Vittorio Hernandez

Living up to their celestial name, the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars had the launch of their new single Up in the Air literally in space on Friday. Included in the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket full of scientific equipment is the first copy of their new song.

The Australian dollar has started the day's trade above 1.0400 after a brief dip on Friday night into the high 1.0300's.

Friday night saw both the Dow and the S&P 500 finish in the green, with the Dow rising to its highest level in five years.

The US ISM manufacturing index rose from 53.1 to a 20-month high of 54.2 in February, ahead of forecasts for a result near 52.5. US construction spending fell 2.1pct in January. Consumer sentiment rose from 76.3 to 77.6 in February. US vehicle sales rose from 15.23 million to 15.38m in February, above forecasts. US personal income slumped 3.6pct in January (forecast -2.2pct) but consumption rose 0.2pct.

Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person and once the world's richest woman, may have lost last week the Rhodes Ridge iron ore mine to Wright Prospecting, but over the weekend she won a more important battle.

Astronomers have captured on photograph the birth or formation of a new alien planet. The photo was taken at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.

The planned 501-day mission to Mars in 2018 will probably make space history not only because of the ambitious undertaking which would include an elderly male and female couple, but also would probably be the most creepy in history.

Despite his losses to Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley in 2012, eight-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is not hanging his gloves yet.

The local share market battled calendar headwinds today stemming from the end of week and the start of a new month. The ASX200 fell 0.35 per cent to 5086; the All Ordinaries index slipped 0.38 per cent to 5100.9 points. A consistent theme for the local market this year has been the willingness of investors to support the market in the face of weakness. This remained the case on Friday. Almost $6 billion shares were traded during the session. There were just over 2 billion transactions, 416 stock...

In a move that goes against global trends, Vodafone, one of the largest telecommunications service providers in the world, announced it would move call centre jobs from India to Australia.

Sex experts assure men that penis size is not a major factor in how a man performs in bed. They insist that it is the quality of love-making that matters, not the length of the male organ.

The Australian sharemarket is pulling back for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.4 per cent or 18.4 pts to 5102.0. The market has been losing ground for much of the morning ahead of two important economic reports out of China. The official government report out at 12pm (AEDT) was worse than expected and came in at 50.1. This is a sign of only modest expansion whereas the market was expecting a reading of 50.5.

Apple's rumoured iPhone 6 will probably be available to Japanese techies as the Tokyo District Court did not ban the sale of iPhones and iPads and other Apple devices in Japan.

It was one of the most-watched and followed goodbyes of the world. Millions of TV viewers and thousands of visitors in Vatican City bade Pope Benedict XVI farewell on Thursday as the stepped down as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, which counts about 1.2 billion members.

Astronomers did not discount the possibility that a new comet, C/2013 A1, discovered early this year by Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, may hit planet Mars in October 2014.

Police had arrested a 23-year-old New York man for the death of his mother whom he beheaded then chopped her body parts which he threw in a trash heap.

The tone of global investment markets has continued to improve in the last day. Concern about the Italian political landscape has continued to ease. Investor support at an Italian bond auction overnight led to a better atmosphere amongst European participants.In the US, figures released continued to paint an encouraging picture of the US housing market with pending home sales rising 4.5% last month compared to an expected increase of 1.0%

Hancock Prospecting would likely appeal a Wednesday court decision in favour of Wright Prospecting over shares of the disputed Rhodes Ridge iron ore project.

The local sharemarket has opened higher today after upbeat economic data in the US lifted investor sentiment and better than expected bond auctions in Italy saw European markets rebound. At noon, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 34.6pts to 5087.7pts.

The lawyer of Samsung questioned on Wednesday if the technological features of devices that describe human-to-computer interaction could be the subject of a patent.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook admitted to shareholders at the company's yearly meeting on Wednesday that he didn't like the downward trajectory of the company's share prices. He was responding to alarm by shareholders that Apple stocks are down 37 per cent since September 2012.

Romantic wedding proposals are a dime-a-dozen since they are the most common and popular ways to get a woman to say, "Yes, I will marry you." The traditional way is to pop the question in a romantic setting such as a hotel restaurant then the man goes down on one knee, opens a tiny box, brings out the diamond-encrusted engagement ring and asks the inevitable question. In the case of Australian physicist Brendan McMonigal, he made the same gestures, but instead gave his girlfriend, scienti...

Besides speculations on who will be the next head of the Roman Catholic Church after Pope Benedict XVI steps down Thursday, a growing number of people are also interested in another question – Will the new pope wear Prada or Stefanelli red shoes?

As Pope Benedict XVI makes history on Feb 28 by stepping down as leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, the first to do so in 600 years, the world's eyes are on Vatican City.

At the close of local trade the ASX200 had gained 0.66 per cent to 5036, the All Ordinaries index had gained 0.62 per cent to 5033. Value remained strong, there were 2.1 bln transactions which gave rise to $4.5bln shares changing hands. 529 stocks ended the day higher, 454 ended in the red and 381 were unchanged.

The Australian share market has rebounded from yesterday's drop triggered by concerns over Italy's political gridlock. Positive US economic data and assurances by the Fed chairman has given the local market a lift. By midday, the All Ordinaries index (XAO) is up 0.52pct or 25.9pts to 5047.7pts.

Another tablet has joined the battle for supremacy among devices that sport 7-inch screens. The latest entrant is Hewlett-Packard's Slate 7 tablet which retails at $169.

In response to concerns over the growing number of asteroids that fly near Earth, Canada has deployed its Near-Earth Object Surveillance satellite with the main task of scouring the galaxy for space junk and strayed asteroids.

The name Vulcan topped the 21 names submitted in an online poll for suggestions on what to call Pluto's fourth moon. Vulcan got more than 174,000 votes out of the over 450,000 votes cast. The poll ended Feb 25.