ECONOMY

Pope Francis, pontiff of the Roman Catholic church, has called on all people of faith, regardless of religious sect or affiliations, to observe Sept 7 as a global day of prayer and fasting for Syria as he condoned the use of chemical weapons as a means to settle any domestic or international conflict.

For the third consecutive year, the Australian city of Melbourne topped The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey's of the best cities to live in. The list is based on a review of 140 cities.

The mainstream view is that China can smoothly transition its economy from construction to consumption. This is a dangerous illusion.

It is a major piece of legislation and could change the way we know software. It is a move that is expected to improve the system and drive further innovation. The New Zealand parliament on Thursday passed legislation that bans software patents. The motion was passed by a 117 to four vote and followed five long years of parliamentary debate. However, the legislation will only affect new patent applications. It means that existing software patents in New Zealand will continue to remain in force.

As Tourism Australia vies for a larger pie in India’s outbound travel market, it got a lucky boost from Air India which landed the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a commercial service in the country.

China has targeted to launch by yearend 2013 its first unmanned Chang'e-3 moon landing mission. The country's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence said the carrier rocket for the lunar probe has successfully passed pre-launch testing.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and richest man in the world; well qualified to lead any company, good leadership qualities and he's done it before.Tim Cook, 15-year veteran at Apple Inc. may also be asked to step in for Steve Ballmer at Redmond

Tanzania, Africa's fourth largest gold producer, has been exposed as employing children as young as eight years old to work in its many gold mines, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

Americans who are fond of fast food fare such as hamburgers and French fries should brace their stomachs for a no burger day as workers from McDonald's and other fast food restaurants are set to join a nationwide strike on Thursday.

In what has been an unprecedented move for a country whose mindset is to put only males as leaders whether in the corporate or political streams, McDonald's Japan on Tuesday announced its top post will now be helmed by a woman in the person of Canadian Sarah Casanova.

California-based Tesla Motors' (NASDAQ: TSLA) manufactures affordable electric automobiles. And its goal is to produce more electric cars with a price tag that consumers can say ‘yes’ to. More than that, Tesla is doing a great job in promoting sustainable transportation that will transform the auto industry into safe, user-friendly vehicles, offering a high degree of “green” mechanics.

Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, personal secretary of Benedict XVI, former Roman Catholic pontiff, has flatly rejected claims of some media reports that the immediate predecessor of Pope Francis had experienced any mystical experiences which triggered his surprise abdication as leader of the 1.2 billion-strong secular faith in February 28, 2013.

Current nuclear-crisis embattled Japan, along with Ukraine, are set to hurtle into space a satellite that's specifically designed to monitor the amounts of radiation emitted by global nuclear power plants, such as that of the crippled Fukushima of 2011 and Chernobyl of 1986.

Well, this week has been all about the 'taper', another annoying Fed-coined phrase that the market has latched onto with full force. Don't worry, we're not going to discuss it at any great length here.

Australia's corporate behemoths are publishing results left right and centre. It's tough to know what to make of the deluge of information, and there's a lot of shuffling going on. But a few clear trends are emerging.

Fumes from vehicular traffic and home cooking fires using coal briquettes have been found to be the major culprits of China's burgeoning and worsening air pollution.

Hong Kong may not be directly affected by severe tropical storm Trami, which is currently battering China, but it surely still made its presence felt in the country. Trami's coverage was so wide that it trapped pollutants in Hong Kong's air to reach "very high" levels, prompting the government to issue health warnings.

Apple Inc’s once “sought-after” status is no more, at least in China. What used to be a 49 per cent dominance in China’s market for tablets in the second quarter of 2012 has slipped to 28 per cent in the same quarter this 2013. The culprit? The growing domestic tablet makers. After all, the Chinese being stingy aren’t known for nothing.China’s technology savvy consumers have resorted to buying cheaper tablets that uses the Android operating system of Google, a trend first seen among smartp...

Occurrences of worldwide flooding has cornered the bulk of global insurance claims for the first half or six months of the year 2013, according to preliminary data released by Switzerland-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re on Wednesday.

Facebook joins hands with Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm among others in order to make the Internet accessible for all. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, announced the same Tuesday on his FB page.

The predominantly Islam country of Iran has arrested and convicted one of its nationals for allegedly handing out copies of the Bible to friends and family, according to the Vatican missionary news agency Fides on Wednesday. His behaviour was considered a threat to national security. He was slapped with a 10-year jail time.

At least 19 areas in the Philippines' Luzon region have been put in a state of calamity following the onslaught of rains and floods brought by a Storm Trami-intensified southwest monsoon.

With Japan yet to roll out whatever plans it has to mitigate the damaging effects of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant which has already leaked highly radioactive water to its nearby ocean waters, a group of people has expressed their desire to turn the site into a tourist spot. Seriously. Would you go visit?

Effective November, China will cease harvesting the internal organs of its executed prisoners which has supported the requirements of its national organ donation system for years.

Tropical storm Maring (international name: Trami) may already be pressing the panic buttons of most residents in the Philippine capital of Metro Manila, but state weather forecasters continued to pacify the Filipino populace that the rains it dumped was still far off compared from those dumped by the fatal 2009 typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana).

Complex things are more fragile, says Nassim Taleb, author of the books The Black Swan and Antifragile. Your computer and its misbehaviours are daily proof. You can click on the same button as yesterday only to get completely different results. And encoded error messages are absolutely no help.

With the string of vehicular accidents in Canada caused by distracted driving, citizens believed it is about time to consider the behaviour liable for a criminal offense charge complete with stiffer penalties.

The Philippine government was forced to suspend offices and classes in 14 provinces, including in the capital Metro Manila, as tropical storm Maring (international name: Trami) maintained its strength and continued to enhance the southwest monsoon early Monday. The state forecasting weather agency has advised the 14 provinces to brace for severe flooding.

Unless China radically implements measures and steps to salvage what remains of its environment, it may have to expect and get used to dwindling tourist numbers.