Vittorio Hernandez

In a desperate bid to find a cure for many grave ailments, a growing number of Chinese residents are turning to another panacea - bee sting - the latest quack miracle cure which is attracting crowds to acupuncture clinics that offer the treatment.

Angry Hunter Valley residents in the Australian state of New South Wales protested on Tuesday the coal mine expansion plan of mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO). The anti-mining protest was held on the day that the NSW Supreme Court heard arguments about the future of the Mount Thorley Warkworth coal mine.

There was a bit of everything for investors today. Some gains, some losses and then the end result - a flat finish.

Investors tried it all this morning, with the Australian sharemarket a little higher on the open, in the red around an hour into trade and completely flat at lunch.

There would be lesser flights by Australian flag carrier Qantas to the Middle East in 2014 when the Dubai Airport undergoes runway repairs for three months. Dubai Airport authorities advised Qantas in April for the air carrier to reduce by 50 per cent its flights to the second-busiest international airport in the world while two runways would undergo maintenance.

The U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday that it filed stock fraud charges against four Canadians and five Americans who cheated $140 million from thousands of investors from the U.S., Canada and other countries using a penny stock scheme.

Canadian crime experts are suggesting that the country should be able to distinguish the fine line between child pornography and online socialising. This skill should also be developed among young people who are often involved in sexting that could evolve into cyber bullying.

Doctors have observed a rise in 8- to 18-year-old kids consulting their doctors over unexplained back problems that normally were complained by adults in their 50s. The ailment is characterised by deformation of the spine because the victims spend long hours daily in a hunched position playing computer games on devices such as iPads and smartphones.

Marital rape in the Philippines has been given a poster woman in the person of Sunshine Cruz, a Filipina actress who belongs to a prominent show business clan. With the topic of rape remaining a taboo in the majority Roman Catholic country, a celebrity filing rape charges against her husband will surely create headlines.

The Australian share market performed strongly again on Tuesday, as buying in key stocks the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and CSL Limited (CSL) ahead of their earnings results tomorrow fuelled a rally. Positive sentiment across Asia also helped while Treasury's release of its Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) failed to inspire investors when it was released on market open.

Just a few weeks ago, BlackBerry Chief Executive Thorsten Heins forecast the death of the popular tablet as he pushed for the newly launched smartphone models Q10 and Z10.

Official data to be released on Wednesday will confirm that the eurozone will soon exit the longest recession that dragged its economy for about 18 months or six quarters. The Telegraph said a 0.2 per cent gross domestic product growth rate is expected to be reported.

Coming from a love triangle with two males and a female as the threesome sharing love, the popular Philippine soap opera My Husband's Lover brings gay love a level higher by hinting of an all-gay love triangle.

An American family that was driving on Saturday in Utah had a unique experience that its passengers would never forget. They filmed lightning striking their vehicle.

Despite being launched just a few weeks back, Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Air has been noticed by tech experts and the device was named by Web site StatesChronicle.com as the Best Laptop Overall for 2013.

After some toing and froing in the first hour of trade this morning, buyers were able to assert themselves thereafter. The key to the improved performance for the overall market was the improvement seen in the resource sector. Commodity prices, and metal prices specifically, ended last week on a strong note in response to a number of encouraging economic reports from China on Friday.

The Australian sharemarket is improving, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.6 per cent. In the first hour of trade, the local market was slipping for the fifth time in six sessions.

The world's second-largest miner, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will push through with its $5 billion plan to expand the Pilbara iron ore mine despite the lower price of iron ore in the international market. The mining giant has planned the expansion in 2011.

Troy Ridling, a member of the Owasso First Assembly of God church in Oklahoma, recently stole the congregation's laptop. Not content with stealing his church's property, he attempted to commit another sin, but it was this act that led to his arrest.

People who are still undecided if they want to join the Mars One Project should perhaps drop the idea, unless a spacecraft large enough to accommodate so many people has been inventted.

Skinny dipping has its risk, several South American fishermen have discovered after their testicles were attacked by the pacu fish, a relative of the piranha.

Mount Rokatenda in the East NusaTenggara province of Indonesia erupted on Saturday morning, killing 6 sleeping people and causing 3,000 residents to flee Palue Island, the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency reported.

Although many details have already come out of former Glee star Charice Pempengco's coming out, she has not confirmed any of them herself. The 21-year-old Filipina singer finally revealed details of how her relationship with girlfriend Alyssa Quijano developed and how her rift with her mother, Raquel Pempengco, worsened.

The Palmerstone North Girls' High returned on Friday leftover contaminated whey protein that students used in a science class experiment in April 2013. At least 25 female students drank the milkshake which had whey as additive; fortunately, not one of them got sick of botulism.

Cupertino tech giant Apple may have scored a major legal victory on Friday when the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in its favour in a patent infringement lawsuit it filed against rival Samsung Electronics of South Korea on touchscreen technology and audio socket on devices. But is it a pyrrhic victory?

It's been a big week for market events. There's been something for everyone. Central Banks have loomed large as market drivers, economic news has been plentiful and the company reporting season locally has kept the analysts community sleep deprived. Despite this bounty, that old chestnut; the Fed and its expansive Q.E discussion, has come out trumps as the main influence on market sentiment this week. Suggestions that the US central bank could set sail on the tapering voyage as early as ne...

Tech Web site CNET released on Friday a mock-up image of the upcoming Samsung watch to be called the Samsung Galaxy Gear. The timepiece will have the ability to talk to an Android phone.

The Australian sharemarket is in the red for the fourth time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index down 0.3 per cent or 15.8 pts to 5,031.3. Over the past five days, the market has given back all of last week's 1.5 per cent improvement. At its best, local shares were up 0.2 per cent in early trade.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra continues to feel the impact of the botulism scare on its global consumers when milk prices dropped during the auction organised by its Co-operative Group on Tuesday. The Fonterra GDT Price Index dipped 2.4 per cent as average selling price stood at $4,847 per tonne even if no product that uses the contaminated whey were included in the bids.