Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant again dispensed some 100 tonnes of highly radioactive water on Thursday. Its operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) blamed human error for the latest overflow.

Feb 24, 2014

Flight plans of hundreds of travelers were again disrupted on Thursday as poor visibility surrounded New Zealand's Wellington airport for a second night due to fog.

Feb 20, 2014

China is gobbling up more and more of Australia's olive oil produce as the country gets more health-conscious.

Feb 20, 2014

Canada has announced on Wednesday the winning bidders of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction, which raked in a whopping total of C$5.27 billion ($4.76 billion).

Feb 20, 2014

There might be a massive death scenario among starfishes along the Pacific shores of North America, but scientists said this was hardly a fault of the Fukushima radiation spill.

Feb 20, 2014

The growth of natural population in New Zealand has been found to have declined the most in 2013 with more and more women in the country postponing child rearing.

Feb 20, 2014

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd jumped on Wednesday after the Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas company Devon Energy Corp announced on the same day that the Canadian firm would acquire some of its assets.

Feb 20, 2014

China has recently surpassed India as the world's top consumer of the safe haven yellow metal gold for the first time in 2013.

Feb 19, 2014

Depressed over the sorry state of his personal life, a man in China's Sichaun province jumped into a zoo cage filled with a pair of Bengal tigers and tried to feed himself to them. But the tigers said "no, thank you we just had eaten." The man sustained only minor scratch wounds.

Feb 19, 2014

North Korea is a heartless murderer of the highest order, staging killings comparable to Adolf Hitler's Nazi-era regime, the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights said on Tuesday.

Feb 19, 2014

Frequent Canadian air travelers may soon expect more direct flights between the country and Mexico following an expanded air travel agreement signed on Tuesday. Mexicans flying to Canada, however, still need to apply and secure visas.

Feb 19, 2014

Shunning as always any preferential treatment to his position as head of state of Vatican City, Pope Francis renewed his passport, falling in line just like a regular guy. Moreover, he renewed his passport as an Argentinean national and not in his official capacity as the head of the Roman Catholic church.

Feb 18, 2014

The fisheries organization at Fukushima Prefecture in February launched a Web site that will contain information concerning the radiation levels of fishes caught in waters surrounding the crippled nuclear power plant.

Feb 18, 2014

The transport chaos and the number of deaths following the unprecedented snowfall that dumped on Japan is now being blamed on the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency decided against issuing a Heavy Snow Emergency Warning because it claimed the snowfall did not meet the standards for such a warning.

Feb 18, 2014

Retail sales in New Zealand grew 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013, but was still behind what economists expected.

Feb 18, 2014

Chinese millionaires whose applications have been withdrawn after Canada scraped its Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) were hardly upset. They can always turn to the U.S. and Europe to expand and migrate anyway.

Feb 18, 2014

China is planning to build the world's longest underwater tunnel at a whopping cost of 220 billion yuan ($36 billion).

Feb 17, 2014

Despite being considered illegal in the country, China has nonetheless launched at least 25 baby dump hatches for unwanted and abandoned children nationwide. The scheme effectively encourages irresponsible parenting to a country with a population of 1.360 billion as of end 2013.

Feb 17, 2014

Canadians living on the country's eastern provinces have been warned to take necessary precautions against extreme cold weather temperatures following Sunday's heavy snow and high winds.

Feb 17, 2014

Indonesia has started to claim normalcy and control as it reopened on Sunday the airports closed on Java island following Mount Kelud's eruption on Thursday.

Feb 17, 2014

A 35-year old American man currently faces legal charges, following his violent behaviour aboard a London-bound American Airlines flight.

Feb 17, 2014

What should be a warm, hot Valentine's Day business frenzy could turn menacingly cold this year for florists located in the U.S. South, northeast parts as well as along the East Coast. The snow storm may well be going out, but the road conditions continue to be icy and dangerous for flower deliveries.

Feb 14, 2014

Intense marine heatwaves have destroyed some 400-year-old ancient corals off the Pilbara coastline of Western Australia.

Feb 14, 2014

Parents who are thinking of naming their kids after movie characters such as Harry Potter, James Bond and Rambo, or even after historical mainstays like Hitler and Lady Di, or even Twitter or Facebook, have pity on them. Such names actually degrade them and could open doors to bullying, according to the civil registry in Sonora, Mexico.

Feb 14, 2014

Declaring they pose a potential threat to national public order, the government of New Zealand has denied issuing visas and effectively barred Los Angeles rap collective Odd Future from coming into the country, jeopardising the group's supposed participation in the Rapture event at Western Springs in Auckland on Saturday night.

Feb 14, 2014

A recent household upload index has shown that Canada ranks only as a mere slow-moving 54th among the nations as far as Internet upload speeds is concerned. The country was listed just below Kenya and just above Mexico.

Feb 14, 2014

After its emotional farewell piece on late January, China's Jade Rabbit moon rover it seems isn't prepared yet to really let go. After a 14-day stretch lunar night, Jade Rabbit has awoken and is still alive.

Feb 13, 2014

A pit bull terrier-type dog prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 has mauled a baby girl to death while she slept in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Her mother and her partner have been arrested for alleged manslaughter.

Feb 13, 2014

Three new marine reserves will be up and about around the remote islands south of New Zealand effective March 2, as Parliament has recently passed the Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Act.

Feb 13, 2014