Vittorio Hernandez

Is BlackBerry interim Chief Executive John Chen the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's knight in shining armour? Will he save the embattled phone maker from the fate that has fallen previous number one phone manufacturers Nokia and Motorola the way he did for software maker Sybase in the 1990s?

In US economic news, factory orders rose by 1.7pct in September, in line with forecasts. Durable goods orders were revised to show a 3.8pct increase in September or a decline of 1.3pct if defence orders and aircraft are excluded.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber may no longer need to hide under a bedsheet the next time Paparazzis Spot Him Leaving a Brothel if he takes the offer of a U.S. whorehouse owner to be a business partner and perhaps even be a pimp trainee.

Eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao insisted on Monday that he is not a has been or over the hill in his boxing career. Stressing that he is not ready to hand his gloves despite two heartbreaking losses in the ring, Pacquiao told HBO's Max Kellerman he is too young to retire.

Troubled Canadian phonemaker BlackBerry would no longer sell the company. Instead it will raise $1 billion in fresh financing and at the same time replaced Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry announced on Monday.

Troubled Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has been dethroned as celebrity with the most number of followers on microblogging site Twitter. He had just been overtaken by fellow singer Katy Perry whose followers reached 46.5 million as against Bieber's 46.49 million.

Despite a positive start, the Australian share market ended the trading day on the red, dragged down by a fall in Westpac's (WBC) share price and weakness from the energy and industrial sectors. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished the day's trade at 5384pts, down 22.3pts or 0.4 per cent.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt gave the green light over the weekend for the largest coal mining project in Australia to push through. Kevin's Corner covers an area of 37,380 hectares.

The Australian sharemarket is modestly higher for the first time in three trading sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is 4pts or 0.1 per cent firmer at lunch. Weakness from the energy, consumer staple, healthcare and telco sectors is holding back the gains, while the miners and financials are both supportive.

In response to reports that Australia is helping the U.S. spy, a group called Anonymous Indonesia said it had hacked over 100 Web sites in Australia and defaced it by placing the message "Stop Spying on Indonesia."

Another former Miss Universe runner-up came to the defence of Miss Philippines 2013 Ariella Arida over her remarks on the inability of Latina beauties to speak straight English.

The Wheel of Death act by the Cirque du Soleil almost became a reality for a male performer who fell during the Friday night performance at the Aris resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

The US dollar continues to enjoy a steady recovery with some positive readings on Friday helping it extend its gains. Driving the greenback was a strong ISM report (56.4 versus 55 expected) which saw the US dollar index rise to 80.72. Tapering is the main topic at the moment and every time we receive positive economic readings, expectations of tapering by the end of the year gain momentum. Fed speakers were also a key theme in Friday's trade; with one of the well documented doves, James Bulla...

In US economic news, the ISM manufacturing gauge rose from 56.2 to 2½-year high of 56.4 in October, ahead of forecasts for a result near 55.0. But vehicle sales rose from 15.21 million to 15.23m in October, short of forecasts near 15.4m due to weaker truck sales.

A group of young Auckland men are recruiting other boys through Facebook to join them in group sex sessions mostly with drunk teenage girls. The problem starts when the males publicly name their female partners through the popular social networking site, reports 3 News.

Olympic medalist Jamaican runner Usain Bolt is releasing his memoir next week titled Faster Than Lightning. Considered the fastest man alive, Bolt shares his memorable experiences in the Beijing Summer Games held in 2008 when he was only 22, the New York Post reports.

Amid reports of score leakages, Miss Philippines Ariella Arida continues to shine in the Miss Universe 2013 pageant by bagging the Ice Princess title.

The much-awaited Google Nexus 5 smartphone has finally arrived, offering the purest Android experience, while granting its owners access to the latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS. Since owners get updates directly from Google, they don't need to wait for hardware OEMs or carriers to release customised updates.

In October, two tech Web sites named the Google Nexus 10 and Nexus 7 as among their list of top 10 devices. For November, another portal included a third Nexus model in its list of 10 best Android smartphones - the newly released KitKat-Powered Nexus 5.

Office spaces have never looked this enticing, especially for workers at Google, Apple and Facebook which are building massive campuses designed to provide not only a place to work but also a place to live for thousands of their employees. Mashable provides A Peek at Google's £1B Upcoming 1-Million-Square-Foot Office in London. The upcoming London office of the tech giant is scheduled to open in 2016. The Web site said it will feature an open-air swimming pool, indoor football pitch, climbing...

Canadian singer Justin Bieber was spooked out on Halloween weekend as he was kicked out by a Brazilian brothel. To make matters worse for the Baby singer, Paparazzis Spotted Justin Bieber sneaking out of the whorehouse covered by a bedsheet, reports the New York Post.

The defiance in 2010 by two middle school female students in Easton, Pennsylvania, has led to a legal battle all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court on the use of a word to mean the female breast.

Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, also known as the Bling Bishop, is now living a more austere life in a Bavarian monastery after Pope Francis expelled him from his post last week over his lavish lifestyle.

In a bizarre twist to electronic tattoos that some technology firms are experimenting with to do away with passwords, Tim Cannon, a German biohacker went ahead and implanted a chip on his forearm, making him a DIY cyborg.

The fifth teaser of the upcoming film of Shia Labeouf titled Nymphomaniac was too graphic that YouTube considered the film clip to have violated the video sharing Web site's terms of service which bans nudity.

The Australian sharemarket fell for the third time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down by 0.3 per cent. Thanks to a 1 per cent rise on Monday however, the market still ended modestly higher this week. This is the 17th week in 19 that Australian shares finished in the black.

Citi analysts are optimistic of better times ahead for Australia and forecast the country would begin to register economic expansion by the middle of 2014.

Sellers have made several attempts to push the market lower in early trade although the local index has shown the resilience that has become something of a trade mark in recent weeks.

In spite of gold losing much of its sheen in 2013 as global prices plummeted to record-low levels, the yellow metal nevertheless significantly contributes to the global economy.