Vittorio Hernandez

Australian shares are a touch higher, with some better than forecast economic news out this morning assisting. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.4 per cent. The number of loan commitments by those buying, building or renovating properties jumped by a better than forecast 2.4 per cent in August. The number of job advertisements made by businesses in newspapers and online slid by 2 per cent, however Chinese inflation numbers were mostly as expected.

Treasurer Chris Bowen is not interested in serving as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), left vacant after outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd quit from the post following the party's debacle in the Saturday federal election.

A report from UCA News is being shared on social media in which a Catholic nun claims that she has proof that the footage of the alleged chemical attack in Syria is fake. Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St James Monastery in Qara, Syria, doubts on too much video footage taken in so little time.

Former Glee star Charice Pempengco must still be on Cloud 9, following the continued boost to her career after he coming out as a lesbian on national television.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition topped last week's ZDNET review of the best Android smartphone in the market for September 2013. In its latest review of smartphones, Time Techland also pointed to a device from the South Korean tech giant as the top smartphone on the market.

There will be an 8.5 per cent drop of new-born lambs in New Zealand due to the drought. Based on a yearly stock number survey by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the number of lambs is expected to about 24.5 million.

It is a buyers' market in Australia's Gold Coast as property prices plummet up to 50 per cent since 2010, while median price is a third below Sydney's prices. Although property prices in Gold Coast went up 0.8 per cent in the past year through June, other large Australian cities logged an average of 3.8 per cent hike.

Australian voters wanted change and ditched the Australian Labor Party. The Coalition got 87 seats, Labor 54, Greens 1 and Others 2. Since the 150-seat Parliament needs 76 seats for a majority, the Coalition becomes the administration and Tony Abbot gets to fulfill his ambition to be Australia's next prime minister.

With almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Australian Labor Party leader and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has conceded defeat to the Coalition led by Tony Abbott.

Pre-election surveys that said a Coalition win were confirmed by exit polls which showed that the Opposition - soon to be the administration - could win up to 100 seats. The number all point to the inevitable - that Australia's next prime minister is probably Tony Abbott.

Title anything with the words Sex Tape and such as video is bound to be viral on YouTube and other video sharing sites. That was what actress Alyssa Milano did to create public awareness on the ongoing Syrian crisis.

Apple is again embroiled in another round of labor abuse accusations in China following the publication on Thursday by China Labor Watch of a report that cited legal and ethical violations at the Jabil Circuit factory in Wuxi City.

Facebook sanctioned the British newspaper, Daily Telegraph, for publishing the photo of Mr Holmwood's streak showing the man's buttocks and using its image in the most popular social media. It blocked the image from Daily Telegraph's 65,000 followers and referred to its code on use of images, particularly nudity and pornography.

Investor caution saw the local market close flat after being in the red for most of the session. Investors elected to stay out of equities ahead of the August non-farm payrolls report being released in the US tonight and tomorrow's Federal Election.

It would make more economic sense for Australia to pursue renewable energy rather than continue the use of coal, despite the possible availability of carbon capture and storage technology, according to a study by the University of New South Wales.

The YouTube video shown is believed to be the reason why North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had his former girlfriend, Hyon Song-wol allegedly executed on Aug 29, 2013.

Aussie Market started off weaker than expected.

As the highest-earning sportsman in the world from 2011 to 2012, when he made $85 million, it is not surprising to know that boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has millions of money in the bank.

More countries are moving toward recognising same-sex marriage, with New Zealand recently officiating its first gay union. It is not therefore surprising for Unilever New Zealand to reject a Flora margarine advert in South Africa deemed homophobic.

Officials and employees of Nokia are not taking the $7.2-billion sale of the Finnish phone company sitting down. A former official formed Newkia a day after the announced acquisition by Microsoft of the once number one mobile phone manufacturer.

A Sydney court sentenced on Thursday New Zealander Wati Holmwood three months prison term for streaking at the rugby league State of Origin in July.

The Australian sharemarket slid for the second straight day, despite the best improvements in a month in the US last night. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell by 0.4 per cent, with only the defensive healthcare sector, industrials and IT industries escaping the selloff.

Sneaky Germans may have found several ways to dodge the law on how to bring in foreign currency in the country from abroad, but border authorities usually detect the smuggling attempts.

The Australian share market remains in the red on Thursday, despite predictions of a solid session. Overnight, Wall Street recorded its best gains in more than a month, rising 0.7 per cent and setting the SPI futures up for a 0.3 per cent gain locally.

If Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yan Yuanqing could be considered the ideal boss, having given this week his more than $3 million bonus to the tech firm's 10,000 workers, the opposite is true for the store manager of Journeys in Rochester, New York, whose staff resigned en masse by publicly leaving their open letter to him.

Consumers who were wowed by the specs of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch at its unboxing on Wednesday, Sept 4, in Berlin, Germany, and New York City, could buy the watch as early as Sept 25 for $299.

In the past editions of ZDNET reviews, the Samsung Galaxy S4 was only runner up as best Android smartphone, with the HTC One getting the top honours.

Data released based on a Freedom of Information request disclosed that over 300,000 attempts were made in 2012 from the British Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, to access pornographic Web sites.

Amid widespread speculation among Filipinos that detained pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles is laying the groundwork for hospital detention with her recent bouts of hypertension and anxiety attack, her lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, assured that her client won't join the notorious St Luke's gang.