Vittorio Hernandez

Reports of death or injury doing the ALC Ice Bucket Challenge, whether real or hoax, usually involved the challenger being hit by the frozen water container or slipping on the icy water. However, a Kentucky firefighter who only helped college students with the dare died on Saturday.

In US economic data, the leading index rose by 0.2% in August, short of forecasts tipping a 0.4% gain. The weekly Economic Cycle Research Institute index was up 2.1% on a year ago, up from 1.7% in the previous week.

Not all celebrities whose naked images are published admit things they did in the past such as shed of their clothes for the cameras, whether for a commercial project or for private purposes such as the selfies of Jennifer Lawrence. Two male action stars who had porn pasts, however, are not ashamed of what they did.

Jack Cooksey is officially the first owner of the Apple iPhone 6 in Australia by lining up all night on Thursday in Perth. However, when he was interviewed by the Today Show, his precious mark in Australian tech history was almost removed because the smartphone dropped to the floor as the nervous gadget owner struggled to open the box.

While Chinese President Xi Jinping was attending a summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese and Indian troops were on a standoff inside Kashmir's Chumar and Demchok in Ladakh region in the Himalayas, a disputed boundary.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings (NYSE: BABA) raised $21.8 billion on Friday when it launched its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange. It sold 320.1 million shares at $68, the high end of its revised price range.

A rich American leased the island of Fuga in northern Philippines for 25 years for $2 billion. The 10,000-hectare island-paradise is known for its white-sand beaches and crystal-clear blue water.

Two fights away from retiring from professional boxing with a potential 49-0 record, unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr is facing a probe from the Nevada State Athletic Commission which ordered him to explain. The commission will question him over scenes shown over Showtime network before his Sept 13 rematch against Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana.

Despite saying he is open to negotiate a fight with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr continues to throw blocks to the dream match in the form of additional conditions. His latest conditions are for the bout to be shown only on Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) and for his Mayweather Promotions to handle the fight.

With its rainfall of 266 millimetres over less than 24 hours, Typhoon Fung-Wong (Mario) is now being compared more to the destructive Ketsana (Ondoy) that inundated Metro Manila for one week in September 2009 than the Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which brought very powerful winds that devastated the Visayas islands.

Latest report said that with 17 of 32 results counted in the Thursday vote on Scottish independence, the "No" votes lead by 56.25 per cent or 670,398 votes, while the "Yes" votes was 43.75 per cent or 521,441 votes.

There was some evidence of sellers fatigue in early trade on Friday. Buyers were able to get some purchase helped by the fact that ASX 200 has lost 2 per cent so far this week, bringing the losses for the month to 3.5 per cent.

The memory of super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) which battered the Philippines in November 2013 and killed more than 6,000 people hounded the Southeast Asian country anew on Friday as heavy rains caused flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

A day after a generous benefactor offered $30 million reward money for information that would lead to identify who is responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, the Russian Union of Engineers pointed blamed the crash on the Ukraine Force

The biggest market volatility events of 2014 are almost over. The FOMC was yesterday, Scotland voting for independence is today and Alibaba, with its mass market interest, is tonight.

In US economic data, jobless claims fell by 36,000 to 280,000 last week - the lowest level since July. US housing starts fell 14.4% in August after an outsized 22.9% gain in July. US building permits fell by 5.6% in August after rising by 8.6% in July. On a more positive note, housing starts in the South (where about half of all US housing construction takes place) rose to an eight month high, while permits in the region rose to their highest level since April 2008.

Wifka, a private fraud investigation firm in Germany, was hired to investigate the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17, which killed 298 passengers and crew on board the ill-fated plane.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised to critical the alert level at Mayon Volcano which started to billow smoke and spew lava and hot bouders. The volcano is actually erupting already but not at an explosive level, said seismologists.

In 2000, Softbank of Japan invested $20 million in Alibaba.com, which was not known yet in the global tech circle. Masayoshi Son, the chief executive of Softbank, is reaping the fruit of his investment decision as shareprices of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) surge ahead of its initial public offering on Friday, Sept 19.

A new startup in the US is offering handsome male servants who would pamper their employers in the tradition of butlers for $125 per hour. The firm, aptly named ManServants, was established by two young female entrepreneurs. Some of their man servants are former strippers.

California park rangers are accusing members of the Lupin Lodge, a nudist colony, of stealing water from a nearby waterfall at Hendrys Creek Property so they could skinny dip even during a drought across the state. The 110-acre naturist resort outside San Francisco is near a reservoir that is almost empty.

Floyd Mayweather Jr may have an unbeaten boxing record and could retire in 2015 from professional boxing matching the 49-0 record of Rocky Marciano if he beats his last two ring opponents in May and September next year.

At the end of a day which saw a stronger start the Aussie market has recovered after its lunchtime slump, closing slightly higher and thus ending a six day losing streak. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed at 5419 points up 0.14%.

End-of-the-world scenarios continue to fascinate doomsday prophets who are even willing to believe Internet hoaxes to push their agenda that the Biblical Apocalypse is happening soon.

Despite a firmer start this morning, the Australian sharemarket is trading at its lowest level since 2 July at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is below the key 5400pt mark, is down for the seventh day and this is the worst week for local markets in 15 months. Volume iselevated partly due to index option expiry today which tends to result in a volume spike.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) increased the price range of its initial public offering scheduled to launch on Friday, Sept 19. The new price range of $66 to $68 from the previous $60 to $66 is an indicator of the strong demand for shares of the e-commerce portal founded by former teacher Jack Ma.

The FOMC statement retained 'considerable time' and changes to the economic statement were limited; however, the Summary of Economic Projections were all slightly higher than expected, which triggered a mass wave of USD buying.

The US Federal Reserve left interest rate settings unchanged with the federal funds target range at zero to 0.25% and decided to wind back asset purchases from $25 billion to $15 billion a month. The Fed retained its key statement "that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program".

More than six months after the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, the tragedy continues to grab headlines as various aviation or security personalities speak their mind about the first of two aviation tragedies to hit the embattled air carrier in a span of four months. On Monday, former Kiwi International Airlines Chief Executive Ewan Wilson told aviation experts in Birmingham that he believes pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah planned the crash of the jet ...