Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Judging from the hundreds of thousands who showed up on Sunday to hear newly proclaimed Pope Francis deliver his inaugural Angelus, Vatican City is expecting more of the same number of crowds, if not more, to show up on Tuesday for the new pope's formal inaugural as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic church.

As an old adage goes, one cannot serve two masters. One has to be abandoned while one has to be pursued. And in the case of Australia, it's either it chooses to push through with the coal-related development projects in Queensland or push through saving and protecting the Great Barrier Reef. Bottomline, only one objective may be pursued.

In just within five years, China's outbound shipments of arms weapons zoomed 162 per cent, outstripping Britain to become the world's fifth top exporter of weapons and ammunition.

Downed by the flu bug, Hollywood talk show chatterbox Ellen DeGeneres has decided to defer what could have been her first trip to Australia, land of birth of her partner, actress Portia DeRossi.

Just a few hours after his proclamation on March 13, Roman vendors have seized the opportunity to permanently imprint the moment and come out with souvenirs that captured the rejoicing of the people at Vatican Square when Pope Francis revealed himself as the new spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic church.

Despite the shock and surprise of the Jesuit order and the conspiracy theories of doomsday sayers surrounding his chosen papal name and blood lineage, among others, newly proclaimed 266th heir to the throne of St Peter the Apostle, now known as Pope Francis, will be formally installed next Tuesday, March 19. Much is expected of the former cardinal from Argentina. Many are waiting and observing just how he will work around the crisis-riddled Catholic church. But more than that perhaps, many are g...

As the world became frenzied on Wednesday with the declaration of the new 266th spiritual leader of the Catholic church, now known as Pope Francis, many wondered just how his allegiance to the Jesuit order will affect his papal working style and leadership over its 1.2 billion followers.

It is now early morning in Vatican City and a few hours after Pope Francis revealed himself as the newly proclaimed spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic church. Since he can no longer go back to his homeland Argentina by virtue of his acceptance of his new post, followers of the faith along with the cynics, doomsday sayers and kibitzers are all eyes as to what could be his first order of business for the day.

The 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic church now has a new spiritual leader, Pope Francis I. His election proved to have many firsts for the secular faith. But along with the many firsts, could he also be the last pope highly associated with the doomsday prophecy by St Malachy?

It took one hour before the thousands of people at St Peter's Square, as well as the rest of the 7 billion global population, to get to know the identity of the heir to the throne of St Peter the Apostle, the 266th pope and successor of Benedict XVI. And when he came out at the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica wearing the customary white attire befit for a pope, lo and behold, it was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, former cardinal of Argentina, now addressed as Pope Francis. Although he was ...

Argentina, the country of birth of Pope Francis, has zoomed into the top spot of potential first international visits by the newly proclaimed spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic church.

Apart from who would be the new 266th pope and the papal name that the former cardinal will take upon acceptance of the responsibility to lead the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic church, punters have also taken the lead as to stake up what would be the new leader's first country of designation to visit.

Paul Marshallsea, the a 62-year-old British national who had saved toddlers and other young children from becoming shark meal off Bulcock Beach in Queensland in January had been kicked out from his job after his bosses found out he was frolicking in the waters when he should be resting because he said he was sick.

As expected, black smoke came off from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday night at the Vatican City. Not that the world was way so much excited to have a new pope installed and proclaimed just after the first balloting alone. But just as the world awaits on who will be the 266th successor of Saint Peter the Apostle, people are just as curious as to the name game that the new pope will take.

The world may be debating on the criteria the next pope must have, yet it remained united to confirm that the man to succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has large red shoes to fill. And while most parents and families of those cardinal electors are proud their kin had the privilege to be included in the selection of the new pope, there are others who don't want them to inherit the seat of St Peter the Apostle, the first pope of the secular Roman Catholic religion.

The Department of Agriculture and Food in Australia's state of Perth on Tuesday announced it had found strains of the bird flu among ducks on a property located off the north east. The good news is, the threat poses no risks to human health.

It's still early morning right now in Vatican City and still a few hours left to the start of the papal conclave to elect the 266th pope. The 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholics around the world have been holding their breath since Feb. 28 when the resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI took effect. However, it seems unlikely that a new pope will emerge by 8pm tonight at the Vatican City.

Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. has announced it is constructing what could be the Philippines' first foray into rare earths mining, a scandium recovery plant on Palawan Island.

Hours from now, at exactly 4:45 p.m.-8 p.m. (11:45 a.m.-3 p.m. EDT; 1545-1900 GMT), the 115 cardinal electors will flock into the Sistine Chapel to begin and undergo the arduous process of this year's papal conclave, or the election for the new pope to succeed resigned Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. If the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholics get lucky, a new pope may be elected just about tonight. But what if a deadlock occurs?

Today is a day like no other in Japan as the country remembered the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami on March 11, 2011 that left 15,881 dead and 2,668 still missing.

Sunlight in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon was momentarily blocked off when a wide-scale dust storm surrounded the city, a day before the second year anniversary of the equally fatal 9.03 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern and eastern portions on March 11, 2011.

Sunlight in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon was momentarily blocked off when a wide-scale dust storm surrounded the city, a day before the second year anniversary of the equally fatal 9.03 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern and eastern portions on March 11, 2011.

Much like an espionage movie, the Vatican and its secular Roman Catholic faith are riddled with secrecy, rituals and traditions. But since some of the 115 cardinal electors have embraced technology with an open mind, Vatican has been forced to adopt a compromising stand to meet halfway the world's technological advancements on Tuesday--the start of the papal conclave 2013.

Residents of the state of Queensland ought to brace themselves for more cyclones as a tropical low has been seen brewing in north-west Queensland's Gulf of Carpentaria. Once it fully develops, it will be called Cyclone Tim, the season's third cyclone after Sandra.

In less than 36 hours from now, the 115 cardinal electors tasked to choose and elect the new spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic church, the 266th pope to follow the reins of St Peter the Apostle, will converge at the Sistine Chapel amid a praying populace around the world. Could the same people, along with the skeptics, be also praying that this new pope won’t herald the much anticipated doomsday not only of the secular fa...

Australia's competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has postponed to release a decision on Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd's planned takeover of Tiger Airways Australia, stating it wants more time to review the alliance.

Beaches situated along South Florida have again re-opened to the swimming public after they were forced to close up earlier this week due to a 15,000-strong shark invasion.

The number of children abused or neglected in Australia have risen by 20 per cent during the 2011-12 period.

It's been a week since the resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, citing declining health, took effect on Feb. 28. And it seems the cardinal electors now huddled in Vatican could take another week to choose and elect the new 266th pope, dousing earlier expectations of a March 11 start of a papal conclave.