00:05The Supreme Court will review Pomelec's ruling on the donation of contractor Lorenz
00:10Lubiano of the Cheese Escudero's campaign. Donald Trump says the United States has been
00:14indirect and indirect talks with Iran. Pope Leo says God rejects the prayers of leaders
00:20who wage wars. Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli aims higher after his historic Japanese Grand
00:25Prix win. And Alex Ayala drops to world number 45 after her round of 16 exit in the Miami Open.
00:40The Supreme Court accepts a petition seeking to review a ruling by the Commission on Elections
00:45that clears Senator Cheese Escudero for a 30 million peso campaign donation received from
00:50government contractor Lorenz Lubiano. Lubiano is the owner of Centerways Construction, one of the
00:55country's top flood control contractors. The High Court grants the petition filed by private
01:00citizen John Barry Tayam to review the poll body's decision. Comelec's political finance and affairs
01:05department ruled in November 2025 Escudero did not violate election laws in accepting the donation.
01:11It also found that Lubiano did not breach any rules by contributing to the Escudero campaign.
01:16A Rattler investigation showed that Lubiano was Escudero's biggest campaign donor. Following the
01:21report, Comelec launched a motu proprio investigation. The controversy, among other factors,
01:27eventually led to Escudero's ouster as Senate president. Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto
01:32Bernardo in a Senate hearing alleged Escudero received kickbacks from flood control projects.
01:38Escudero denies the allegations. President Donald Trump says the US and Iran have been meeting
01:45directly and indirectly and that Iran's new leaders have been very reasonable. This as more US troops are
01:51arrived in the region and Tehran warns it will not accept humiliation.
01:55I think we'll make a deal with them. I'm pretty sure. But it's possible we won't.
02:00Trump says he thought the US had already accomplished regime change in Tehran after
02:04strikes killed the country's supreme leader and other top officials. Trump's remarks came after
02:08Pakistan said it was preparing to host meaningful talks in the coming days to end the conflict.
02:13Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishak Dar says they had covered possible ways to bring an early and
02:18permanent end to the war in the region as well as potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.
02:23Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baquer Khalibaf earlier accused the US of sending messages about
02:28possible negotiations while at the same time planning to send in troops. He adds Tehran was ready to
02:34respond if US soldiers were deployed. The war has caused the biggest disruption ever to energy
02:39supplies hitting the global economy. Pope Leo XIV says, God rejects the prayers of leaders who start
02:48war and have hands full of blood. This in unusually forceful remarks as the war in Iran entered its
02:54second month. The pontiff calls the conflict atrocious, adding Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars
03:00as he addressed tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday. Leo did not specifically name any
03:05world leaders, but he has been ramping up criticism of the Iran war in recent weeks. Some US officials
03:11have invoked Christian language to justify the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
03:15Brothers and sisters, this is our God, Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use
03:24justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying,
03:31even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.
03:39Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli wants to keep raising the bar after making Formula One history
03:44with his win in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, March 29. His success at Suzuka made him the sport's
03:51youngest championship leader. He took the record away from Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion
03:56he replaced at Mercedes. Antonelli also became the first Italian to win back-to-back races in Formula
04:01One since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He dropped to sixth after a slow start at the race. A well-timed
04:08safety car after a high-speed crash involving Oliver Berman allowed him to pit while rivals lost time
04:13under reduced speed conditions. Antonelli says the safety car helped his race but added that his strong
04:19pace on hard tires in the final stint also played a key role in his win.
04:25Filipino tennis star Alex Ayala slid 16 points to No. 45 in the latest WTA rankings following her
04:31Round of 16 exit in the Miami Open. She lost 270 points and fell to 1,255 after failing to
04:39match her
04:39semi-final run in the 2025 edition of the WTA 1000 event. Ayala, who needed to defend 390 points from
04:46last
04:46year, earned only 120 points after a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Karolina Mukhova in the fourth round. The
04:5316-point
04:54drop is her biggest slide since entering the top 100 a year ago. She will try to regain points at
04:59the
04:59WTA 500 Linz Open in Austria from April 6-12. Ayala is also set to compete in the Madrid Open
05:05in Spain.
05:08And that's today's wrap. I'm JC Gutinga. Thank you for watching. Click the link below for the full story.
05:13For more updates, download the Rappler app.
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