October 7, 2014 Edition

Vice President Jejomar Binay was the biggest loser in the June-September 2014 Pulse Asia performance and trust ratings survey released Tuesday, October 7. His approval rating of 66% is down 15 percentage points from 81% in June. His trust ratings also dropped from 79% to 64%. Yet he still enjoys the highest ratings among top officals that include President Benigno Aquino III, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr, and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. The performance and trust ratings of Aquino, Belmonte, and Sereno are “generally constant between June and September 2014,” Pulse Asia said.

Read the full story on Rappler.

As crowds dwindled on the second week of protests in Hong Kong, representatives of #OccupyCentral agreed to hold formal talks with government. Students however made it clear talks would be cancelled if the remaining demonstrators were swept off the streets by force. The BBC reported that a hard-core group still remains on the barricades Monday evening and that protesters, partly out of exhaustion, have decided to take what appears to be a “strategic, possibly temporary retreat.” Demonstrators are protesting China’s plans to pre-approve candidates in the 2017 direct elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive.

Read the full story on the BBC.

A nurse who treated two elderly missionaries, who died of Ebola after they were repatriated from Africa, has contracted the virus. It is the first known case of transmission outside Africa. Spanish Health Minister Ana Mato said the nurse, now being treated in isolation at a hospital near Madrid, is in a stable condition, though still running a fever. She was admitted to a hospital near Madrid on October 5.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Michael Phelps, the world’s most decorated Olympian ever, was suspended for 6 months by USA Swimming, after his drink-driving arrest on September 30. He will not be on the US swimming team next year and at the world championships in Kazan, Russia. The 29-year-old Phelps was stopped after caught driving at 135 kph in Baltimore, Maryland. He had previously been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in 2004.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story is on CNN and the BBC.

Same-sex marriages will soon be possible in up to 30 states after the US Supreme Court on Monday, October 6, declined to consider a nationwide ruling on the issue. The court ignored appeals from 5 states that regarded state bans on gay marriages as unconstitutional – Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Same-sex marriages had been put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to hear the cases. In 2013, the Supreme Court already ruled that under federal law, married same-sex couples were entitled to the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A related story is on the New York Times.

Body parts reportedly found cooking on a stove in Brisbane are believed to belong to Indonesian transgender Mayang Prasetyo. The Courier Mail reported Tuesday, October 7, that Mayang was married to 28-year-old Australian chef Peter Volke in August 2013. Neighbors heard them fighting before October 4. Police came to the couple’s apartment when neighbors complained of terrible smell, and found dismembered remains, including what seemed like feet in a pot on the stove. Volke fled and slit his throat, his body later found on the street.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said on Monday, October 6, that if Congress authorizes the President to use the multi-billion-peso Malampaya fund, consumers will be spared from power hikes. Petilla wants Aquino to certify as urgent a bill expanding the use of the Malampaya fund to “directly subsidize energy consumption of end-users in case of market failure.” The Supreme Court had previously barred the use of the fund for projects other than those related to energy.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of British Bishop Kieran Conry who admitted to having an affair with a married parishioner. Their affair was exposed after the estranged husband of the woman hired a private detective to trail his wife when their marriage failed. The 64-year-old Conry said in a letter to parishioners that while he might have strayed from the precepts of the Catholic Church, his actions were “not illegal and did not involved minors.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

Once the US Food and Drug Administration gives its approval, scientists can begin testing lab-grown penises on human patients within the next 5 years. This will benefit men with congenital abnormalities, massive injuries, penile cancers who have had to use flaps from their forearms or thighs for reconstruction. Some doctors however worry that the penises might not be able to achieve erection.

Read the full story on Salon.

Lab test image from Shutterstock

A Chinese insurance company, Anbang Insurance Group, has bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York for $1.95 billion. The flagship of Hilton’s 27 luxury hotels around the world is a cultural icon that has seen guests who included foreign heads of state. Sitting on Park Avenue since 1931, the hotel was acquired by Conrad N. Hilton 65 years ago. Hilton Worldwide will continue to operate the Waldorf for 100 years as part of its strategic partnership with Anbang.

Read the full story on CNN.

A related story is on Rappler.