BUSINESS

Australia may be shutting tighter its door to economic asylum seekers, but the country should open its door wider to skilled migrant workers for it to improve the national economy.

The nightmare that happened to New Zealand's largest company, Fonterra, in mid-2013 is recurring again on the first month of 2014. The dairy firm recalled on Monday 8,700 bottles of fresh cream sold under the Anchor brand over fears of E. Coli bacteria contamination.

Apple Inc. has launched a new ad featuring the iPad Air during the NFL playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers on Jan.12. The ad showcased creativity, a feature that Apple has always wanted its products to be known for.

The New Zealand dollar is on its way to surpassing the Australian dollar for the first time in forty years, according to HSBC Bank Australia.. New Zealand's economic boom could drive the currency to new heights. HSBC considers the rebuilding of earthquake-damaged Christchurch as one of the driving forces

The local market worsened its position from lunch through to the close of trade, with the All Ords Index sliding by a little over 0.3 per cent. At its worst, the index was down 0.41 per cent and edged higher by 0.09 per cent at its best.

Amid cost-cutting measures, Canada has closed seven of its 11 Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries across the country. Around 1,000 scientists lost their jobs in the process. But what's saddening were the books which observers claimed never got digitized. They believed the books have been all together damaged and burned.

The 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has just ended last Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, but a lot of people are still buzzing about it, especially the newest technologies that were introduced during the convention. One of the amazing and practical technologies unveiled in the CES 2014 are smart locks which combine smartphones and house keys into one gadget to allow consumers to not just use their smartphones to call or send and receive messages, but also to unlock their doors an...

Fish caught in waters near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have been detected 124 times highly radioactive than the accepted limit, a report by the Asahi Shimbun said.

Residents at Northern Territory have been advised to prepare necessary precautions as a cyclone could potentially ram into the region on Wednesday.

The Australian sharemarket is in the red for the sixth time in seven trading days following disappointing U.S. jobs growth. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is 0.1 per cent lower, with the mining sector the lone improver at lunch.

The non-farms payroll print from Friday night showed than nothing in the market is linear.

In US economic news, non-farm payrolls lifted by just 74,000 in December, the smallest rise in three years. The unemployment rate fell from 7.0% to 6.7% - the lowest in over five years. US wholesale inventories rose by 0.5% after a revised 1.3% rise in October - suggesting that restocking would contribute to December quarter GDP.

London may be the world's most expensive city, but Sydney in Australia is the most reputable city in the world, a recent study by the Reputation Institute said.

Besides the iconic Sydney Opera House, the Australian state of New South Wales could have boasted of another landmark that draws in millions of dollars in tourism revenues.

To use some nautical imagery, the ASX 200 on Friday was a sail boat in search of a breeze to fill its sails. As such moving air was hard to come by; this was reflected in some of the slightest volumes of the week early in th session.

Liquipel, LLC, the company responsible for the revolutionary moisture and impact resistant technology for portable gadgets, including smartphones, tablets and mp3 players, has announced that it will be introducing its WaterSafeTM nano technology to fabrics, such as clothes and accessories. Liquipel made the announcement at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.

Australian software company Atlassian Corp., in a move to boost initial offerings in the US and for healthier regulatory incentives, seeks to transfer domicile to the UK.

The Australian sharemarket is slipping for the fourth time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index down by 0.2 per cent. Global markets did little to inspire investors, with European stocks dropping by around 0.8 per cent, while American equities finished a touch weaker.

Don't you wish your mum or dad or both parents were Norwegian? That' because if they were, the family then would have been millionaires.The event when all Norwegians become theoretical crown millionaires happened on Wednesday when Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, which was established in 1990, rose in value to 5.11 trillion crowns or $828.66 billion. With a population estimate of 5,096,300, that made everyone a millionaire.

Equities remain mixed heading into the non-farm payrolls data. Expectations are riding high after the private payrolls reading released yesterday smashed estimates. Unemployment claims data released in US trade also showed some positive signs coming in at a lower-than-expected 330,000 (versus 337,000), lowering the four-week moving average to 349,000. All this positive data continues to support the argument that perhaps the US economy is ready for a rapid measured winding back of stimulus.

In US economic news, monthly chain store sales rose 3.7% in December after increasing by 2.1% in November. US jobless claims fell by 15,000 to 330,00 in the past week.

Microsoft has regained the top spot in a U.S. brand survey by Forrester Research, dislodging Apple which slid down to second place.

The animal rights group Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) has confirmed a scandal that broke out about a year ago on the use of horsemeat as food for human consumption.

A day after speculations came out that Shell was selling its petrol retail and refining business in Australia, Business Insider reports that another oil giant brand, Mobil, is coming back to the Land Down Under after four years of absence.

Several counterfeit makeup products were tested including MAC and Chanel and were found to be loaded with harmful lead, beryllium, aluminum and bacteria. These fake cosmetics are proliferating in online retailers, flea markets, bazaars and swap meets. It has become increasingly rampant because of the popularity and ease of e-commerce.

Apple Inc makes another move to get closer to Chinese consumers with the opening of its official store on Tmall, a popular online marketplace owned by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Tmall was launched in 2008 with 70,000 merchants and brands on board which included Gap Inc and Nike Inc.

The Australian sharemarket was in the red for most of the day, only to surge in late trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 0.17 per cent, with only the mining, telco and utility sectors finishing lower.

On top of its heavy losses in its international operations, Australian flag carrier Qantas suffered turbulence on Thursday when Moody's downgraded the air carrier's rating to junk.

A new research from the University of Washington has revealed baby talking to infants can help them learn to talk faster and learn language skills earlier.