ECONOMY

Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano still has not yet erupted. It just continues to grumble and rumble for over a week now, prompting scientists to believe the magma from the volcanic system could be flowing somewhere else.

An independent study found that the Bank of America Chicago Marathon by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Regional Economics Applications Laboratory continues to be a key economic driver and contributes an estimated $253.49 million in total business activity to the Chicago economy.

New Zealand's economy may be heading for "the rocks" when it rebuild in Christchurch and migration rate slows down. Economists believe the country cannot sustain a high growth rate in the coming years.

Peru has been hit by a great 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sunday.

Iceland has downgraded the alert over the Bardarbunga volcano from red to orange after a series of strong earthquakes rocked the area on Saturday. But the Icelandic Meteorological Office warned the triple threat of earthquakes, eruptions and flooding still remain.

As cliché goes, no matter how brave a person is, there will be something that person is most afraid of. As for the ISIS, it is the fear of dying in the hands of an armed female warrior. The Kurdish security forces have banded a group of all women fighters to serve as pivotal weapon against the senseless terrorist group.

Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of Muslims Against Terrorism and the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, has denounced actions of ISIS saying their activities weren't borne of the Islam teachings.

The experimental drug ZMapp to counter the deadly Ebola virus seemed to be working. Its first human recipients, American missionaries Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, have been discharged by Emory University Hospital. Both have been declared as virus-free, safe for release and ok to go home.

Even if their group has denied to give their participation to a government campaign, doctors in Canada remain against smoking marijuana, be it for medicinal purposes or not.

The Australian Tax Office has finally released its official guidelines for the tax treatment of Bitcoin in Australia. Industry experts believe Bitcoin consumers will be the most affected with the tax rule.

Australian Muslim leaders dismissed the proposed terrorism law.

For the first time ever in the history of the Roman Catholic church, its pontiff, currently Pope Francis, has supported military intervention if only to stop the senseless crusade of the Muslim militant ISIS against Christians in Iraq.

Canada has issued a travel alert warning people going to the Caribbean to protect themselves against the Chikungunya disease now spreading in the region.

Russia on Tuesday renewed demands that Ukraine release the records of communications between its air traffic control and the Malaysian Airlines MH17 before it was shot down over its turbulent eastern region. A month after the tragic incident occurred, the Kiev government still has yet to disclose such records.

Chinese budget aircraft carrier Spring Airlines has been slapped with a lawsuit by two men and a woman after the airline rejected them because they were HIV positive.

Liberia's military troops have been given explicit orders to shoot people trying to cross the border from Ebola-afflicted neighbour Sierra Leone.

The three main groups representing 80,000 Canadian doctors have thumbed down calls of federal government for them to support an upcoming anti-drug campaign. The drive, meant to target young people, had become highly political, they said.

Deviating from the norms to create his own landmark legacies is nothing new with Pope Francis. He has been doing surprises since taking on the leadership of the Roman Catholic church in March 2013. But in his first ever visit to Asia, the pope did more than a surprise when he deviated from his language comfort zone Italian to deliver a speech in English.

Pope Francis has arrived in South Korea for his first ever Asian visit since becoming pontiff of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic church in March 2013. It was also the first visit by a pope to the region in 25 years.

Cheap airline ticket prices, it seems, is what's keeping the global aviation industry to reduce its carbon emissions, a new research published by the University of Southampton said in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Some 800 - 1,000 doses of an experimental vaccine will be donated by Canada to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help curb the maddening spread of the Ebola virus in the African region.

Terror group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) are recruiting children as young as nine years old to join their organization and then condition their very young minds to kill all Christians as well as other infidels.

South Korea has found that its imported scrap metals from Japan bore traces of radiation. It has announced it will return the items to Japan immediately.

News of a possible takeover of beleaguered Malaysia Airline System (MAS) has prompted its shares to jump as much as 10.4 per cent on Monday.

Russian smartphone maker Yota Devices denied it is transferring HQ to Canada.

Pope Francis will be embarking on his first ever trip to Asia this week, at the Republic of Korea from Aug 14-18. Included in his 5-day visit to the country are four masses, including one for the beatification of 124 Korean Catholic martyrs and another for a gathering of Catholic youths in Asia, as well as a visit to the 'Cemetery for Aborted Children.'

Clinical tests for possible Ebola vaccine to start in September 2014.

Tests on a Canadian man believed to be showing symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus have yielded negative results.

Spurred by the Ebola outbreak in Africa, the political tensions gripping the Middle East plus the looming trade war with Russia, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday said it expects global air travel demand to get impacted this year.