Reissa Su

With the U.S. government shutdown, New Zealand scientists will take over research activities in Antarctica as their American counterparts have withdrawn their ongoing operations at McMurdo base.

A Japanese man pretending to look for tea-drinking companions was actually looking for sexual partners for the elderly. On the outside, it may appear to onlookers that the elderly members of the Japanese 'Three Loves' club is just drinking afternoon tea when they gather. What actually happens behind the guise of ceremonial tea-drinking is the possibility of sexual encounters among the elderly.

Apple Inc’s iPad has been hailed as the most responsive screen among touchscreen tablets. Agawi performed a series of tests to find out which among a number of flagship tablets have the most responsive touchscreen. Apple Inc’s iPad bested the tablets of Samsung, Microsoft and Google as it passed the TouchMarks touchscreen benchmark test with flying colours.

A gruesome but incredible time-lapse video shows how a lizard decomposes and turns into a skeleton. The lizard is eaten up by beetles and maggots until all that is left is the creature's tough skin and bones.

Same-sex marriage advocates in Australia said states and territories have the constitutional power to legalise gay marriage based on a Tasmanian report. The Tasmania Institute of Law Reform has published a report in response to an upper house vote in same-sex marriage legislation in Tasmania in 2012.

Russian authorities who seized the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, have claimed that they found "hard drugs" on board. The Investigative Committee of Russia said investigators found drugs in a search of the Greenpeace ship. The drugs were allegedly poppy straw and morphine. Poppy straw is also known as raw opium which can be used to make heroin or morphine.

New Zealand is expected to enjoy the strongest growth among the fastest-growing advanced economies in 2013 and 2013 based on the annual World Economic Outlook of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Dr. Mark Hobart, an Australian doctor, is in hot water of losing his medical license after refusing to abort a pregnant woman who wanted to have a baby boy. The mother wanted an abortion because she and her husband do not like a baby girl.

While many are starving in other parts of the world, Australia wastes $8 billion worth of food every year. According to a national campaign by non-profit organisation, Foodwise, Australians waste a staggering amount of $8 billion worth of edible food each year. The amount is twice the commitment of the Australian government to foreign aid.

A third of New Zealanders are unemployed afraid of losing their jobs or are have temporary work, according to a study conducted by the Council of Trade of Unions. The results of the study were released in a biennial conference in Wellington. The study also suggested that temporary workers in New Zealand have limited legal protection compared to workers in most developed nations.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia and raised the issue of piracy charges of Kiwi Greenpeace activities who were detained in Russia.

Apple Inc still reigns supreme in the US with a 40 per cent market share that seems to keep on growing, according to Comscore's research. Samsung's market share has also increased but not as much as Apple's. HTC, LG and Motorola's market share have either dropped or remained flat.

By the end of 2013, around 2.7 billion people will have Internet access, according to the United Nations. This is 40 per cent of the world's population based on the report of International Telecommunication Union of the UN. Google has joined Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Intel among others in the fight for more affordable Internet in developing countries. Aside from popular Silicon Valley companies, governments and special interest groups expressed their support in forming the Alliance for ...

A looming national default may be on the horizon as the partial U.S. government shutdown remains causing the U.S. and other global market shares to decline. The shutdown is brought by a deadlock in U.S. Congress over "Obamacare" funding or the new healthcare law.

China's President Xi Jinping was mocked by his own people after scolding New Zealand Prime Minister John Key over Fonterra's food safety issues during a one-on-one meeting in Bali last Oct. 6.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key came to the defense of the country's tourism campaign, "100 per cent pure New Zealand," in a conference in Bali, Indonesia ahead of the APEC summit. In the tourism conference focusing on sustainable development, Mr Key said the 100 per cent pure campaign continued to be a success when it was first used to promote New Zealand in 1999.

Pills made out of human feces or "poop" may be the key to cure serious gut infections that kill thousands and afflicts more than 500,000 people every year. A team of researchers from Canada is already testing the human poop pills on patients suffering from multiple infections of Clostridium difficile.

A massive 10-metre dinosaur fossil was unearthed by a pipeline inspection crew in Alberta, Canada. The crew was working with a backhoe near the Spirit River when they uncovered a fossilised skeleton of what appeared to be a huge dinosaur.

Tesla Motors Co (TSLA) stocks slumped 6 per cent or $3 billion after photos posted by an automotive blog showing the company's burning Model S electric sedan went viral. According to reports, the Tesla vehicle burst into flames after an accident in Seattle, Washington.

University students in Hungary attended class topless as a sign of protest against a new dress code ordered by Kaposvar University's college head.

Mayor Len Brown of Auckland, New Zealand, defended the annual pay of almost $800,000 of senior council executives. In a public meeting, he told those present that they had to “meet the market.”

New Zealanders have the widest range of access to visa-free countries around the world, according to the annual Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2013. New Zealand ranked fifth just behind the United Kingdom and member countries of the European Union.

Caltech or the California Institute of Technology emerged as the top university in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013. Meanwhile, Australian universities, which did well in the 2012 THE World Universities Rankings, performed poorly in the rankings. Top Australian university, the University of Melbourne, dropped six placed to the 34th spot. The University of NSW fell out of the top 100 list to take the 114th place.

Bigfoot is definitely real, according to a group of researchers from the Sasquatch Genome Project who found DNA evidence including photos and videos of the legendary creature. The researchers have in their possession a never-before-seen footage of Bigfoot. The video presented to the public showed a female Bigfoots sleeping in the Kentucky woods. Sasquatch researchers also found hair and blood samples unlike anything that has been seen by the scientific world before.

Tom Clancy, bestselling author of complex, military suspense thriller novels died on Oct. 2 in Baltimore. At 66 years old, he passed away while he was in John Hopkins Hospital for a brief illness. Tom Clancy’s lawyer, JW Thompson Webb, spoke on his behalf.

Kim Dotcom has announced his support for Orcon to bring cheaper broadband service to New Zealand. The Mega founder and Internet millionaire said he agrees with Orcon's mission to provide customers with unlimited broadband service.

Hundreds of thousands of Kiwi citizens currently living in Australia will be disappointed to know that their rights have not changed after New Zealand Prime Minister John Key's visit to Australia. Greater economic rights were not on the agenda as far as Prime Minister Tony Abbott is concerned.

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook and billionaire investor Carl Icahn met for the first time in a cordial dinner and talked about a $150 billion share buyback. Mr Icahn disclosed in Aug. 2013 that he has a $1 billion stake in Apple Inc.

Even animals and insects are not spared from the effects of climate change. Scientists said there is a global increase in the number of insects due to climate change. Some insects are apparently taking advantage of rising temperatures like the giant Asian hornets that have been reportedly killing people in China. Reports also said they killer giant Asian hornets were spotted in the United States as early as July 2012.