Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Four years since China blocked Facebook after activists used the portal to communicate their vendetta, the country has decided to partially lift the ban but only in select areas, particularly the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Twitter has likewise been granted albeit only with the same limited access. However, Chinese netizens don't seem to be excited over the latest announcement in their microblogging hemisphere.

The new island that shot up off the Arabian Sea after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan on Tuesday is not permanent and will most likely erode over time.

Smartphone shipments in the world's biggest market China has been forecast to hit more than 450 million units in 2014, according to research firm IDC. The jack up will be triggered by the government's issuance of 4G licences as well as the foreseen Apple (AAPL) - China Mobile alliance. Will Tim Cook's company finally regain its bruised share in the China market pie?

Christmas arrived early in China as 14 cute and adorable baby panda cubs were born in the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in the country's south-west Sichuan province.

The ongoing 2½-year political disaster in Syria has expanded to include food crisis, affecting children who are now on the verge of malnutrition.

People wanting to live longer and breathe in fresher, cleaner air may want to get out from mega cities in China, India, Indonesia and Europe and migrate to other regions in the world. A map recently released by NASA has specifically and graphically pinpointed where air pollution is at its deadliest around the globe.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan on Tuesday has given birth to a new island off the Arabian sea. On land, the major tremor has killed at least 46 people and destroyed scores of infrastructure.

Fairfax Financial Holdings' intent to buyout Blackberry may just be what the latter needs before it's too late, but investors and analysts remained unimpressed.

China has set to increase the prices of cleaner fuel before the year ends, making its intent clear in cleaning up its air by easing out on its coal usage.

Authorities in China arrested a 16-year-old youth to strike a message and elicit fear to those who commit online rumour mongering. But the outcry of the public, manifested also through online furor, wilted the officials' convictions enough for them to release the youth they had alleged as troublemaker. Epic fail.

The global population may well heave a sigh of relief. The planet Earth still has a long way to go, 1.75 billion life years at least, making the dreaded Doomsday end-of-the-world scenario still very far off. Unless nations of course simultaneously go dropping nuclear bombs at each other.

Good thing Qantas Airways staff discovered the 20-centimeter (8-inch) snake way even before passengers boarded its plane bound for Tokyo. Otherwise it would have been chaos equivalent to the 2006 American action thriller film 'Snakes on a Plane.' Imagine combining aerophobia, the fear of flying, and ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes.

Global warming and the resulting climate change will not only alter the world's temperature and push some species to extinction, but also drive food prices to go up because of widespread hunger.

China is set to purchase some three million hectares of farmland in Ukraine, according to a report by the South China Morning Post, to sustain its rising food demand.

Typhoon Usagi, dubbed as 2013's most powerful typhoon since 1984, has killed at least 25 in China. The fatality tally is still expected to rise.

Recently adjudged as China's richest billionaire by the Hurun Report, Wang Jianlin is set to embark on an ambitious goal to build what could become the world's biggest film studio in China.

U.S. Airways is currently in the hot seat after it allegedly lost a very precious baggage - that of the ashes of a cremated person.

Fukushima Prefecture, already reeling from the problems brought about the by radiation contamination at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, has been struck by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake early Friday morning.

Still days away from the expected impact, but China, Hong Kong and Taiwan has sounded all the distress alarms as it braces for the wrath of Typhoon Usagi, dubbed 2013's strongest storm yet.

In what has to be its most drastic move yet to rein in its country's pollution crisis, the Chinese government will be coming out with a monthly list of 10 most polluted cities and 10 cities with cleanest air. Australia could be at risk with this as China has likewise ordered coal-reduction targets for its provinces.

Parents travelling with kids, beware. A five-month-old American-Canadian baby died on Wednesday night at the Alicante airport in southeast Spain after being placed on a stationary luggage conveyor belt. Without his mother noticing it, the machine came alive and started to move on.

Global students who want to earn a degree in short courses in science, maths and technology subjects from UK universities may now avail of such through online.

The Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), it seems, had been advised as early as two years ago to create a frozen-soil shield barrier to prevent groundwater contamination at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. But it totally ignored the proposal, citing company profitability and sustainability as excuses.

Pope Francis is now in a bottle. Well, his scent at least. American fragrance maker Excelsis Fine Fragrances has released a new scent that pays homage to the "humble and down to earth" personality of the half-year old supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic church. A dab of this scent would probably make someone smell heavenly, or smell like a saint. Just hope it won't make criminals smell as appealing too.

A Chinese woman who went missing for 15 days have been found trapped in a abandoned well in Zhongfeng Village in Henan province. She survived her ordeal thanks to pieces of corn cobs and rainwater.

Organizers of the World Muslimah Beauty Pageant meant to create a venue where it can not only denounce the machinations of the British-run Miss World pageant, but also empower Muslim women all around the world. It would have been a great catalyst if the whole Muslim community supported it.

La Coruna, a city in Spain, is all agog. It's been desperately trying to find the winner of the lottery ticket that won the person 4.7 million euros ($6.3 million).

Dumex, an infants' and children's nutrition company that is a subsidiary of French food-products multinational corporation Groupe Danone, is currently in the hot seat in China. State television China Central Television on Monday reported that the company allegedly bribed hospital personnel so that its milk powder will be given preference to newborn babies.

American global coffee company and coffeehouse chain Starbucks Corporation is set to open its 1,000th store in China before the year 2013 ends, effectively making the latter its number two market, toppling Canada.