November 6, 2012 Edition

It is a widespread belief in Japan that character and temperament are linked to blood type. “What’s your blood type?” is often a key question in everything from matchmaking to job applications, the BBC reports. Many dating agencies cater to blood types, and popular anime (animations), manga (comics) and video games often mention a character’s blood type. A whole industry of customized products has also sprung up, with soft drinks, chewing gum, bath salts and even condoms catering for different blood groups on sale. According to popular belief in Japan, type As are sensitive perfectionists and good team players, but over-anxious. Type Os are curious and generous but stubborn. ABs are arty but mysterious and unpredictable, and type Bs are cheerful but eccentric, individualistic and selfish.


Read more on BBC.

Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere, 41, one of the most acclaimed of his generation, is leaving the French fashion house after 15 years at its helm. The news went down like a bombshell in planet fashion with the designer’s name instantly becoming a top worldwide Twitter trend, unleashing a swirl of speculation over Ghesquiere’s next step when he leaves November 30, as well as over succession issues at Balenciaga.

Balenciaga gave no reason for the designer’s departure, but stressed it was “the fruit of a long reflection.” Ghesquiere put the house back on the fashion map after he took over as artistic director in 1997, over a decade after the death of Spanish couturier Cristobal Balenciaga, considered a pivotal influence on 20th century fashion.


Read more on Rappler.

A reclassification program of the Department of Health meant to require downgraded facilities to upgrade, will affect almost all of the 1,800 hospitals in the country. This includes more than 500 primary hospitals, most of them in small towns and municipalities 4 to 5 hours away from nearest government hospitals that don’t have blood banks and operating room. Affected will be about 8,000 patients of these soon-to-be-classified mere “infirmaries” because they only have 5 to 15 beds each. “Infirmaries” will no longer be automatically accredited by the Philhealth, making it more difficult for the poor to access healthcare. This reclassification will also douse the dreams of healthworkers — nurses, doctors, medical technicians, pharmacists, and others — who are eyeing positions abroad. Employers abroad require potential employees to have worked in tertiary facilities before they can be hired.


Read more on Rappler.

Anonymous, the group behind the defacing of various government and commercial websites, are at it again. In a new round of hackings hit e-commerce payment source Paypal and software maker Symantec. Anonymous announced its new hacks through various affiliated Twitter accounts, reflecting an anti-surveillance attacks.


Read more on Rappler.

From convenience store chain to a power plant and telecommunications, the deals Ayala Corp and its units have been announcing are coming one after the other. The country’s oldest conglomerate is constantly in the news–a behavior other aggressive diversified conglomerates, like San Miguel and Metro Pacific Investments, have been known for in the past 4 years Ayala stayed silent in the background. Ayala, whose core businesses are real estate, retail, banking, water services and telecommunications, has been expanding into power and infrastructure sectors. It has recently inked a partnership deal with Metro Pacific for rail projects in Metro Manila, and with the Aboitiz group for the upcoming Cebu airport project. To boost its telecommunications and media assets, it is also pursuing a strategic deal with Lopez-led firms.


Read more about Globe Telecom’s BayanTel strategy on Rappler.
Read more about convenience store deal on Rappler.

“In religious terms, it is the most important visit since Pope Benedict XVI” in 2009, Israel foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said about the first trip of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. The head of Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church will visit key Christian sites in Israel and the Palestinian territories from November 9-14, as well as the Yad Vashem memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem. The primate is expected to tour Christian landmarks in Jerusalem, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and in the Israeli towns of Nazareth and Tiberias. The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches and has around 150 million followers worldwide.


Read more on Rappler.

President Aquino stressed again in an international summit the issue of overlapping claims in the South China Sea at an Asia-Europe summit, saying vital global shipping lanes are at stake. He said the call for an international solution in this highly contested “body of water” now has the support of Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the European Council and the European Commission. He also raised the issue at a plenary session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). This is the first time Aquino attends the summit attended by over 50 Asian and European leaders. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario raised the sea dispute also during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting recently.


Read more on Rappler.

They are all recycled. There are absolutely no fresh faces among the major candidates in the capital region this coming May 2013 elections. In each of Metro Manila’s 16 cities and one municipality, the candidates for mayor are either re-electionists, sons of the third-termers, or old-timers trying to re-take city hall. Rappler’s research of Commission on Elections (Comelec) data showed that 14 of the incumbent mayors are seeking fresh mandate in 2013, while the remaining 3, who are on their last term, have fielded their relatives to replace them. Some mayors running for re-election have familiar last names — Eusebio of Pasig City, Abalos Jr. of Mandaluyong City, Tiangco of Navotas City, Lim of Manila, Binay of Makati City, Cayetano of Taguig City, Calixto of Pasay City, and Aguilar of Las Piñas City.


Read more in this special report on Rappler.

Xi Jinping, 59, the next leader of a 5th of the world’s people is a Communist aristocrat with a pop star wife, but his views are a mystery, hidden behind Party secrecy and an enigmatic demeanor. Xi is set to take over a country that, in just a few decades, has gone from a famine-wracked basketcase to the world’s 2nd largest economy, and now has growing diplomatic heft and military reach, too. Xi will succeed President Hu Jintao as the general-secretary of the 82-million-strong Communist Party at its 18th congress, which starts on Thursday, November 8, in the Great Hall of the People on Beijing’s vast Tiananmen Square. The heir apparent has been number two to Hu since 2008, and his appointment to head the all-powerful party will make his promotion to president of the world’s most populous nation, expected in March, a mere formality.


Read more on Rappler. 

A deeply divided America goes to the polls on Tuesday, November 6 (November 7 in Manila), to decide the close presidential race between two men vying for the world’s top job: Democrat President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney. They are currently on an effective tie, according to final national polls, with either Romney or Obama favored by a single point in most surveys. Obama is leading the race as far as the decided states go. But the remaining swing states could still give the race to Romney. Among those who are expected to troop to the voting precincts – or have voted already – are 700,000 Filipino-Americans mostly in the West Coast (49%). Like the rest of the population, they are concerned with issues affecting the economy, immigration, job creation, and health care. The Philippines and the US are strategic allies. 


Read and watch more on Rappler here and here.
Join the Rappler Twitter conversation, #USvote: Is it about Filipinos, too?
Read about the ‘nighmare’ scenarios on Rappler.
Know what to expect on election day. 
Know more about the ‘electoral college’ system in US elections.