Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Just as the world gets to slowly accept same-sex marriages, a reversal of roles seem to be happening. If a same-sex couple gets rejected of a request, a thin dividing line ensues of differing personal and professional beliefs.

If you're the faint-hearted type, this is not for you. But for thrill-seeker adventurers, this video on YouTube of a Saudi daredevil man texting while above the hood of a speeding car could give them the much needed adrenaline rush.

With about 1.6 million Americans having experienced violent phone thefts in 2012, law enforcement officials have taken two steps forward to combat the situation.

Not only do they get to live normal lives, but children of gay parents and same-sex couples are actually healthier, happier and thrive more than children of straight heterosexual couples, according to a study by the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families.

Three elementary school students from Chase Lake Elementary School in Edmonds, Washington state have been slapped with suspensions for bringing in and playing with Nerf toy guns, which have been brought in the first place to support an experiment on the lesson on probability. What's ironic, the teacher who approved the idea of bringing in the toy weapons was unscathed in the hullabaloo.

Because it failed to comply with the kingdom's regulatory requirements and laws, Saudi Arabia has banned the use of the web-based communication application Viber in the country, at the same time threatening others face the same risk if they don't adhere to the country's rules.

Medical authorities in Saudi Arabia are racing against the clock to implement measures to control the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) into a feared, potential pandemic in light of the forthcoming annual Mecca Hajj pilgrimage season on October 13-18.

A latest report released on Wednesday by the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council showed the number of homeless is growing in Australia.

The Australian economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, still resilient albeit below the target expectations of 0.8 per cent. Year-on-year, the country down under grew 2.5 per cent, also slower than expected.

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, its only power-producing reactor, has been damaged by the recent successive earthquakes that struck the country in April and May.

Russian President President Vladimir Putin does not want Russian children placed for adoption to be adopted by foreign gay or same-sex couples.

A lesbian who used to work for a British Conservative member of parliament and his wife has filed charges against her former employers for unfair dismissal, unpaid holiday pay as well as sexual advances and discrimination. She alleged her former employers wanted her to engage in a threesome act.

As the price of the safe haven yellow metal gold continues to slump, India, the world's biggest buyer of the metal, wants to control gold importation after data showed it imported the metal by a whopping 150 per cent increase over the month of April.

Violent crimes in the United States has risen by 1.2 per cent in 2012 compared from a year ago, according to the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released by the FBI on Monday.

Women empowerment has reached one of its most important historical milestones in Saudi Arabia when the country formally opened its first sports complex for women.

The double 5.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the northern Philippines within only a day apart could last for weeks or months. This as the local government declared the town of Carmen in North Cotabato, worst affected by the tremor, under state of calamity.

At least 55 people have died in a fire blaze that gutted down a poultry processing plant fire in northeast China's Jilin Province on Monday morning. But authorities feared the death tally could rise in the comings days since there are still other workers believed to be trapped inside the building.

Effective July 1, Australia's 1.5 million minimum wage workers are set to receive an additional pay raise of $15.80 per week, a 2.6 per cent hike over their existing wages. Essentially, Australia's national minimum wage has been set at $622 a week, or $16.37 per hour.

The sale of a cat skin in an online auction site has sparked an investigation in New Zealand.

Effective this month, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be adding three flights into Australia, including Darwin, Perth, and Brisbane, bringing to five its total number of Philippine-Australia routes.

In just a little over a day after a quake hit North Cotabato in southern Philippines, the very same region encountered another shake on early Monday morning, registering the same 5.7 magnitude strength as with the first incident.

Australia's Advertising Standards Board has forbidden the showing of a new television ad for a game labelled 'Dead Island: Riptide' which it accused depicted images of suicide.

Whether one admits it or not, the very reason racism still exists in Australia is because parents continue to put it in the minds of their young.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior had ordered on Thursday the immediate confiscation and destruction, as well as import and sale, of all Guy Fawkes masks made famous by the graphic novel and movie "V for Vendetta."

American-Iranian national Mansour J. Arbabsiar has been slapped with a maximum 25-year jail time by a New York federal judge on Thursday for his 2011 plot to murder Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.

Josh Welch, an 8-year-old who got suspended from school for nibbling and shaping his Pop Tart pastry snack into a gun, has just been given a lifetime junior membership by the National Rifle Association (NRA). But for a child with ADHD, just what will he do with a lifetime gun membership?

Drinking coffee, regardless of its health benefits, as long as it's taken by five cups a day, leads to weight gain and diabetes risk.

Charges of child assault, criminal mistreatment and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence have been filed against American Tyler James Deutsch who has been accused of putting his 6-week-old baby daughter inside a 10° freezer for an hour, all in a horrendous attempt to stop the infant from crying. The 25-year old father pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bail has been set at a whopping US$1 million.

China, a nation gripped with numerous viruses and infections, has ironically developed what could be the world's first ever working vaccine that could prevent the potentially deadly hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children.