It was a long and uncertain journey. But at long last, fallen journalist Marie Colvin was laid to rest in her hometown of Oyster Bay, New York. Colvin worked for The Sunday Times and was well known and respected for her fearless coverage of conflict zones. Colvin and photographer Rémi Ochlik...

A year ago today, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, resulting in a devastating tsunami and level 7 meltdowns at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima. In all, around 20,000 people were killed or went missing. More than 100,000 still remain displaced from towns near...

Despite Iran’s insistence that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful pursuits, concerns that Iran may be enriching uranium for military use continue to grow. This past week, six world powers have called for Iran to resume talks “without preconditions”. Iran, though, says it will allow...

A viral video to raise awareness about Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony has gone viral on the web, viewed by over 60 million viewers in just a few days. Kony 2012, a half-hour film about Kony’s use of child soldiers, was produced by activist group Invisible Children, Inc. It speaks of the...

The largest solar storm in 5 years has struck the Earth early this morning. If you don’t know what a solar storm is, it’s basically magnetically charged gas that the sun occasionally releases when it’s feeling moody. This solar wind can disrupt satellites, power grids and telecommunications....

Police have arrested and charged 5 supposedly leaders of the hackivist group LulzSec. But the twist in the story is that the arrests were made based on evidence gathered by LulzSec leader-turned-informant. Apparently, one of its head hackers (a 28 year old who goes by the moniker “Sabu”) was...

Vladimir Putin’s election victory on Sunday was met with anti-corruption protests, which has led to over 500 arrests by police. Protesters and international observers claim the election was marred by irregularities in the vote count as well as ‘carousel voters’ who were shuttled from poling...

Zookeepers in Tokyo are on a frantic search for a penguin that pulled off an impossible escape. The 1-year-old Humboldt penguin somehow managed to scale the sheer rock face of his enclosure, navigate out of the zoo, find his way to the river and swim iron-man style toward Tokyo Bay. An...

Recently, the press has brought to light a rash of YouTube videos of young girls posting videos asking, “Am I pretty?” Often, these girls are as young as 11 years old. You can already imagine the rash of mean-spirited responses from cyberbullies. Although the problem of self-esteem among...

In a recent report, NASA has revealed to the US House of Representatives that Hackers gained “full functional control” of key NASA computers in 2011. Apparently, the attacks compromised the accounts of the most privileged user. The hackers even had “full system access”...

Among all the footage of the London Riots in August of 2011, one video in particular shocked the world with its display of depravity: that of an injured Malaysian student being robbed by two men pretending to help him. Today, those two men have been caught and found guilty of robbery and...

North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and missile tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tonnes of food aid from the United States. The agreement was reached after breakthrough negotiations were held in Beijing. This agreement may also indicate that North Korea is a step closer...

  Every 4 years, we’re blessed with an extra day in February. That means we’re given a chance to enjoy one more morning coffee, one more dinner with friends, one more quiet stroll in the park… one more day to make a dream come true. In short, it’s an extra day to be thankful for all the...

Facebook has denied a report by London’s Sunday Times that its mobile app is secretly reading users’ SMS messages. The report points to the app’s terms and conditions, which gives it permission to access text messages. Facebook calls the allegations “creative conspiracy theorizing”. Facebook...

For the first time since 1929, a silent film took home the award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday. The Artist – a story about Hollywood’s rocky transition from silent films to ‘talkies’ – is one of only two silent films to have earned the accolade (the other being 1929’s...

The Chinese characters for ‘Occupy Obama’ President Obama’s Google+ page was inundated with hundreds of comments from users in China over the past few days, thanks to a glitch in China’s Internet censorship system. Inexplicably, these Chinese users were drawn to Obama’s page in...

The death toll has exceeded 20 on the 5th day of violent protests in Afghanistan over NATO’s inadvertent burning of Korans. NATO claims the Korans were seized from a detainee library because they contained inscriptions of “extremist communications.” The Korans were then accidentally...

The publishing industry is spellbound by the news that J.K. Rowling will be releasing a new book later this year. But this time, Rowling is hanging up her wizard’s hat to scribe a novel aimed at an adult audience. The word is that Rowling’s new book may be a crime novel, as she has chosen an...

A recent IPO filing by Guizhentang Pharmaceutical, a Chinese firm that produces bear bile, has sparked protests from animal activists and the public. Activists are crusading against the use of bear bile in traditional Chinese medicine, claiming that the extraction process is inhumane....

The Chinese city of Nanjing has cut official ties with its sister city of Nagoya, Japan, after Nagoya’s mayor denied that Japanese troops raped and killed 300,000 Chinese during WWII. While hosting a high-level official from Nanjing on Monday, the mayor of Nagoya said he believes only...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn – disgraced former head of the IMF – finds himself once again in another high-profile sex scandal. This time, it involves an illegal prostitution ring. DSK allegedly took part in sex parties in Europe and the US, to which he brought prostitutes. To make matters worse,...

It may be Monday, but millions around the world are out celebrating. Because this Monday falls on Carnival week. In Rio de Janeiro, a record 2.2 million revellers have been partying since the biggest Carnival on Earth kicked off over the weekend. New Orleans is celebrating Mardi Gras. And...

As the American Association for the Advancement of Science meet in Vancouver, Canadian scientists and journalists have accused the Canadian government of muzzling its scientists. Critics say the government is suppressing research in order to push through political agendas. Journalists who...

In a dramatic last-minute miracle, Hong Kong’s legendary Sunbeam Theatre has been saved from closure after a mysterious man and a playwriting feng shui master intervened. The Sunbeam, known for 40 years as ‘Hong Kong’s Grand Palace for Cantonese Opera’, was to be turned into a shopping centre...

Apple may have mistakenly bought the iPad trademark from the wrong owner – and that could cost them dearly. In an escalating dispute, a China-based company has asked authorities to ban Apple’s iPad from being exported from China, where it is manufactured. Technology company Proview registered...

With a Velcro checkmark so it’s easy to change answer! Henry Tang, a candidate for Hong Kong’s next Chief Executive, is once again implicated in a scandal. This time, it involves an illegally constructed basement in his upscale home. A few days ago, a tabloid printed an alleged floor...

Here’s a very different kind of love story. Changmao the ram and Chunzi the doe have tied the knot at a zoo in China. The Yunnan Provincial Wildlife Park arranged the ceremony as a Valentine’s Day event. The inseparable pair have been affectionate towards each other for quite some time, with...

  Because not all us guys are good with words, why not say it with...

As lawmakers in Athens voted to approve more austerity measures in exchange for a €130 billion bailout deal, protesters clashed with police – hurling Molotov cocktails and setting at least 15 buildings ablaze. Dozens of protesters and police were injured in the scuffle. Ironic how the home of...

Music fans mourn the untimely death of Whitney Houston today, aged 48. She died in a hotel room in Beverly Hills yesterday, just one day before the Grammy Awards. The cause of death is still unknown. A moment of silence as music loses one of its most beautiful...

That quirkiness in you could soon be considered a mental disorder. Recently proposed amendments to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders could reclassify many conditions as mental illnesses. These conditions include childhood shyness, eccentricities,...