Arlene Paredes

New Zealand Coroner Chris Devonport has reiterated a warning against some parents’ practice of putting their babies to sleep with them in their bed.

New Zealand Coroner Chris Devonport has reiterated a warning against some parents’ practice of putting their babies to sleep with them in their bed.

In a commentary published on Nov. 2 in the journal Nature, Dr. Laurent Mottron, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, said contemporary scientists should start thinking of autism as an advantage in some brain spheres, instead of viewing its symptoms as "a cross to bear."

Adam King, 34, thought wedding proposals should go beyond kneeling on one knee – there should be a singing choir on board a commuter train where he would pop the question that would sweep his girlfriend off her feet.

Since MV Rena crashed into Astrolabe Reef on the early morning of Oct. 5 off Tauranga in New Zealand, authorities have organized continuing efforts to clean up the resulting oil spill and pump out the remaining 358 tonnes of oil from the cargo vessel to a barge to avoid further marine life damages.

The outlook is promising for residential real estate in Sydney in 2012. Business research and forecasting firm BIS Shrapnel says Sydney's housing market is set to regain momentum next year after a slump in 2010-11 following interest rate rises and slow economic growth.

Queenslanders will celebrate Queen's Birthday twice next year, as the state made some changes in the schedule of the public holidays for better spacing of breaks.

Eight adults and two children were the latest casualties in road accidents in Australia from Friday night 'til after midnight Monday, prompting the police to call on the public to make sure that everyone wears seatbelts when travelling.

Labor is considering proposals to distinguish parts of the world's largest marine protected area with differing levels of environmental protection, reports said.

There is no over consumption of legal marijuana among adolescents in Rhode Island, a new study shows. Study researcher Dr. Esther Choo of Brown University said in a statement that she did not find increases in marijuana use among Rhode Island's youth after medical marijuana was legalized in the state.

She thought her mum “won’t wake up,” so she surveyed the fridge to fight hunger – for two days. Lifeless Lauren Silbery was found in her Upper Hutt home on Oct. 21, two days after her death, when police went to her house after concerned family members raised a reason for alarm.

Scientists and snake handlers said on Thursday venomous snakes have been breeding in Queensland’s suburbs and moving into urban areas as a natural result of two good wet seasons.

After years of data gathering and mineral-mapping from over 350 locations on the planet Mars, scientists have not proven that life currently exists on the planet. It does not mean, however, that no life form has ever existed on Martian environments with abundant liquid water. In fact, a new NASA study hints that if there had been living creatures and organisms on Mars, then the longest lasting habitats may have been under the red planet's surface.

An estimated amount of $300 million is needed to repair Victoria's state schools before it becomes utterly worthless in decayed state, Herald Sun reported.

Under Australia immigration’s new accreditation program, the period of time a skilled worker can stay in the country will be doubled from three to six years for selected businesses under updates to the 457 visa system.

An online petition sponsored by SupportOurSharks.com is currently gathering signatures to protest the decision of Western Australian government to allow the hunting of a shark that killed its the third victim in the state. As of Nov. 2, the petition has gathered close to 18,000 signatures.

Some 27 percent of New Zealand’s teenage population could be dreaming of how to leave the country eventually, according to a survey released by the Ministry of Education Wednesday.

Researchers linked 2,200 deaths from impotence drugs in the last decade.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Wednesday slammed the Greens and traced the drowning of 27 asylum seekers to the non-establishment of the Malaysia refugee swap deal, which was supposed to create safe pathways for refugees to come to Australia.

The MV Rena remains intact despite water swelling in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, where it is still wedged on Astrolabe Reef as bad weather persisted in the area, bringing swells of up to 5 metres. Officials have feared that the recent bout of bad weather could finally break the Rena in half, and they feared the worst Tuesday night.

'Occupy Brisbane' protesters have moved from Post Office Square to the city's Queen's Park Tuesday morning. Some of the 'Occupy' protesters, who have been gathering up for 18 days now, refused to move but police forcibly removed them until they were out of the premises. However, no arrests were made.

A 16-year-old boy died in a fatal vehicle accident involving six other teenagers including a 14-year-old unlicensed driver on Halloween night in Melbourne. Another 16-year old died in a separate car accident, and a 19-year-old in critical condition following an incident of hit-and-run.

NZ weather forecasters said water swells in the Bay of Plenty is expected to be as high as 5 metres today, turning for worse the condition of the ill-fated cargo vessel MV Rena, which has already been struggling with swells up to 3 metres Tuesday Morning. Fears of another episode of major oil or the large ship breaking up in half rise anew in these conditions.

NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour has urged government agencies to effectively cooperate with each other up to national levels to protect children from sex offenders who have been previously convicted for sexual offenses.

The Aussies did not care much for the cinemas this past weekend, even as one of the films on its first week. ‘Warrior,’ stars Australian Joel Edgerton.

Young ladies in universities who succumb to peer pressure on party drinking and keeping a certain figure have been suffering the consequences of “drunkorexia,” a new dangerous drinking fad, reports News.com.au.

Southeast Queensland experienced severe thunderstorms over the weekend, but no major damages were reported. Meanwhile, thunderstorms predicted for Sydney over the weekend did not materialize.

Iranian actress Marzieh Vafemehr, who was charged in connection to her role in the Australian film My Tehran for Sale, has been freed and spared from lashing, Amnesty International announced.

Queen Elizabeth has endorsed the need for reforms to allow the Commonwealth to deal with future challenges, according to The Australian. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2011, have accepted all 35 recommended course of actions for the strengthening of the role of the Commonwealth Ministers Action Group. A major contributing factor to the nod was the undemocratic overthrow of the Fijian government in a coup in 2006, according to WAtoday.com.au.