Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian sharemarket is slipping for the first time in five trading sessions, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.6 per cent at lunch. Continued tensions in Syria and an increased probability of QE tapering in the US later this month are catalysts.

Laura Dixon, a 34-year-old Briton who has been vegetarian all her life, claims McDonald's meat menu helped her become pregnant, and her proof is that she did not only have a baby but a set of twin boys and another baby girl!

Google announced on Wednesday that the next version of its Android OS, the Android 4.4, will be called Kit Kat, not Key Lime Pie as earlier speculated.

The continued protest by Romanians over the proposed grant of a mining permit to dig gold and silver from Europe's largest gold mine to be given to Canada's Rosia Montana has led Romanian President Traian Basescu to suggest on Tuesday the holding of a referendum on the issue.

Deceased but then influential Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin once described the palace where the Philippine president lives and holds office as a snake pit. Former Vatican State Secretary Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone is using the same image to describe the Holy See, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

There were mixed reactions from employees of Nokia when reports came out on Tuesday that the Finnish phone maker is selling the company to American firm Microsoft. However, in the case of the stock market, the reaction was negative, resulting to a 4.5 per cent decline in share prices of Microsoft.

The Australian sharemarket edged higher, with the ASX200 Index (XJO) cracking through 5200pt mark for the first time since the middle of May. The closure of US markets overnight due to the Labor Day holiday kept investors a little quieter than usual however.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) revised on Monday its production forecast for iron ore over the next five years amid lower volume of orders for the key steel-making ingredient from China.

It was like Christmas in September for 10,000 workers of Chinese technology giant Lenovo over the weekend as they received about $325 each because their boss, Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing, distributed his $3 million bonus to his employees.

The Australian share market is slightly firmer at lunchtime following solid gains on European markets on the back of positive manufacturing data there. Wall Street was closed for Labor Day.

About 2,000 Romanians took over the streets of Bucharest on Sunday to protest the government plan to allow Rosia Montana Gold Corp, a Canadian miner, to dig for gold and silver in the country.

Beside their regular cabin duties, flight attendants of Etihad will perform also nanny duties on long-haul flights.

The medical drama that rich people accused of crimes resort to has begun for pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles. The inevitable result of this would be that by the time she has to appear before the Senate or a court, she would be too weak and have to be pushed in a wheelchair.

The Australian share market had a solid start to the trading week, on the back of strong Chinese manufacturing data released on the weekend.

The Australian market has shrugged off the weakness from global markets on Friday, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.7 per cent. Some better than expected signs for China's manufacturing sector on Sunday are helping lift equities at lunch. The XAO remains well above 5100.0pts.

An art installation that was displayed throughout August in Johannesburg, South Africa, generated controversy because it was a giant representation of a walk-in vagina.

More leaks about the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch are coming out in media ahead of its Sept 4 official unboxing in Berlin, Germany as a pre-IFA event.

For the third consecutive year, the Australian city of Melbourne topped The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey's of the best cities to live in. The list is based on a review of 140 cities.

Google confirmed over the weekend that it bought WIMM Labs during summer of 2012. The buy-out involved WIMM Labs entering into an exclusive, confidential relationship for its technology and stop of sales of its Developer Preview Kit.

Microsoft just made permanent it price-cut promotion for its Surface tablets. On Thursday, Aug 29, the Surface Pro had a new starting price of $799 or $100 less.

At least one major Christian group is against homophobia that is prevalent among followers of the Christian faith. The Most Rev Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, called on Christians to repent for their treatment of gays, particularly their outlook that such kind of people are wicked.

This early, political pundits in the Philippines are predicting that Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam, will join the Wheelchair Club of the Philippines. The more prominent members of the group are former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and ex-Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Pope Francis made on Saturday the most significant appointment in the Roman Catholic Church since he became pontiff in March 2013. However, the appointment of Archbishop Pietro Parolin as new Vatican Secretary of State was upstaged by the publication of the papal selfie.

The modest improvements recorded at midday were built on in the afternoon, with shares closing at intra-day highs. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) jumped by 0.8 per cent, the fourth improvement for the week and pushing the XAO back above 5100pts.

The Canadian Transport Authority (CTA), the national regulator of the aviation industry, ordered on Thursday Air Canada and Porter Airlines to amend the amount they pay air travelers who fail to reach their destinations according to plan.

The Australian sharemarket is improving modestly for the fourth time this week. Conflict in Syria is still a problem for markets; however the chance of an imminent US led military intervention seems to have diminished for the time being. Overnight, the British parliament voted against using force in Syria.

Laura Ziv, 45, the ad director of a fragrance company in Lawrence, is blaming her boss for the brain hemorrhage she suffered resulting from stress because her boss said she looks like Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle.

Steve Chmelar, the creator of the No 1 hand used by Miley Cyrus in her controversial number at the MTV Video Music Awards, did not like the way the former Disney star used the foam finger for her twerking act.

This is the torture tests of the Moto X, which was subjected to scratches on the screen, back and side using a key and a knife, and finally being hit of all sides. The results are pretty impressive, said PhoneBuff, which conducted the torture tests that lasted more than 4 minutes.