BUSINESS

Despite the labor dispute between Qantas and the unions being under Fair Work Australia for arbitration, a word war erupted between Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce and the pilots union.

All is well with BHP Billiton, this according to BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers despite the 5.5 percent profit slide the mining giant had recorded in the first half of financial year 2011-2012.

The local share market is trading flat in the early session, as investors respond to the passing of a new austerity plan by the Greek parliament. Opponents to the plan have rioted in Athens over the weekend, however the vote, which paves the way for a new bailout package for the stricken Eurozone country, is expected to bring some stability to European markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 5.5pts or 0.1pct to 4328.1

Fans of "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" will soon have physical merchandise from their favorite online games. Hasbro Inc. and Zynga Inc. announced Thursday a deal where the toy company will create games and toys based on Zynga's popular online games including "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars".

What can Americans not live without? A car? A smartphone? Credit cards? Lake Research Partners found out via a survey, and the answer may be a little surprise for some.

Google Inc. is reportedly close to launching its long-rumored cloud storage service, Google Drive that would rival cloud-storage provider, Dropbox.

The Australian High Court ruled in favour of mining workers this week and threw out a Rio Tinto appeal that requests for the reversal of an earlier decision that requires the giant mining firm to honour collective bargaining agreements.

Stocks were dragged down for their worst one-day loss in about six weeks by tumult over the Greek bailout, disappointing readings on the U.S. economy and a downgrade of nearly three dozen Italian banks.

The federal government of Australia launched on Thursday a $340-million energy programme designed to provide energy efficiency to businesses, local government and communities.

More jobs in Australia continue to be placed on the chopping block as the axe moves to the construction industry. Kell & Rigby, one of Australia's oldest building firms, announced on Thursday the loss of 500 jobs.

Australian stocks are trading lower in the early session, as investors focus on the local reporting season rather than positive offshore moves. US and European markets moved higher overnight after Greece reached a new deal to secure additional funding. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 19pts or 0.5pct to 4337.4.

- Telstra interim broadly as expected- Mobiles a driver, Sensis still struggling- Minor changes to broker estimates post the result- Broker opinion remains divided on the stockBy Chris ShawInterim earnings from Telstra ((TLS)) were broadly as the market had expected, the company delivering solid mob...

After several years of strong activity, the property market in Lebanon is declining sharply, mainly due to domestic political bickering and regional unrest.

Walmart Store_ the world's largest retailer

Rio Tinto has taken the opportunity of a peak in its iron ore-driven profits to clean up its books with a massive $US8.9 billion write-down in the value of its aluminium business.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 6 points while the S&P added 0.1% to 1351 and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%.Last night Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos announced that he and the opposition representatives had finally reached agreement on austerity measures after their marathon of negotiation.

Google Inc. is reportedly planning to send letters to different standards organizations to reassure them that the search giant would license Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s patents on reasonable terms if their planned mergers push through.

To defuse the ticking retail frenzy of grabbing the latest Apple phone- the iPhone 4S-- Chinese authorities and American-owned Apple Inc. have joined forces to tackle the problem of illegally selling the handset in China's black markets.

No more European made Nokia phones in the near future as the company, once the industry leader, revealed its plan of further reducing its workforce by at least 4000 this year, a move that will affect mostly Finnish and Hungarian workers.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered safety checks on all Airbus A380 jets following reports that a Qantas A380 plane suffered cracks after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.

Telstra Corporation's investments on new technology started paying off as the company reported on Thursday a significant boost of more than 22 percent on its half-year net income for fiscal 2012.

By Greg PeelAround a decade ago, Argentina defaulted on its sovereign debt following two desperate debt restructures.

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has come under fire from industry groups for failing to properly oversee the administration of flexibility clauses in the Fair Work Act. The bottom line is that small and medium-sized businesses need more guidance.

The Federal Government provides a variety of wage subsidies to eligible employers who hire job seekers with a disability or other barriers to employment.

The Thai sugar group Mitr Phol has acquired a controlling stake in four Australian sugar mills through the takeover of MSF Sugar. MSF Sugar was formerly known as the Maryborough Sugar Factory and is based in the far north of Queensland.

No buyback, but BHP Billiton remembered shareholders and lifted dividend 20% after a 5.5% dip in first half profits.

On the even of releasing its 2011 profit later today, Rio Tinto has confirmed that it is determined to continue growing its highly profitable iron ore business, despite a nasty blowout in costs in the past four months.

The slump in property development and not the sluggish home building sector took its toll on the Singapore-controlled developer Australand yesterday which revealed a 15% slide in 2011 earnings.

Borrowers may be jumping ship in droves should banks choose to raise rates following the RBA's cash rate hold.