BUSINESS

China's imports of Thai rice or grains is expected to surge in the following weeks after the recent discovery of cadmium metal contamination in the grains marketed by Hunan, China's largest rice-producing province.

Chinese citizens may already be getting rich enough to afford international overseas trips and visits, but wealth is by no means a safeguard to conduct misbehaviour in other lands. Ding Jinhao, a lucky Chinese teener who had the opportunity to visit and personally see for himself the famed centuries-old Luxor Temple, has gotten the ire of Chinese netizens after he desecrated and vandalized the Egyptian artwork a few years back.

It may be too early to pinpoint what Amazon is doing but ongoing rumors suggest the web-based retail giant is planning on competing with the web giant Google. It may not just be Google – Amazon’s plans seem to incorporate everything from Walmart to Facebook and Yahoo.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportNewspapers can't help themselves ? they're running a scare campaign using headlines like "markets in turmoil".

Woodside Petroleum is set to announce that it will pursue a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for its Browse project. By selecting that option, Woodside and its partners, Shell and BHP Billiton, are abandoning initial plans to construct an offshore plant at James Price Point which would have cost the company at least $50 billion.

By Andrew NelsonLast week was a slightly busier one in terms of the deals concluded and the amount of stock shipped on the global spot uranium market.

From search engine, Google entered into manufacturing of devices and is now foraying into the wireless network business, completing the cycle of IT connectivity. Reports said that Google will fund and help run wireless networks in emerging markets, specifically SubSaharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

Samsung officially announces a special event in London on June 20 for new Galaxy and ATIV products. Here are some of the new mobile products speculated to be launched on that big day.

By Greg PeelThe Australian market opened yesterday the same way it had closed last week ? weak. The foreign exit continued in the morning and provided for another 1% fall before the market finally rediscovered some buying interest, ensuring a less dramatic 0.

By Greg PeelThe Australian market opened yesterday the same way it had closed last week ? weak. The foreign exit continued in the morning and provided for another 1% fall before the market finally rediscovered some buying interest, ensuring a less dramatic 0.

Australia topped again for the third straight year the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Better Life Index. Australia beat Sweden and Canada, which came in second and third places.

Investors are having second thoughts about parking their funds in Australia's gas sector because of the escalating cost of doing business in the country. At risk are $100 billion worth of investments.

Following the announcement of Ford last week that it is shutting down its manufacturing business in 2016, two of Australia's biggest private sector companies also announced its plan to cut jobs soon.

The new week has started the same way the last one finished, with sellers on the front foot. The debate about the US Federal Reserve exiting its quantitative easing program continues to dominate the bigger picture. At a local level the earnings picture is creating concerns with profit downgrades figuring prominently in recent weeks.

Professor Sukkareih of the Robotics and Intelligence Systems at the University of Sydney develops two robots named Mantis and Shrimp to boost Australian agriculture.

Apple founder Steve Jobs had been the subject of criticisms in his lifetime for apparently for not giving enough contributions to charity. His philanthropic involvements only get exposed after his death through his equally private widow, Laurene Powell Jobs.

The Australian government plans to increase its food exports by $13.5 billion or by boosting the value of agriculture and food-related product by 45 per cent. The aim is to help feed China's non-stop booming population.

When Imelda Marcos was governor of Metro Manila in the 1970s, while First Lady at the same time, she was notorious for her mantra that only "the true, the good and the beautiful" should be seen by the world about the Philippines.

While Philippine Catholic Church officials have joined Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino in castigating Inferno author Dan Brown for describing the country's capital city as the gates of hell, the book earned positive reviews from major newspapers.

The cost of raising a child today has increased by half its recorded amount six years ago, according to a report by AMP and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) from Australia’s University of Canberra. The report reveals that a middle-income family now is facing the inevitable - - to spend more on raising children than attending to basic socio-economic needs like, education.

Holiday revelers looking forward to the Memorial Day Weekend are being advised to work around their travel itineraries as authorities expect a massive holiday-related traffic jam following the collapse of a portion of the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge in Washington, US on Thursday evening.

Sony finally released the latest firmware for Xperia ZL using Over-the-Air update with build of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS.

Recently, reports of Sony doing final stage of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean for Sony Xperia S, but now it seems like the update is finally available for download and installation on your handset.

Apparently, signs of the China's economic recovery are weakening as the latest flash manufacturing PMI showed that factory activity slumped significantly in May. Data released by HSBC Holdings Plc indicated that the economic growth of the world's second economy was visibly slackening in the second quarter of the year. It seems that bad days are gathering over China's manufacturing.

Yesterday we wondered whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his speech to Congress, would come out in support of his colleagues (and the banks) or whether he'd speak with one eye on his legacy. Turns out he's managed to do both!

While the spread of H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China, public healthcare experts say the bird flu outbreak has cost the country's poultry industry more than 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in losses despite Beijing's swift actions to contain the outbreak.

Despite a slight rise on the open, local shares are falling by 1.3 per cent, taking the losses for the week so far to more than 3.5 per cent. If markets continue in this direction for the rest of the session, we're set to have the worst week in a year.

Ford Motor Co. is to give Australian production the brush-off as it has informed that it would stop manufacturing cars in the world's twelve largest economy.

Latest data from the China Customs Statistics Information Center had revealed that China, which feeds more than 95 per cent of the world's demand for rare earths, had exported 2,196 metric tonnes of the precious metals in April, buoyed by the prevailing low global market prices as well as improved demand from Japan.