May 21, 2014 Edition

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile is unfazed by the developments in the pork barrel scam investigation, even with a possible arrest looming in the horizon. “I am confident we will win this case,” Enrile told senate reporters on Tuesday, May 20. He added that his office is “blameless.” His co-accused however are feeling the heat. Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada said they are noticing signs that the government is preparing to detain them. Revilla said a group of men are monitoring his home and trailing his staff. Estrada said he knows justice department officials are trying to ensure the 3 opposition senators are implicated by Janet Lim Napoles.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The imposition of martial law across Thailand shortly before dawn on Tuesday, May 20 has drawn the support of key political players from both sides of the fence. Officials from the caretaker government said they supported the decision of Army chief and self-appointed martial law administrator Prayuth Chan-ocha. The caretaker government held talks with Gen Prayuth on Tuesday morning to discuss the terms of martial law. Gen Prayuth told media after the meeting that the military will maintain order while a “democratic solution” is negotiated by all sides. Opposition figure and Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva backed the invocation of martial law, saying all side should support any legal means taken to protect the public and maintain order. Opposition groups, however, say they will continue their planned protests on Wednesday to call for an appointed government. Thailand’s fractured political landscape has led to a stalemate with neither side wanting to give way.

Read the full story in the Bangkok Post.

At least 118 are dead and more than 50 people were wounded in twin car bombings in central Nigeria on Tuesday, May 20. The explosions in the city of Jos brought entire buildings down. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan swiftly condemned the attack, calling it a “tragic assault on human freedom.” The attack comes shortly after a suicide car bomb on Sunday, May 18 in the northern city of Kano. Nigeria is facing a resurgent wave of terrorism, made worse by the abduction of at least 200 schoolgirls by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram. The death toll from the twin bombings is expected to rise as many are believed trapped underneath rubble.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Finance secretary Cesar Purisima said the Philippines is “well situated” to take advantage of ASEAN economic integration, citing human resources as one of the key areas where the Philippine economy stands to benefit from. His views were echoed by other speakers at an investment summit held on Monday, May 19 in Makati City. Business titans Enrique Razon Jr. and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said, however, that the Philippines still needs to beef up its manufacturing sector and infrastructure investments to fully take advantage of the benefits of a more open regional market. Ayala said said regional integration would make the Philippines more relevant in a global context and make it a “partner of choice.” The Philippine government and private sector are expected to showcase the resilience of the Philippine economy at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Manila this week.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Check out Rappler’s comprehensive coverage of the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2014 here.

Suspected rebel leader Andrea Rosal, daughter of the late NPA spokesperson ‘Ka Roger’ Rosal, was denied permission by the court to bury her child who died of complications two days after she was born. Rosal was only allowed 3-hours to attend the wake of her daughter, Diona Andrea, in Manila. The judge cited “compassionate justice” as basis for allowing Rosal to attend the wake. Rosal, who is currently detained as a political prisoner, lamented the court’s decision. “Hinidi ba spat na nawalan ako ng anak?” she said in a statement sent to media on May 20. Women and human rights group and even Senator Pia Cayetano questioned the treatment of Rosal under detention. They say the lack of medical attention given to Rosal could’ve led to the death of her premature baby.

Read the full story on Rappler.

For the women at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), gender should never be an issue for or against them. “Yung philosophy ko: ‘Yung nagagawa ng lalake, nagagawa din ng babae….Gender ko doesn’t affect my work. Sa akin, hindi siya issue,” said Mary Antoniette Calimag, a NBI agent for 6 years. Calimag’s boss, lawyer Auralyn Pascual, is also a woman. Pascual is the head of the NBI Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Division and the agency’s first female superintendent of the NBI Academy. Rappler’s Buena Bernal profiles these two women and the rising role of women at the country’s premier investigation agency.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A recent study by two Dutch researchers reveal that mice like to run on exercise wheels. The researchers put exercise wheels in open gardens and forests monitored by motion sensors and video cameras. They found that field mice, on average, would voluntarily approach the wheel and use it for a minute or so before jumping off. Some mice even used the wheels for up to 18 minutes. “When I saw the first mice, I was extremely happy,” said Johanna H. Meijer at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “I had to laugh about the results, but at the same time, I take it very seriously. It’s funny, and it’s important at the same time.” Turns out, mice aren’t the only animals who like to exercise, rats, shrews, frogs and slugs also gave the wheel a quick spin.

Read the full story on the New York Times.

Image from Shutterstock

Iranian police arrested at least six people on Monday, May 19 for participating in a video that shows them dancing to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ song. Mashable reports that the police tracked down the identities of six alleged actors who were misled into appearing in the video, which has since gone viral. The three women in the video did not wear the hijab, as required by Iran’s Islamic law. The video also showed men and women dancing together, a no-no in Iran. Police issued a public message to Iranian youth not to associate with ‘actors and singers’ like the people who appeared in the video.

Read the full story on Mashable.

Unbeaten American welterweight king Floyd Mayweather will reportedly fight on September 13, but this date will rule out England’s Amir Khan as an opponent for religious reasons. Khan, whom Mayweather had avoided when he selected Marcos Maidana to fight in a bout he won earlier this month, had said earlier that he could not fight in September because he would be celebrating Ramadan, a fasting month for Muslims. Khan thought he was going to fight Mayweather this month, going so far as to pull out of a fight last December to help ensure no issues for a May bout. Mayweather’s September bout would be the fourth in a six-fight deal worth $200 million that he signed last year with Showtime.

Read the full story on Rappler.

If the world could tell you how it feels, would that be useful? A group of Australian researchers believe so. They’ve developed a tool to map moods around the world using people’s Tweets. Researchers from Australia’s Black Dog Institute launched the “We Feel” online tool on May 20 to monitor the emotions of individuals and communities across different locations. The tool analyzes up to 32,000 English-language tweets per minute for 600 words linked to emotions such as love, joy, surprise, and anger. The data will be used to monitor trends in global emotions as well as how specific communities feel over time. The Black Dog Institute is a non-profit facility offering diagnosis and treatment for the prevention of mood disorders.

Read the full story on Rappler.