Fast food chain Hungry Jack will begin introducing sides of vegetables to go with its regular meals starting next month in a move to bolster its health credentials.
A separate but successive customs, quarantine, baggage handlers and ground staff strike is expected to cause havoc in major Australian airports for three days.
The Australian sharemarket rose almost one per cent in the second day of gains, as markets recovered from last week's massive losses on hopes of a solution to Europe's debt crisis. However, the market investors remained unsure whether a solution to the crisis could be found amid conflicting media reports. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen 34.9 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 4,039.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 34.2 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 4,097.7.
(4.30pm AEST)Investor confidence remained strong today, with the local market managing to hold onto and add to yesterday's 3.5pct gain. Markets around the Asian region were generally firmer, after the Greek parliament approved a contentious property tax law which is crucial to its austerity plan and its commitments to secure bail-out funds. The local share market lost a little steam in afternoon trade but closed higher by 0.8pct, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 34.2pts to 4097....
MIDDAY REPORT (12pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the second straight day with the ASX 200 index (XJO) up 0.5 pct or 20.5 pts to 4025.1 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) is also 0.5 pct or 22.2 pts higher to 4085.7. Shares improved by 3.5 pct yesterday, breaking three consecutive sessions of losses.
AFTERNOON REPORT
(4.30pm AEST)The Australian share market snapped a three day losing streak today, rallying by 3.5pct as investor sentiment was boosted by hopes European leaders will announce fresh measures to address the sovereign debt crisis. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) added 135.9pts to 4063.5, after touching an intra-day high of 4049. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) firmed by 140.7pts or 3.6pct to 4004.6.
Netflix Inc. and DreamWorks Animation has reached a multi-year streaming deal that gives Netflix exclusive rights to run DreamWorks feature films and television specials.
The latest Australian Industry Group/Deloitte CEO survey released on Tuesday, "Business Regulation," points to the high and rising cost of complying with regulation for Australian businesses.
MIDDAY REPORT
(12pm AEST)As expected, the Australian share market is wiping out yesterday's falls with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 2.9 pct or 114.9 pts to 4042.5. Keep in mind that despite the improvement, the market locally has still lost ground for five of the past seven sessions.
Air New Zealand hiked its stake in Virgin Australia by 5 per cent to 19.99 per cent. With the increase, the flag carrier became the second largest shareholder next to parent firm Virgin Group.
Budget airline Jetstar has launched a $7 fare sale to promote interest to its latest flight destination from Wellington to Queenstown in New Zealand.
Lumped together the pay checks collected by the top executives of BHP Billiton, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Coles for financial year 2010-2011 alone and you’ll get more than $43 million, which is more than enough for an average Australian to last a lifetime.
Four days after baggage handlers, ground workers and other Qantas employees struck on Tuesday, it will be the turn of the air carrier's engineers to pursue a similar job industrial action in Melbourne on Friday.
The four-hour strike at Qantas which was supposed to start at 7 a.m. in many airports began 3:30 a.m. The early start was caused by the air carrier's alleged lockout of the 3,800 striking baggage handlers, ground staff and caterers.
China Southern stepped up an airline challenge to its closest rivals as it gears to introduce the Airbus A380 Aircraft superjumbos next month to service the Europe and North America routes.
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which has been focussing its protected industrial action on raising awareness of the Qantas management plan to offshore jobs, is today marking the two month anniversary of qantaspilots.com.au by thanking the 50,000 individual Australians who have visited the site since its launch in July, and the 22,000 who have signed the online petition to keep Qantas pilots in the cockpit.
Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines announced on Monday a code sharing agreement on trans-Pacific flights beginning Nov. 6, 2011.
The four-hour walk-out of about 3,800 baggage handlers, ground staff and caterers of Qantas is scheduled Tuesday, but a day ahead of the work stoppage, the air carrier canceled on Monday 28 flight and delayed 27 more by up to 35 minutes.
Major US airlines announced Tuesday they would limit available seats to reduce the airlines' costs while driving up ticket prices. Airline stocks went up following the announcement.
More than 3000 Qantas staff plan to stop work on Monday September 20. The planned industrial action is to take place in the morning peak period in most airports around Australia, which will last four hours.
To avoid disruption to passenger travel during the planned Sept. 20 strike by about 3,800 union employees, Qantas will use larger aircraft and redeploy staff.
Paypal will further innovate their services by integrating new features, including easy access to PayPal anytime, anywhere.
The Transport Workers Union has blamed Qantas management for its members’ decision to take industrial action next week.
Beijing municipal government will implement a policy requiring all companies to establish a labor union not only to attract new investments, but also to help labor workers receive higher wages.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled that Lufthansa pilots can fly a plane until the age of 65 after finding the airline's age restriction for such workers as constituting discrimination.
Qantas workers belonging to the Transport Workers Union will strike on Sept. 20 for four hours. The job walk-off is over enterprise negotiations, particularly a 5 per cent pay increase and clauses that would limit the use of contract labour.
On the eve of the Federal Government's October Tax Forum, new research from MYOB has found more than two thirds of Aussie business owners (71%) want the Business Activity Statement (BAS) simplified and three quarters (76%) want to have the GST rules reviewed and clarified; while over one third (33%) said that addressing these concerns would impact their voting intentions.
Australian flag carrier Qantas plans to get a larger cut of the Chinese passenger market by planning to bring five carriers to China, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
For six months after Fukushima nuclear power plant started leaking prompting an evacuation of 80,000 residents, a major part of northeast Tohoku region is almost deserted.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered on Sunday the closure of the Yakolev-42 chartered plane that crashed Wednesday that caused the death of 43 people, including almost all of the country's national hockey team members, AFP reports.
