Vittorio Hernandez

In US economic news, non-farm payrolls rose by 113,000 in January, short of forecasts for a gain of 185,000. But private payrolls rose by 142,000 and the unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.6%. Average earnings rose by 0.2% as expected. Consumer credit rose by US$18.76 billion in December, above forecasts for a gain of US$12 billion.

Toilet humour stories from Sochi do not seem to run out. After the viral photos on twin toilets in one room and weird toilet rules including a No Fishing sign on a poster, here's another toilet news from Russia. On Friday, American bobsledder Johnny Quinn locked himself on his bathroom. He did not bring his mobile phone inside, so Quinn broke the door to be able to get out.

Sixty-five-year-old William F Brock Sr of Ohio may look like Santa Claus, and he even tells neighbourhood kids that he's jolly old St Nick.

By breastfeeding her infant in public, are lactating mothers exhibitionists? Australian singer Juliet Moody and her group Sparrow Fold band made fun of that concept of lactating mums by releasing the song Ruin Your Day which has gone viral in the Internet with about 150,000 hits in one week.

The twin toilet photo and pre-Olympic report of bad accommodation facilities in Sochi had already given the host of the Winter Games weeks before the international athletic competition opened on Friday, Feb 7 so much negative publicity.

There are speculations in the boxing world that eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao has lost his killer instinct. Among the reasons why such point of view is prevailing among boxing observers is his last knockout was in 2010 against Puerto Rican pugilist Miguel Cotto.

While there are reports that Dong Nguyen, the Hanoi-based indie game developer who created the hit mobile game Flappy Bird will kill the game on Monday because of the controversy it generated, another killing took place even before that.

Since sports is still a male-dominated world, many female athletes, especially those who are in sports considered mainly for men, are suspected of not being real women because of their butch appearance.

Venkatesha Kodandappa, an Indian astrologer, pleaded on Friday not guilty before Magistrate Margaret Harding to four counts of rape and another four counts of indecent assault filed by a woman from Victoria, Australia.

The Australian share market rallied for a second session today, adding 0.7 per cent by close after a better than expected jobless claims report released in the US overnight.

After a volatile start to the week markets have found something resembling equilibrium as the week draws to a close. In the face of what has at times been a challenging week, one of the consolations has been the consolidation of the ASX 200 around the 5100 level. On Friday morning investors have been content to take the market higher, albeit in unspectacular fashion.

Russian officials' love affair with the toilet continues to titillate the public observing all the funny and horror stories coming out of media days before the official opening of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games on Friday, Feb 7. A slip of the tongue by a major public official even brought the fascination for toilets to a higher level by including the shower within their sphere of influence.

The Dow and S&P saw a strong bounce overnight, which started from the opening bell and carried through to the close, registering their strongest gain for the year.

In US economic news, the trade deficit widened by 12% to $38.7 billion in December. The deterioration was driven by a 1.8% drop in exports - the biggest decline in over a year. Imports lifted by 0.3%. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 331,000 last week. US productivity rose at a 3.2% pace in the December quarter after an even brisker 3.6% pace in the September quarter.

Lucas Bane's wedding proposal to his boyfriend on Dec 11, 2013 killed two birds with one stone. It got him the "Yes" from beau David Devora as well as it softened the heart of a former high school classmate who used to bully him.

While the public focus is on the many problems that beset the opening of the Sochi Winter Olympics which begins Friday, Feb 7, once the first referee whistle is heard, athletes, journalists and viewers would soon refocus on the medal haul.

Because lowering the threshold from the current $1,000 for online purchases made by Australians would only cost more than the federal government would earn, the consumer action group CHOICE proposed a flat tax rate of $14 on parcels.

Three hundred Ford workers in Victoria will become jobless beginning in May and run through the end of the year when the automaker axes their posts through redundancies due to declining demand for vehicles. The soon-to-be affected workers are deployed at the Geelong and Breadmeadow manufacturing facilities.

Pope Francis may be enjoying popularity now as rock star of the Roman Catholic Church, evidenced by his being the cover of Time Magazine and Rolling Stone. However, that did not prevent the UN from demanding that the Church open its archives on child sex abuse cases tolerated by his predecessor.

After spending most of the week in the red, the Australian share market rebounded today, lifting by 1.2 per cent and reducing the weekly loss so far to 1.1 per cent.

Rape is a horrible crime often triggered by porn viewing like what happened in the video above. However, it becomes doubly reprehensible and revolting when the perpetrator and victim are very young siblings such as what happened in Britain. A 13-year-old Briton from Lancashire admitted the rape of his 8-year-old sister. The male teen appeared before the Blackburn Magistrates Court on Thursday and said he did the act after watching porn on the family Xbox.

The Australian share market is showing some signs of strength and a rebound after a tough week for investors. US markets were modestly lower overnight, while at lunchtime in the East the ASX is higher by 0.7 per cent.

Despite the impressive sales that Apple had of its iPhone 5S and the iPad Air and the boost in its stock value, rival Samsung continues to chip away the Cupertino-based tech giant's leadership in devices sales.

Indifferent data overnight has done little to quell the divided talk from the Fed about the way it is likely to deal with monetary stimulus over the coming year.

In US economic news, the ISM non-manufacturing index rose by 1 point to 54.0 in January, slightly ahead of expectations. The employment sub-index lifted to 56.4 - a new high since November 2010, and suggested healthy jobs growth in the services sector.

Global attention is on Sochi this week as the mid-size Russian city hosts the Winter Olympic Games which officially opens on Friday, Feb 7, with no less than new Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the event.

To further curb the illegal practice of female genital mutilation, the New South Wales government upped the penalty by increasing it to 21 years prison term from 7 years.

Russian Winter Olympic Games organisers appear to have a fixation with toilets.

Australian Federal Court judge Michelle Gordon favoured on Wednesday bank customers who lodged a class action lawsuit against ANZ over excessive charges on late payment fees for credit cards.