Vittorio Hernandez

In 2013, 13-year-old Alfie Patten of Britain became a household name after reports came out that he was the country's youngest father. Although subsequent DNA tests showed that he didn't sire Maisie Roxanne, his life was never the same again as he became the poster boy for teen pregnancy and even had his face on condom wrappers. Such circus-like atmosphere would hopefully not happen to a 12-year-old girl from Kalibo City in the Philippines who gave birth on Monday at the Dr Rafael S Tumboc...

A photo shared on Facebook showing a young mother breastfeeding her baby while dressed in toga for her university graduation has gone viral. A day after it was posted via the social media site, it has garnered over 100,000 likes, elicited 3,400 comments and was shared 2,700 times.

While stories of people maimed and eaten by wild beasts such as crocodiles, tigers and gorillas become viral because of the gory, but interesting nature of the event, a naturalist plans to do the unexpected and be eaten by a snake deliberately, not by accident.

It looks like the next three Olympic Games would be hosted simultaneously by Asian cities. Beijing is the strongest contender to host the 2022 Winter Games, reports said.

In the US, the ISM services index fell from 58.6 to 57.1 in October, short of estimates near 58.0. The ADP survey of private employment showed that 230,000 jobs were created in October, above estimates near 220,000. And weekly home loan commitments fell 2.6% in the latest week with new purchases up 2.6% while refinancing fell 5.5%.

A film about The Pirate Bay founders shot in 2010 quoted co-founder Fredrik Neij as saying that the statute of limitation is five years. He made the statement after their first appeal of a Swedish court decision that found them guilty of sharing 33 video files protected by copyright laws and causing $5 million damage to the owners of the intellectual properties.

November is always a dull month in the world of trading. US earnings season has passed, investors start to think about the new year and most macro influences slow down to a trickle.

A Sydney-bound Virgin Australia flight was forced to return to Los Angeles on Tuesday after passengers complained of a very strong and foul odor while flying.

What is it about criminality that makes young but handsome felons attractive to women and gays that the mug shots of these pretty boys with a dark past end up being viral on social media?

A circus tiger in China mauled and killed on Friday an 8-year-old girl who was visiting the Leheledu Amusement Park in Chongqing town.

Japan has been hit by the celibacy syndrome, according to a Harvard sociologist who recently visited the country.

In the US, durable goods orders fell by 1.1% in September with factory orders down by 0.6%, in line with forecasts. The trade deficit widened from US$40.1 billion to US$43.03 billion in September (forecast US$40 billion). The ISM New York index rose from 654.8 to 657.2 in October. And chain store sales were up 3.9% on a year ago in the latest week, down from 4.4% in the previous week.

The Australian sharemarket has ended the session firmer, after trading fairly flat for most of the day. Volumes were light with Victoria celebrating the Melbourne Cup public holiday. The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 13pts or 0.20 per cent to 5,519.

It was a day of the unexpected at Australia's Melbourne Cup 2014 on Tuesday after punters' favourite Admire Rakti finished last and then died. German horse Protectionist won the race in Flemington. Protectionist's fourth-length victory is the best finish since Rain Lover won in 1967 with eight-lengths.

After a modest setback on Monday, the Australian share market has spent the early part of Melbourne Cup day 2014 moving higher in a restrained fashion. The flat start for the local market was a reasonable result in the face of weaker equity markets in the US and Europe. US investors were encouraged by figures showing the US ISM manufacturing index rose from 56.6 to 59.0 in October, above forecasts for a result near 56.2. European shares fell on Monday with investors disappointed by purchasing ma...

There are only 22 horses that would run in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, down from the original 24.

Global markets were mixed, with a predominantly risk off tone driven by a disappointing manufacturing PMI print out of China. Fed member Fisher was also on the wires suggesting he is concerned the Fed will be too late to raise rates and he was not too worried about a slight undershoot in inflation. This, along with slightly better US manufacturing data, contributed to the downward bias in equities. Europe was the hardest hit as peripheral bond yields rose, sending EUR/USD below $1.2500. This saw...

An online petition on change.org initiated by three female British students to pressure Victoria's Secret, which allegedly promotes negative body image, has gathered so far 16,000 signatures.

Fame and a higher guaranteed purse has its price, and for undefeated American boxer Chris Algieri, the price is his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior welterweight title he won from Ruslan Provodnikov.

The four adult children of Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person, are now evenly divided since the new lawsuit filed by the two eldest pit them against their two youngest siblings.

After taking a few days off for the Halloween holidays, the Fappening returns. This time, the victims of the celebrity nude selfies that were hacked are current and former cheerleaders of the Dallas Cowboys.

In the US, the ISM manufacturing index rose from 56.6 to 59.0 in October, above forecasts for a result near 56.2. Construction spending fell by 0.4% in September, whereas economists had tipped a 0.7% gain. And the six largest automakers in the US have reported October sales that were up 6% on a year ago.

The Australian sharemarket has ended the session near the day's lows. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipped 20pts or 0.3 per cent to 5,485. Consumer Staples were the worst performing sector dropping 1.94 per cent. Volume 1.68 billion shares traded worth $4.2 billion. 359 stocks finishes firmer, 579 ended lower and 360 closed unchanged.

The Local share market has started the new trading week in a lethargic fashion with buyers and sellers scarcely making an impression one way or the other in early trade on Monday. The lack of commitment from local participants came despite resounding gains in the US at the end of last week. US share markets rose sharply on Friday with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes at record highs as investors drew comfort from the Bank of Japan's move to purchase more assets. The Dow Jones rose by 195 poi...

The BoJ took everyone by surprise on Friday. The shock of a ¥30 trillion increase in the pace of long-term government bonds (JBG's) and major portfolio rebalancing from the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has added a new dimension to the global currency wars.

ANZ Bank opposes the plan by the Australian government to force lenders to have larger capital buffers because of its impact on consumers who would end up paying $100 more on their monthly amortisations.

An HSBC report confirmed previous speculations that Australia would dislodge Qatar as the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2018. Its major markets would be mainly Asian nations, particularly China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India.

Which is a more powerful motivator - the oodles of money that American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr brings whenever he visits establishments or pressure from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department?

A 26-year-old Australian man was electrocuted at the Brisbane Railway Yard on Saturday night while trying to write graffiti in the area. One of them climbed on a commercial container that was on the rail line and within reach of an overhead line, leading to an electric shock.