Comelec proclaims 14 party-list winners

MANILA -- Fourteen out of 58 party-list seats up for grabs in the recently concluded midterm polls have been awarded on Friday by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Entitled to a seat in the House of Representatives are Buhay, A-Teacher, Bayan Muna, 1-Care, Akbayan, Ako Bicol, Abono, OFW Family Club, Gabriela, Coop-Natcco, Agap, Cibac, Magdalo and An Waray, according to Commissioner Elias Yusoph.

Gullas still richest Cebu lawmaker

MANILA (2nd Update, 11:23 a.m.) -- Outgoing representatives Eduardo Gullas (1st district) and Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, 2nd district) remain the richest and the poorest lawmakers, respectively, in Cebu, their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) filed in 2012 showed.

US Boy Scouts approve plan to accept gay boys

GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) threw open its ranks to gay Scouts but not gay adult Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections.

The Scouts said on Thursday their organization, which is composed of about 2.6 million boys and about 1 million adult leaders and volunteers, would not condone sexual conduct by any Scout — gay or straight; however, Liberal Scout leaders made clear they want the ban on gay adults lifted as well.

Rains expected over Northern Luzon, Southern Mindanao

MANILA -- Rains may fall over some parts of Northern Luzon due to a diffused tail-end of a cold front while an inter-tropical convergence zone continues to affect Southern Mindanao, the state weather bureau said Friday.

In its advisory, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Ilocos, Cordillera and Cagayan Valley regions, and Zamboanga Peninsula and Palawan will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

US space chief updates on asteroid lasso mission

PASADENA, California — Surrounded by engineers, Nasa chief Charles Bolden inspected a prototype spacecraft engine that could power an audacious mission to lasso an asteroid and tow it closer to Earth for astronauts to explore.

Bolden checked on the progress Thursday a month after the Obama administration unveiled its 2014 budget that proposes $105 million to jumpstart the mission, which may eventually cost more than $2.6 billion.

Nadal favored, but not seeded No. 1 at French Open

PARIS -- Used to be the French Open was the scene for clay-court specialists and surprise champions.

Scan the list of past winners and runners-up. There's Gaston Gaudio and Albert Costa, Guillermo Coria and Martin Verkerk, Andres Gomez and Mariano Puerta. Not so much a "Who's Who." More like a "Who's He?"

Stiffer penalties set for sale of 'double-dead' meat

MANILA – President Benigno Aquino III has signed into law a consolidated bill that seeks to amend the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines to end the proliferation of so-called "botcha" or "double-dead" meat in markets through stiffer penalties on its sale, transport, and handling.

In a press briefing on Thursday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Chief Executive signed last May 15 Republic Act 10536 or “An Act Amending Republic Act 9296” which is the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines.

Aquino signs law setting Philippine Standard Time

MANILA -- President Benigno Aquino III has signed into law a consolidated bill setting the Philippine Standard Time (PST) and institutionalizing the first week of the year as the "National Time Consciousness Week."

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, in a press briefing on Thursday, said Aquino signed last May 15 Republic Act 10535 or "An Act to set the Philippine Standard Time in All Official Sources throughout the country, to provide funds for the installation, operation and maintenance of synchronized time devices to be displayed in key public places and to declare the first week of every year as National Time Consciousness Week."

Russian mountaineer in Mt. Mayon rescued

LEGAZPI CITY -- After a second try amid a windy condition, helicopters of the Philippine Air Force in Bicol were able to land along the slope of Mt. Mayon, enabling rescuers to extricate the injured Russian national who fell along the gully of the volcano.

The successful search and rescue operation for Mark Yuchagaev, 28, a Russian mountaineer who climbed the volcano on Sunday morning through the Miisi trail in Daraga, Albay province, without informing local authorities, was over after 32 hours of search and rescue operations mounted by the Albay Provincial Government.

Brown hounded for calling Manila 'gates of hell'

MANILA — Dan Brown's description of Manila as "the gates of hell" in the American novelist's latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippines.

The book "Inferno," which is being sold in the Philippines, includes a character who is visiting the city and taken aback by poverty, crime and the sex trade.