POPNews|today (17 January 2014 • Friday)

2. A US Senate report said the attacks that killed four Americans in
Libya in 2012 could have been prevented. The report came after
Senate Intelligence Committee investigators conducted
hearings on the September 2012 attack that targeted the US
diplomatic facility and the nearby CIA annex in Benghazi.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed
in the attack. The report said the State Department failed to
follow warnings to boost security, despite the deteriorating
security environment in Libya. In a statement, the panel said,
“The committee found the attacks were preventable based on
extensive intelligence reporting on the terrorist activity in
Libya… and given the known security shortfalls at the US
mission.”

3. The World Economic Forum (WEF) said the growing gap
between the rich and the poor is the biggest global risk
this year. In its annual Global Risks survey, the
institution said, “The chronic gap between the incomes
of the richest and poorest citizens is seen as the risk
that is most likely to cause serious damage globally in
the coming decade.” After income gap, the next most
likely risk was extreme weather, followed by
unemployment and underemployment, climate change,
and cyberattacks. The WEF added that survey
respondents were highly concerned about the
possibility of more fiscal crises, in the wake of the
eurozone debt crisis.

4. Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are often hailed
“modern day heroes” for propping up the Philippine
economy with remittances, but not everyone returns
home a success story. Former OFWs Eugene Asio
and Arthur Villeta now spend their days collecting
bottles for money and waiting in line at soup
kitchens for daily meals. The Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration has reintegration programs
available for repatriated OFWs, but neither
benefited from these programs. Asio added, “These
agencies call us heroes when we’re abroad... Now
that we’re no longer useful, they don’t care about us
anymore.”

5. The United Nations’ child rights watchdog in Geneva grilled the
Vatican to flesh out its commitment to stop child sex abuse by
priests. Pope Francis promised zero tolerance of abuse, but
members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said
the Vatican has not established mechanisms to investigate and
prosecute priests accused of sex crimes. Past cases were often
covered up by superiors, who transferred offenders to new
parishes instead of turning them over to police. The Holy See's
is legally responsible only for implementing the UN Convention
on children's rights within the Vatican City. The Vatican said it
continues to receive around 600 claims against abusive
priests every year. Pope Francis alluded to the abuse
revelations in a homily on Thursday, calling them "the shame of
the Church."

6. The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said
the “cash for cybersex” scheme has become a “cottage
industry,” where syndicates move operations to
different homes to create cybersex dens. NBI AntiHuman Trafficking Division chief Dante Bonoan said
these dens are usually located in poor areas. In most
cases, parents or older family members are involved in
the prostitution of a minor. The NBI said this setup
makes it difficult to identify abusers, with children often
afraid to speak out against their own families. In 2012,
an NBI entrapment operation led to the capture of a
couple allegedly running a local child sex abuse ring in
Cordova City, Cebu.

7. SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Rappler
COPYRIGHT:
13 January 2014
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