said it is "irreconcilable" for Congress to enact the law in 2012 only to "render the same law inutile" 3 years later.

"The enemies of reproductive health never sleep. We, too, must not rest in fighting for women's health," the presidential aspirant said.

Santiago vowed to work to "fully and conscientiously implement" the RH law if elected as the next president. (READ: What happened to the 2016 budget for contraceptives?)

Another champion of the RH law, former PhilHealth director Risa Hontiveros, said the cut is a "direct attack" on the right of women to reproductive health. (READ: Contraceptives in the Philippines: What to use, where to get) 

"Women from low-income families will be deprived of family planning services, and in reality, these women need the government's program the most," the senatorial aspirant said in a statement Thursday, January 7.

Without the P1-billion allocation for contraceptives, the health department will have to depend on health partners and donors for its program to continue this year. Hontiveros noted, however, that this is not sustainable.

"Relying on support from international funding agencies is not sustainable, and removes government's responsibility to ensure full implementation of the law," she explained.

Hontiveros said she will consult with other advocates to discuss what their next step will be, knowing that the cut will "adversely affect" the implementation of the RH law. (READ: Pia Cayetano looking into P1-B cut in contraceptives budget)

"We did not fight for the RH law just to see it become an unfunded mandate of the government. We will fight for its full implementation for the sake of women and Filipino families," she added. –Rappler.com

PERTH, Australia – A "catastrophic" bushfire has burnt through an historic town in Western Australia, razing 95 homes and leaving 3 people unaccounted for, officials said Friday, Janu7ary 8.

The out-of-control blaze 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Perth more than doubled in size in 24 hours and has now burned through 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres), with a third of the town of Yarloop destroyed.

"I believe we've had what I would suggest [are] catastrophic losses within Yarloop," the state's Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Wayne Gregson told reporters.

"It appears that we've lost around 95 houses, a number of structures within the town site including some of the historical buildings."

Gregson said 3 or 4 people had minor injuries as a result of the blaze, which was fanned by strong winds, but added: "Sadly we have 3 people unaccounted for from Yarloop." 

Yarloop has a population of 500-600 with an estimated 250 homes.

Aerial footage showed houses reduced to just their brick fireplaces, leaving only blackened ground and the burnt-out shells of vehicles.

Yarloop resident Ron Sackville told 6PR radio there was "very little" left.

"I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder. The fire was horrendous," he said.

Another resident described the overnight emergency – initially triggered by a lightning strike – as like the town was being hit by "fireballs."

"It was crazy. One fireball after another. The wind... it was unbelievable," Alex Jovanovich told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It's devastating," he said of the damage.

"There's bugger all left. The hall is gone. I believe the pub's gone. The workshops are gone. The old hospital is gone. I think the church is gone."

Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blaze, which has prompted evacuations and an emergency warning for nearby towns and surrounding areas.

"You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes," an official warning said. 

Bushfires are a common feature of Australia's summer, with four people dying in November in Esperance in Western Australia's far south, and another two perishing in South Australia. 

"The fire is still uncontrolled, it is still very, very unpredictable," Gregson said. – Rappler.com

CEBU CITY, Philippines – “You judge me, not by the cuss words, epithets, and curses that you hear. Judge me for what I stand for, the values that I hold dear.”

These were the words of a much more restrained and less foul-mouthed Rodrigo Duterte who presented himself to Cebuanos on Thursday, January 7.

The presidential candidate and his running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano are in Cebu City for their first political sortie in the Visayas as a tandem.

“I’d like to address myself to the people of the Philippines. Listen to my cursing. Listen to it carefully. I invite you to just really look at me and relate those words to my character. Because behind those words is the real tragedy and agony of the Filipino people,” he said during a press conference.

Cayetano, who had previously come to Duterte's defense in other issues, said, "We will have different public opinions but in the end, what does he have to offer and can he perform well as president? And I think many will agree that he will make a good president."

No 'motherhood statements'

Duterte has been both criticized and idolized for his brazen use of cuss words to express himself in public speeches, often ignoring requests from television stations or schools to tone it down.

Things came to a head when he “unintentionally” cursed Pope Francis over the traffic jams the pontiff’s Metro Manila visit had caused.

Weeks after the Pope Francis incident, Duterte visited an archbishop to “receive admonishment.” He also promised to pay P1,000 for every cuss word he would utter from then on. 

But Duterte said he is more than just his cuss words. Unlike his opponents, he has used more specific wording when it comes to a platform. 

“Motherhood statement lang yung ‘We will take care of…’ Ako, specific ako. Tatapusin ko talaga ‘yan,” he said, referring to his promise to stop criminality and drugs in 3 to 6 months after he is elected.

(‘We will take care…’ is just a motherhood statement. Me, I’m specific. I will really end those things.) 

“For so many years, one promise to another.That’s why when I say I’ll stop criminality, I’ll stop it in 3 months,” he added.

Less cursing

Duterte’s speeches, both during a press conference and plaza assembly that day, were noticeably more formal and less peppered with expletives than usual. 

In a one-hour press briefing, he uttered only around 3 to 5 cuss words. In previous speeches of the same length, he is known to cuss more than 20 times. 

But in front of reporters and in the public gathering, he even lowered his voice when saying certain expletives.

Could cutting down on bad words be Duterte’s New Year’s resolution?

Duterte said he himself did not like his habit of saying bad words “because I cannot control myself.”

Though he said he was taught good manners in school, “Why it has not sunk into my brain, that is something which you have to help me out [with]," he appealed to the public.  – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – A US Hellfire missile has turned up in Cuba after going missing in a fiasco that has left American officials worried the technology may be shared with China, Russia or North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, January 7.

Though the missile was not carrying a warhead, the alarming diversion while it was in transit from Europe has spurred US investigators to probe whether its arrival on the communist island was the result of criminal activity or merely a series of mistakes, according to the newspaper.

And despite a historic thaw in ties with Cuba over the past year, Washington has been unsuccessful in its push to get the missile back, the WSJ said, citing unnamed sources.

It reported that American officials were not concerned that Cuba would take apart the Hellfire – an air-to-ground missile often carried by helicopters – but were worried that Havana would share the technology with US rivals China and Russia, as well as North Korea.

The missile's far-flung journey began in early 2014 when it was sent from Orlando International Airport by arms firm Lockheed Martin to Spain, where it was used in a NATO military exercise.

From Spain it began a journey that was supposed to see it arrive back in the United States, and was passed between several shipping firms on the first leg of its trip. 

Flying to Havana

Officials loading a flight that was to carry the missile out of Madrid first noticed that it was missing, the Journal said.

They then determined that it had been put on a truck operated by Air France, which took it to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, where it was loaded onto one of the company's flights to Cuba.

By the time the missile was tracked down, it was already en route to Havana where an official noticed the labeling on its crate and seized it.

Lockheed Martin notified the State Department of the incident when it realized the missile was missing around June 2014, the WSJ said.

The US Justice Department is investigating the matter.

If the missile was purposefully diverted to Havana, the incident could be a violation of the Arms Export Control Act and even sanction laws against Cuba, the Journal said.

The bungled missile delivery comes with Washington and Havana working to build on their restoration of full diplomatic relations, a move first announced in December 2014.

The United States and Cuba formally restored diplomatic relations in July and re-opened embassies in each other's capitals.

Obama said he had made the decision because he concluded that 50 years of trying to encourage democratic and economic change in Cuba through isolation had failed.

It also comes with the US pushing for greater pressure on North Korea over an alleged hydrogen bomb test this month, and with Washington at loggerheads with Moscow and Beijing over a litany of issues ranging from the civil war in Syria and the conflict in Ukraine to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos may be fond of taking photos, but during the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Saturday, January 8, the Manila city government is asking devotees to leave their selfie sticks at home.

While selfie sticks are not banned for those joining the "traslacion," or the transfer of the Black Nazarene, government officials are appealing to devotees to avoid bringing selfie sticks, camera stands, or other gadget extension devices that may cause inconvenience during the religious event. 

"These gadget accessories are not prohibited, but it would be better if they are not brought to the event. If people insist on bringing them, please don't bring them during the procession or while among the crowd," said Johnny Yu, officer-in-charge of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. 

The Feast of the Black Nazarene is one of the Philippines’ biggest religious gatherings, drawing millions of devotees every year. The Catholic faithful join in the procession of a 17th-century mulatto image of Jesus Christ around a pre-designated route.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada asked the public to cooperate with security officials to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of the event.

“I believe our main role and priority here is to keep peace and order, to ensure the safety of all the people in the procession, and to ensure there will be no obstruction in the procession, and to maintain cleanliness of all the roads where the procession will pass," he said.

Government agencies are on heightened alert for the event. Authorities earlier announced the closure of several roads in Manila, as well as a traffic rerouting scheme during the procession. – Rappler.com

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena marked his first year in office Saturday with a pledge to introduce sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at preventing the island returning to ethnic war.

Sirisena told parliament he wanted a new statute to guarantee the country will not see a repeat of a bloody ethnic conflict that claimed over 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

"We need a constitution that suits the needs of the 21st century and make sure that all communities live in harmony," Sirisena said, adding that he was ready to shed executive powers in favour of a strengthened parliament.

"The extremists in the (Sinhalese majority) south and the (minority Tamil) north have caused the loss of thousands of young lives," Sirisena said. 

"We must ensure reconciliation and harmony so that we will never go back to war."

However the president – seen as a unifying figure in the until recently conflict-torn island since taking over from strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse last year – acknowledged the difficulty in crafting a constitution that would satisfy both sides. 

Hardline Sinhalese oppose a federal system that would ensure more political power for minority Tamils, he said.

But minorities fear that a "unitary" constitution would see them lose out to the majority Sinhalese.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday announced a planned "Constitutional Assembly" made up of legislators, who would seek public input and make recommendations for a new constitution.

In an interview with AFP this week, Sirisena said he was keen to abolish the island's all-powerful executive presidency and go back to a parliamentary-style democracy, which Sri Lanka had till 1978.

The new statute would be put to a nationwide referendum with hopes to complete the process early next year, he said in the interview.

Tamils who claimed they were discriminated against in education and employment took up arms in 1972 and battled against successive Sinhalese-dominated governments.

While many of the grievances were addressed over the years, the militancy grew into a full-fledged guerrilla war with Tamil Tiger rebels controlling a third of the country's territory before they were eventually crushed in May 2009.

The offensive that defeated the rebels prompted allegations of widespread war crimes, including accusations that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces.

Sirisena came to power partly on the back of support from the minority Tamils after pledging reconciliation and promising investigations into war-time atrocities.

He has spoken of political power-sharing as a means to address Tamil demands for autonomy.  – Rappler.com

Part 2 of 3

Part 1: Fil-Ams pursue political history in San Mateo, California 

DALY CITY, USA – San Mateo County is a lush expanse of hills and valleys sprawled at the feet of San Francisco. “North County” as its upper tip is known, intersects the only US city that is also a county but is called The City by Bay Area residents.

Visitors and newcomers in Daly City often mistakenly refer to it as San Francisco, which ends where Daly City begins, sharing the hilly landscape and famous fog.

For those unfamiliar with US geographical administrative bodies, San Mateo County is all of 744 square miles or 1927 kilometers. In comparison, Metro Manila – inclusive of the cities of Manila and Quezon City and 14 other towns and cities – is less than 1/2 of the area at 246.55 square miles or 635.55 kilometers.

Some 758,581 people call San Mateo County home, at least in 2014, said Census updates.  Metro Manila, per World Population Review, is estimated at 12 million residents.

Metro Manila is administered by the Metro Manila Development Authority and is headed by a chair to perform “coordinated” functions while cities maintain local autonomy. A presidential appointee, the chair holds the rank of cabinet member.

Local governance 

Similarly, the County Board of Supervisors oversees towns and cities within the border of San Mateo County. Forty-eight states in the United States are divided by counties. Louisiana has “parishes” and Alaska has “boroughs.”

San Mateo County comprises 27 towns and cities including the eponymous City of San Mateo, and several “unincorporated areas.” Five districts make up the county. Each district is headed by an elected supervisor. 

City councils are elected to govern the towns and cities; they meet regularly at council chambers and may hold fulltime jobs. Council members hire a City Manager, the actual administrator of the municipality.

Council members vote among themselves for a mayor annually. Mayors in some cities, particularly those in the metropolis, are elected by voters. City charters dictate how officials are selected. 

San Mateo County District 5 is home to Daly City, its largest city with over 101,000 residents.   It calls itself “Gateway to the Peninsula” as it opens up to the sliver of earth between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay all the way to Santa Clara County, whose capital is San Jose.

Fil-Am central

As a testament to its appeal to industries, San Mateo County hosts Genentech in South San Francisco, Oracle in Redwood City, Gilead in Foster City, and Facebook in Menlo Park. It is also the address of many community colleges and nonprofits – foundations and agencies alike.

Hillsborough and Atherton, where housing values are among the highest in the United States, nestle in the hills bordered by Interstate 280 in San Mateo County.

San Mateo County has just re-elected Philippine-born Robert Bernardo to the Harbor Commission, but he is the lone county official of Filipino descent since accountant Gerry Trias lost his 12-year title as County Controller in a stunning upset in 1998. 

Political visibility has long eluded Filipino Americans despite the existence of its own clubs affiliated with both Republican and Democratic Parties.

Filipino trailblazers

The community has marked more Fil-Am “firsts” in the past decade, but mainland Fil-Ams’  record pales in comparison to those in 50^th state. Hawaii in the early 1990s elected the first Filipino American state chief executive, Governor Benjamin Cayetano governor. Hawaii’s state Legislature has elected many Assembly members and state Senators. 

Two years ago, the country’s first Filipino American, first Asian American and first woman Senate President took the gavel for Hawaii in the person of Filipino Korean American Donna Mercado Kim, who won the confidence of the governor and her peers.

Mercado Kim later sought the seat on the 1st Congressional District but was defeated by an Assembly representative who is also of Asian descent.

California still has its one and only Fil-Am member of the Assembly in Rob Bonta, who smashed poll results by taking over 80% to continue serving District 18 covering Oakland, San Leandro and his home city of Alameda.

Fil-Am Californians have had a few successes in their quest for county office.

Larry Asera made history by becoming the first known FilAm elected to the board of supervisors in Solano County in 1976, 3 years after being elected to the Vallejo City Council.

Lawyer Gloria Megino Ochoa holds the distinction of being the first Filipino American woman in the Golden State to take a seat on the board of supervisors when she served in Santa Barbara County.  

She might have gone to the US House of Representatives had Arianna Huffington’s ex-husband not dipped into his billions for a fun run on his way to a unsuccessfully defeating US Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Megino Ochoa returned to private practice in Sacramento after retiring as chief deputy legal counsel with the state Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Increasing visibility 

San Mateo County Fil-Am politicos blamed their invisibility in higher office to the “exclusionary” at-large or countywide system. They joined forces with civil rights lawyer Robert Rubin and ultimately placed in voters’ hands the way supervisors are chosen in all other counties.

Measure B, the ballot initiative was called, offered the electorate the choice of staying the only county in the state where supervisors are elected countywide, or moving forward and giving district residents the decision.

Measure B passed by a resounding 59%.

All but one of the sitting supervisors opposed it, as did Congress member Jackie Speier, the region representative to the US Legislature.

Proponents of countywide or at-large voting called it “fair and protected the rights of all voters.”

Critics assert that it disadvantages candidates from less-affluent communities. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Administration standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II said on Saturday, January 9, he is ready to respond to questions at the re-opening of the probe into the Mamasapano encounter, if asked to appear before the Senate panel again.

“Hindi ako aatras sa kahit na anong imbestigasyon at ako ay para sa hayag na pagtingin sa lahat ng mga bagay (I will not back down from any investigation and I am for transparency in all things),” Roxas said in an interview with reporters in Romblon.

Roxas, who was interior secretary at the time of the controversial police operation, said that both houses of Congress had conducted separate investigations on Oplan Exodus, as well as the Philippine National Police and the Department of Justice.

“So kung meron pang hindi naitanong, bukas tayong tumulong kung ipapatawag tayo para sagutin lahat ng itong mga katanungan (If there are questions that have yet to be asked, I’m open to help if I’m called to answer all these questions),” he said.

Roxas declined to comment on whether he believed the re-opening of the Senate investigation is politically-motivated, since it would be carried out by other aspirants in the 2016 elections, led by Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate commitee on public order.

“Well, hindi para sa akin ang magsabi niyan. Kayo na ang nagsasabi niyan, na politikal na ito pero kami naman, kung may itatanong e di sasagutin. Di ba? E wala naman tayong itinatago at kung ano man ang nais nilang tanungin ay wala namang problema,” he said.

(Well, it’s not for me to say that. You’re the ones saying that, that it’s politically motivated, but in our case, if there are questions, we will answer them. We have nothing to hide and we won’t have any problem with whatever they may wish to ask.)

On Friday, January 8, President Benigno Aquino III alleged that the re-opening of the probe was meant to "take advantage" of the "Oplan Exodus" controversy, which marks its first year anniversary on January 25. (READ: Political foes 'taking advantage' of Mamasapano probe – Aquino)

Oplan Exodus is a police operation that targeted terrorists wanted by both the Philippines and the United States in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao.

ISTANBUL,Turkey – Fourteen people, most of them Syrian refugees, were killed and dozens more injured in two deadly bus accidents in Turkey in the past 24 hours, reports said Saturday, January 9. 

Early on Saturday, a bus carrying migrants hoping to catch a boat to the Greek island of Lesbos overturned and rolled into a gorge in the western Balikesir province, killing 7 Syrians and the driver, state-run Anatolia news agency said. 

Forty-two others were injured, it said. 

In a separate incident a day earlier, a bus carrying migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar slammed into a car in the northwestern Canakkale province, killing 6 Syrians and injuring 30 others, the private Dogan news agency said. 

They were also being driven to a beach from where they would have tried to cross to Lesbos, it said. 

Turkey, which is home to some 2.2 million refugees from Syria's civil war, has become a hub for migrants seeking to reach Europe, many of whom pay people smugglers thousands of dollars for the risky crossing.

This week, the bodies of 36 migrants, including several children, were found washed up along the Turkish coast after their boats sank while crossing the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece.

The European Union has pledged to give Ankara 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) as well as political concessions in return for its cooperation in tackling Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

But earlier this week, the EU said it was far from satisfied with Turkey's cooperation in stemming the flow of migrants trying to reach the bloc.  – Rappler.com

ROME, Italy – Workers at an Italian factory were delighted by an unexpected Christmas bonus, receiving checks for thousands of euros bequeathed to them by their late boss who died in June, reports said Saturday, January 9.

Piero Macchi, the founder of Enoplastic, which produces screwcaps, synthetic corks and labels for drinks bottles, quietly changed his will shortly before he died, leaving staff at the company's Bodio Lomnago plant in the Italian Alps a total of 1.5 million euros ($1.64 million).

"It was all managed by his wife Carla, my mother, who sent a touching letter of thanks with each of the cheques," Macchi's daughter Giovanna, the current joint manager of Enoplastic, told Corriera della Sera newspaper.

The cheques landed just before Christmas, with new staff receiving 2,000 euros and the oldest staff 10,000 – and some workers got even more when Macchi knew they needed it.

Macchi, a lover of both good wine and machinery, turned a hobby into a lucrative business when he founded Enoplastic in 1957 – the company now produces 2.5 billion units a year and exports to more than 80 countries.

"We always think of ourselves as a big family and this Christmas present is a sign of that," one worker told the Varese News newspaper. – Rappler.com

Person handing over check and bottle caps images from Shutterstock

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt's top appeals court upheld on Saturday, January 9, a 3-year prison sentence for ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons for corruption.

It was not immediately clear, however, how long Mubarak would remain in detention. Both of his sons were set free in October with time served taken into account.

Mubarak, 87, has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011, months after his ouster in popular uprising.

In May, a court sentenced him and his sons to 3 years for having embezzled 125 million Egyptian pounds ($16 million/14.7 million euros) from funds meant for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

They were fined that same amount and an extra 21 million pounds.

Charges against Mubarak, who ruled for 3 decades, had been dropped in a separate trial for the killings of protesters during the uprising.

The prosecution has appealed that verdict. – Rappler.com

PARIS, France – Hundreds of French mosques are participating in a major open-house event this weekend, offering visitors the opportunity to come in for tea and a chat about Islam in a country shaken by jihadist attacks. 

Organized by the country's leading Muslim body, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), it aims to stimulate dialogue about Islam and create a greater sense of "national cohesion", a year after 17 people were killed in jihadist attacks in Paris targeting satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. 

"The objective is to create a space where people can be together and meet normal Muslim worshippers and all of our fellow citizens," CFCM president Anouar Kbibech told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

The idea is to use the anniversary of the January 7 attacks to "highlight the real values of Islam, to set straight the cliches about links to violence and terrorism," he said, describing the venture as a "gesture of openness". 

"Instead of dwelling on these tragic acts, it seemed more useful and important to celebrate 'the spirit of January 11'," he said, referring to the date when millions of people took to the streets in a mass show of solidarity. 

Following the November attacks, in which jihadists killed 130 people, France declared a state of emergency which has seen police staging around 20 raids on Muslim places of worship. At least three have been closed on suspicion of radicalising their members. 

Dubbed "a brotherly cup of tea", the initiative will take different forms with local mosques handing out hot drinks and pastries, offering guided visits, putting on debates and calligraphy workshops, and even inviting people to attend one of the five daily prayers. 

Although not all of France's 2,500 mosques and places of worship are taking part, the most important ones are, including the Grand Mosque of Paris. 

The event comes after a year which saw a surge in anti-Muslim acts in France, some of which targeted places of worship, although the number was much lower after the November bloodshed than after those that took place in January. – Rappler.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia opened an investigation on Saturday, January 9, after a hospital doctor was captured on video punching a patient with a blow that killed him instantly.

The shocking incident in the southern city of Belgorod raised questions over a cover-up culture in state medicine, with the investigation only opened days later after security camera footage was released on YouTube and aired on national television. 

Belgorod's Investigative Committee said in the statement released Saturday that the incident took place on December 29. It gave no explanation for the apparent delay in investigating the crime. 

It said the doctor was suspected of causing death through negligence, for which he could serve up to two years in jail.

In the video, the strongly-built doctor in medical clothing drags the barechested male patient from the examination table, asking him "why did you touch the nurse?" and pushes him out of the doorway. 

When the patient returns, the doctor deals him a single blow to the face and a crash can be heard as the middle-aged man falls backwards onto the floor.

Meanwhile, the doctor continues to scuffle with another man accompanying the patient, and it is only minutes later that the medics notice the patient lying motionless and attempt unsuccessfully to revive him. 

The medics drag away the patient's body and then an orderly mops up blood stains.

The doctor hit the patient in the face after he "kicked a nurse during a procedure," the investigators said. 

"The cause of death of the victim was trauma to the skull and brain from hitting the back of the head on the hard surface of the floor." 

Russian media named the doctor as a surgeon at the hospital, Ilya Zelendinov and the patient as 56-year-old Yevgeny Bakhtin. 

Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova has ordered the state health watchdog to carry out a check into the incident, state television reported Saturday. 

Russian medics have long operated in a culture of secrecy with patients having little recourse to compensation for medical errors. 

Last year, two Russians resorted to taking guns to hospitals and shooting dead doctors for perceived mistakes in their treatment. Both killed themselves at the scene. – Rappler.com

NEW DELHI, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the country's security forces on a visit to Pathankot air force base on Saturday, January 9, one week after a militant attack left 7 soldiers dead.

The premier flew to the base in northern Punjab state to conduct an aerial survey of the area near the Pakistan border, following the strike by gunmen whom officials suspect belonged to the banned Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed. 

It follows criticism from the Congress opposition of what it called a "grave security lapse" that allowed heavily armed militants to infiltrate the strategically important base, triggering two days of gun battles.

"Noted with satisfaction the decision-making & its execution, the considerations that went into our tactical response," Modi posted on Twitter after the visit, which included a briefing by top army and air force officials.

"Also noted coordination among various field units. Lauded bravery & determination of our men & women on the ground. They are our pride," he tweeted.

Security forces on Friday said they had finally sanitised the sprawling installation after a lengthy search operation, the Press Trust of India reported. 

Modi called on Pakistan earlier in the week to take action against those behind the attack, in which six militants also died.

The PM's office said Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had given assurances that his government would take "prompt and decisive action".   

The attack on Pathankot came just days after a landmark visit to Pakistan by the Indian premier raised hopes of improved relations between the nuclear-armed arch rivals.

Jaish-e-Mohammed staged a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament which brought the two countries to the brink of war.

The Pathankot attack coincided with a 25-hour siege near an Indian consulate in Afghanistan that left at least one policeman dead and 11 others wounded. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – As of late Saturday evening, January 9, the procession of the Black Nazarene had hours and hours to go before reaching its home: the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or the Quiapo Church.

Starting from the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta minutes before 6 am, the procession was expected to end before 2 am on Sunday, January 10, about two hours earlier than the previously expected 4 am.

If the pace had not changed, the procession would have taken an agonizing 22 hours, longer than 2015's 19-20 hours. 

As in past years, too, the procession drew millions of devotees. Church officials have said the devotion is a vibrant expression of faith in a country of about 80 million Catholics. Avid followers pledge to participate in the procession every year, hoping for miracles or thankful for them. 

The Black Nazarene statue, crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, was brought to Manila by Augustinian priests in 1607. It is also believed to have been partially burnt and blackened when the galleon carrying it caught fire on a voyage from Mexico, another Spanish colony at the time.

Here are photos from the traslacion:

– with reports from AFP/Rappler.com

COLOGNE, Germany (UPDATED) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, January 9, backed tougher expulsion rules for convicted refugees, as brief clashes broke out during a far-right protest against a rash of sexual assaults blamed on migrants.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to clear a rally of the xenophobic PEGIDA movement in Cologne, after protesters flung firecrackers and bottles at officers they accuse of failing to prevent assaults during New Year's festivities in the western city.

As outrage grows in Germany over the attacks, Merkel declared that any refugee handed a jail term – even if it is only a suspended sentence – should be kicked out of the country. 

"If the law does not suffice, then the law must be changed," she said, vowing action to protect not just German citizens, but innocent refugees too. 

Germany was stunned by revelations that hundreds of women ran a gauntlet of groping hands, lewd insults and robberies in mob violence in Cologne on New Year's Eve.

Most of the assailants were of Arabic or North African background, according to eye-witnesses, police and media reports.

The majority of suspects identified by federal police so far are migrants, adding fuel to criticism of Merkel's liberal migrant policy – which brought 1.1 million new asylum seekers to Germany last year.

Waving German flags and signs meaning "Rapefugees not welcome" and "Germany survived war, plague and cholera, but Merkel?", hundreds of PEGIDA supporters shouted "Merkel raus" (Merkel out), before the protest briefly turned violent.

The rattle of a helicopter circling in the skies and the occasional bang of a firecracker added to tensions as counter-protesters, separated from the PEGIDA crowd by police, chanted "Nazis raus".

Earlier some 500 mostly female protesters had also held a noisy rally against sexist violence. 

Banging pots and blowing whistles, demonstrators waved signs in German saying "No violence against women" and "No means no! It's the law!" while others read: "Protect our women and children." 

'Cologne changes everything'

The mob violence has played into popular fears, and threatened to cloud what had been a broadly welcoming mood in Germany where crowds cheered as Syrian refugees arrived by train in September. (READ: Migrants in Germany fear backlash after sex assaults)

Germany's conservative Die Welt newspaper said January 6, the day the scope of the violence became clear, "marks the beginning of a change in immigration policy" in an article outlining both "the benefits and the dangers of mass immigration from Muslim countries."

"Cologne has changed everything, people now are doubting," said Volker Bouffier, vice president of Merkel's CDU party at a meeting late on Friday. 

Ahead of the afternoon rally, Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of PEGIDA ("Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident") posted a photo of himself online wearing a t-shirt saying "Rapefugees not Welcome".

In a similar vein, the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany party, which polls show as having 10 percent support ahead of state elections this year, claimed the violence gave a "taste of the looming collapse of culture and civilisation".

Suspects include asylum seekers

Details of what happened in the frenzied crush remain hazy. 

Germany's federal police have identified 32 suspects, 22 of whom are asylum seekers, in connection with 76 offences, 12 of which had a sexual character, the interior ministry said Friday. 

Cologne police, which has around 100 investigators scanning some 350 hours of video, says it has identified 16 suspects.

It was unclear how many of the suspects had been in Germany long-term or belonged to a scene of drug dealers and pickpockets known to lurk around the railway station, and how many were newly-arrived asylum seekers.

On Friday, criticism over the police's failure to stop the violence claimed the scalp of Cologne police chief Wolfgang Albers in a bid to "restore public confidence".

'Do this for us'

Merkel, who has so far refused to abandon her welcoming stance towards refugees, on Saturday had tough words for law-breakers.

"If a refugee flouts the rules, then there must be consequences, that means that they can lose their residence right here regardless of whether they have a suspended sentence or a prison sentence," she said after a meeting with the top ranks of her party.

Under current laws, asylum seekers are only deported if they have been sentenced to jail terms of at least three years, and if their lives are not at risk in their countries of origin.

"We must do this for us, and for the many refugees who were not part of the events in Cologne," she said.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said talks were already ongoing with the Justice Minister on this front.

"Foreigners convicted of serious offences or serial offences must leave Germany," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. – Frank Zeller with Ellen Hasenkamp, AFP/Rappler.com

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Russian strikes on Saturday, January 9, on a prison complex run by Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate in the country's northwest killed at least 39 people, including 5 civilians, a monitoring group said. 

The strikes hit an Al-Nusra Front building, which lies near a popular market in Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The building housed the group's religious court and a jail. 

Most of those killed were rebels imprisoned by Al-Nusra, while other victims included prison guards and Al-Nusra fighters. 

Among the dead were five civilians, including a child. 

Russian warplanes have been conducting air strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) organization and "other terrorist groups" in Syria since September 30.

Although Al-Nusra and ISIS are both jihadist organisations, they are fierce rivals and regularly clash in Syria. 

Al-Nusra also has tense relationships with non-jihadist rebel groups that oppose its extreme interpretation of Islamic law. 

In Idlib, it has formed an alliance with rebel groups, including hardline faction Ahrar al-Sham.

The Army of Conquest coalition has expelled regime forces from Idlib province. 

The Britain-based Observatory has an extensive network of sources inside Syria and identifies casualties by the type of aircraft flown and the munitions used.

Syria's conflict first erupted with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011 but quickly morphed into a war that has left more than 260,000 people dead. – Rappler.com 

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Denmark has kicked a foreign student out of the country for exceeding hourly part-time work regulations, despite Aarhus University's efforts to hang onto one of its top students, the school said on Saturday, January 9.

Marius Youbi, a 30-year-old engineering student, flew home to Cameroon on January 7 under an expulsion order requiring him to leave Denmark by January 8.

The Scandinavian country has some of Europe's strictest immigration policies, and has repeatedly tightened its regulations in recent months to deter foreigners from seeking a new life in the country.

Working part-time as a cleaner to help pay for his studies, Youbi was found to have occasionally exceeded the 15 hours he was allowed to work per week.

"We disagree with this decision from the Danish immigration service," university spokesman Anders Correll told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The school's rector sent a letter to the immigration service's Agency for Recruitment and Integration on December 23 asking it to reconsider its decision, but the letter was not answered, Correll said.

"Marius Youbi is one of the most talented students we have... the agency is able to reverse its decision and to not do so would be unfortunate," rector Brian Bech Nielsen wrote in the letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

"The country's laws should of course be respected, but the 'punishment' does not meet the 'crime' in this case," he wrote.

Youbi "has paid a fine ... (and) the Danish immigration service therefore considers that he has accepted his penalty," Correll said.

'My work is wasted'

A spokesman for the Danish agency, Jesper Wodschow Larsen, told AFP the decision "was taken in line with the rules in place."

Youbi, who was studying towards a bachelor's degree in engineering, still needs to write his thesis and do an internship with a Danish company in order to earn his degree, Correll said.

Speaking to Danish Radio just before his departure, Youbi said he was "sad and disappointed, my work is wasted."

"This is four-and-a-half years that have gone up in smoke," he said.

"I built up something here in Denmark. I've made many friends here, I have family here that I'm leaving behind. It's hard to say goodbye to so much."

Youbi said he was still hopeful he could return to Denmark to resume his studies.

"I hope I'll be able to come back... First I'm going to go home and wait. Then I'll hope for the best," he said. – Rappler.com