Vittorio Hernandez

In a bid to tone down the botulism scare caused by the discovery of bacteria in whey produced at its Waikato plant, Fonterra assured New Zealanders that the risk of acquiring botulism is only one in a million.

After being monitored by Philippine bishops for having a very risky topic tackling the once taboo gay relationship, the popular bekiserye My Husband's Lover has spawned a bill that seeks to punish homosexuals or lesbians indulging in same-sex adultery.

The Australian share market had a solid recovery on Thursday, boosted by healthy China trade data, a solid result from Telstra (TLS) and as Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7 per cent.

The Alberta Energy Regulator gave on Tuesday its conditional approval application of Athabasca Oil Corp for the Dover Oil Sands Project despite a request by the Fort McKay First Nation for a 20-kilometre no-development setback.

The Australian share market is rebounding from yesterday's falls, thanks to a strong result from Australia's largest telco Telstra (TLS) and as the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7 per cent in July.

Despite the recent collapse of an international cartel that could cause a plunge in prices of crop nutrient potash, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is still open to the idea of constructing a $14 billion potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Since the recent release of Google's Nexus 7 out in the market, the 7-inch device has often been compared to the iPad mini. However, most of the comparison are on the technical aspect. Square Table decided to give the two devices another kind of test - the torture test which was handily won by the Nexus 7. Square Table is a provider of tablet and gadget warranties.

Seven-inch tablets are the rage in the tech world currently, and there are two such devices coming out soon. Tech experts point to the upcoming Kindle Fire HD as the gadget worth waiting vis-à-vis the Nexus 7 from Google.

Until last week, New Zealand's dairy industry was king of the global dairy world, especially in China where its billion population needs a substantial amount of quality milk product that middle-class Chinese didn't mind paying a few more yuan for the white liquid with the Made-in-New Zealand tag.

A big fire on Wednesday burned down Kenya's Nairobi International Airport. As a result, the most important and busiest gateway in East Africa handling 16,000 travelers daily was closed as flights were diverted to other airports. The airport is expected to remain close for a few days.

The Australian share market had its worst session since early July today, as investors sold out of equity markets on fears the US Federal Reserve could soon start winding back its QE3 stimulus program.

TransCanada will transport 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily as part of the C$1.5 billion agreement it signed with Progress Energy, a Malaysian company.

The Australian sharemarket is in the red, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down by 1.1 per cent. This is the longest losing streak for local shares since late June this year. The index is down by around 1.3 per cent since the start of this week.

There is a better way of improving brain power and it does not involve wracking your mind completing crosswords puzzles. It is also more enjoyable too, said Rutgers University neuroscientist Professor Barry Komisaruk.

From banning the entry of contaminated whey from Fonterra, China and other Asian nations have taken the botulism scare a step higher by recalling infant milk products.

Even if Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, has extended the olive branch of peace to her two estranged adult children, chances of the bitter and much publicised family feud coming to end appears weak.

As expected by nine out of 10 forecasters, the Reserve Bank (RBA) decided to cut interest rates by 25 bps to 2.5 per cent today. This makes it the very first rate cut by the central bank during an official election campaign period.

Canadian teen star Justin Bieber was reportedly involved in another misadventure on Saturday night.

The Australian share market is flat in the early session, following a mixed session on US and European markets and as investors tread water ahead of this afternoon's rate decision.

A tech Web site, Slashgear, released on Monday a leaked photo of the HTC One Max. The device features a 2,3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, the same processor found in the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A.

Microsoft is cutting the price of its Surface Pro tablets by $100 for both the 128GB and 64GB versions. The price reduction will run only until Aug 29 and will be applicable only in the U.S., Canada, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Having too much to drink has caused embarrassment to many young people like a intoxicated man from New Zealand who bared his butt on top of a bus stop, but unfortunately the roof gave in and he feel down the pavement with his pants literally down.

American actor Michael Douglas was once quoted as blaming his throat cancer on oral sex. While his publicist has retracted the statement, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) has its own battle to wage against oral sex for its adverse impact on dental hygiene. Peter Alldritt, chairman of the ADA's Oral Health Committee, warned Aussies on Monday that they could lose their teeth by the age of 30 if they are afflicted with oral cancer.

Nutricia, the manufacturer of infant formula Karicare, widened its recall of two types of formula amid growing fear of contaminated whey from Fonterra's Waikato plant causing botulism.

The bitter family feud over money that has divided Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, and two of her estranged adult children could finally end soon.Ms Rinehart, through her lawyer David Russell, told the New South Wales Supreme Court that she has written to the two children and offered to appoint a co-trustee in the trust fund set up by her father Lang Hancock.

For some time market commentators have spoken about the importance of the upcoming federal election as a market catalyst. However, on Monday it was hard to distinguish the impact of the news at the weekend that the country will go to the polls in September.

Fonterra Chief Executive Theo Spierings apologised on Monday to Chinese consumers in a media conference for the contaminated milk powder from its Waikato factory that reached China.

The Australian sharemarket is slipping by 0.3 per cent after 2.5 hours of trade, with the miners and consumer discretionaries the only improvers. Despite today's modest pullback, local stocks have risen by 8 per cent in just six weeks, while the ASX200 has had its longest winning streak since late January.

All eyes are on New Zealand's Fonterra, following the weekend recall of infant milk products and sports drink due to the discovery of contamination of whey used in the manufacture of these two items. The bacteria found could lead to botulism, which could be fatal.