Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Tropical Cyclone Lusi has claimed three lives in Vanuatu as it continued to intensify to a category three system as it treks towards New Zealand. Kiwis at the upper and central North Island are being advised to stay indoors as well as to prepare an emergency survival kit and household emergency plan for the incoming adverse weather.

Environment Canada cautioned residents on Wednesday to brace for winter as storm Vulcan intensifies into a powerhouse storm and dumps dump heavy snow just across the border in the most heavily populated region of the country.

A 7-month-old baby from Portland, Oregon has been attacked by the family house cat with a "history of violence." Such violent attitude escalated enough to send its owners scrambling for safety behind the closed doors of their bedroom.

To drop the Union Jack or not. New Zealanders have been given three years to decide on the matter concerning their national flag.

To the world nowadays, the terms global warming and climate change are parallel to food shortage, illnesses, infestation, resource competition, terrorism, soaring temperatures and possibly death of the human race and planet Earth. But did you know that it was climate change that helped Genghis Khan to conquer and take over Asia? Rain was his foremost ally.

Concerns related to climate change, if continued to be attended, could push and intensify global terrorism movements, according to the 2014 version of Quadrennial Defence Review (QDR) released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Heinz Canada has decided to voluntarily recall some of its baby food products after discovering a defect in its packaging that could spoil the contents of the items.

Weather forecasters have urged on residents of New Zealand to brace for strengthening tropical Cyclone Lusi which is expected to hit the country in the coming weekend. North Island has been forecast to bear the brunt of the storm.

Apple's iPhone recycling program has now been made available in Canadian retail stores. Canadians wanting that latest model can now trade in their old iPhones to get a credit of up to $275 in order to purchase the new model.

Mystery continued to deepen surrounding the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 four days after it disappeared on the air with nary a hint of anything that could pinpoint to where it can possibly be right now. Sherlock Homes-conspiracy theorists have pounced on the incident.

New Zealand has joined into the fray of search and rescue operations for the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that went missing on Saturday early morning.

Families of passengers aboard missing ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have been barraging telecom service providers to look into the mobile accounts of their loved ones. They claim to have been calling their phones and that these were ringing.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper left on Sunday for South Korea, with the hopes of finally forging a free trade deal with the latter during his visit.

That Pope Francis expressed a desire to study gay unions should not be misconstrued that the Roman Catholic supreme pontiff had approved of it, Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said over the weekend.

A new study published in the Science journal has advised governments and health authorities as well as travelers wishing to visit Africa, Asia, Central and Southern America to up their proactive measures against the malaria-carrying mosquitoes as cases of the disease will multiply each year due to global warming.

Cases of thyroid cancer among children residing in Fukushima have grown steadily since the disastrous March 2011 incident. Citizens have all but lost hope and confidence in their government. And three years after, no one has been made accountable for the supposed worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl.

Paul Weeks was headed to Mongolia to pursue his "dream job" in what he believed will help him provide comfortably for his family. His wife Danica is praying for a miracle that could still come true. Mr Weeks is one of the 239 passengers now part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that went out of the radar over the weekend and disappeared over the South China Sea.

A large ice-free region the size of New Zealand has disappeared in Antarctica which scientists attribute was due to the burgeoning global warming conditions of the planet.

There will be no more surprises this time from former Pope Benedict XVI as he did during the recent installation of 19 new cardinals. Pope Francis has revealed his predecessor will now come out of retirement to rejoin the church life.

Canada Post has launched the design of the new community mailboxes that will take effect this fall.

A man from Calgary, Canada has been found guilty of animal abuse for failing to provide adequate care for 34 dogs. He has been ordered by the court to pay a $5000 fine and was likewise slapped with a lifetime three animal limit.

At least 100 world cultural landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Tower of London and Sydney Opera House will be wiped out from the face of the earth if ocean waters continue to rise spurred by the burgeoning global warming and climate change.

Could babies of Fukushima now stand a chance of longer, healthier lives after scientists have developed and built a radiation scanner meant for their exclusive use?

The royal visit to New Zealand by the trio family of Prince William, Kate and baby Prince George will cost taxpayers a whopping $1 million per day, no less than Prime Minister John Key announced. He was quick to defend however the "tremendous international coverage" the Kiwi country will get in exchange.

Victims of dog attacks in New Zealand have reignited calls to include Staffordshire-bull-terrier-cross in the list of banned dogs in the country, following Monday's horrific attack on a Japanese girl by four dogs of the said breed.

Nepal is again bracing for an influx of visitors wanting to trek up the challenging Mount Everest this spring, with an equal amount of potential thrash going to be left behind by the so-called nature lovers and protectors. To counter this, Nepal authorities on Monday announced adventurous climbers will now be required to bring eight kilograms (18 pounds) of thrash when they come down.

Chinese state-owned company Beijing Capital Group has agreed to purchase Transpacific New Zealand waste management firm for $NZ950 million ($890 million), in a move seen to help fight off China's burgeoning chronic pollution as it gets to acquire new technology from the Kiwi company.

It was a blow to the lowest core. Three years after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, prosecutors in Japan decided to drop charges, essentially holding no one accountable for the disaster and its aftermath.

They might be helping put the little ones to sleep, but exposing them too early and too long to those infant sleep machines (ISMs) may prove to be counter-beneficial in the long term for babies' sensitive hearing.