ECONOMY

Gas prices in New South Wales are set to increase by 17.6 per cent effective July 1, making typical NSW households' gas bills jump between $150 and $225 annually.

The lucrative Mt Everest climbing season about to start in mid-May has been cast into doubt as sherpa guides united on Tuesday to abandon 2014's climbing activity following the death of 16 comrades by an avalanche on Friday.

Singapore Airlines announced on Tuesday it has made necessary reductions in its Airbus A380 flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

Concerns over "production practices" had prompted Health Canada to issue a recall notice against a British Columbia supplier of medical marijuana. The specific pot is Purple Kush, Batch PK-10-20-13, manufactured by Greenleaf Medicinals that is based in Nanaimo.

New Zealand economists have rejected the claims of an analyst writing for U.S. magazine, Forbes, that the country is headed for "a major fall." Jesse Colombo wrote in a Forbes column that New Zealand's housing market was "overvalued" and an increase in interest rates could lead to recession. The 28-year-old analyst suggested that along with Australia, Canada and other countries, New Zealand's economic bubble could burst. Mr Colombo said the bubble could pop and he expected it ...

A month after air pact between New Zealand and the Philippines was signed in March, one of the latter's budget carriers has applied to mount flights to the Kiwi nation.

For countries about to construct nuclear power plants, or even those that had, a floating facility built offshore would serve best against tsunami and earthquake threats.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has arrested a 19-year-old Canadian in relation to the Heartbleed security breach.

Australia has launched its first Bitcoin ATM in Sydney despite troubles and a threat from the National Australia Bank (NAB) that it will close the accounts of businesses trading in crypto-currencies, including Bitcoin.

Australia is the 13th cheapest place for purchasing the latest iPad

China is still definitely on the lookout for commodities. Chinese consortium MMG has just bought from Glencore Xstrata the latter's Las Bambas copper mine in Peru for AU$6.22 billion in cash.

Among the agenda lined up for Tuesday's federal government cabinet meeting is the long-standing proposed second airport for Sydney at Badgerys Creek. Already endorsed by Australian PM Tony Abbott, the cabinet is expected to approve it on the same day.

While spin doctors of the Abbott government would probably use last week's data from the Australian Bureau Statistics' unemployment rate to boast of the government's economic management style, a look at youth unemployment figures is cause for alarm.

Even large US credit rating agency rejects God into its system.

Capital Markets Co-operative Research Centre (CMCRC) claims that fund managers are manipulating the Australian sharemarket

Insurance companies are already expecting that damage bill claims from Cyclone Ita could reach $1 billion in North Queensland after it ravaged sugarcane and banana plantations over the weekend. More than 6000 homes and businesses still have yet to get reconnected to the power supply as of Monday.

Recent downturns like the Ukraine crises and a possible China slowdown have led to growing fears of another recession in 2014 and a possible stock market crash.

Instead of an 11-year record high unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent that economists forecast on Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics surprised Aussies with a different figure. The number of jobless Aussies actually went down, rather than up, as 18,100 new jobs were created in March.

The recent World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund has seen a significant growth from the advanced economies based on global activity.

Toyota Motor Corp announced on Wednesday of a massive recall involving 6.4 million vehicles worldwide after at least five defects were found, ranging from faulty airbags and seat rails to defective windshield wipers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged global governments as well as the world's numerous pharmaceuticals to lower down and make affordable the prices of cure pills for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) as the agency released its first ever global Hepatitis C treatment guidelines.

Tokyo Electric Power has started pumping radioactive groundwater from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant as a preventive measure to curb further leaks in the facility.

Did Australian voters made a mistake when they elected the Coalition to power in September 2013? Aussies who found themselves jobless the past six months since Tony Abbott became prime minister are probably asking that question as the jobs market became tighter.

Australian retailer David Jones Ltd has agreed to be bought by South Africa's Woolworths Holdings Ltd. for A$2.15 billion ($2 billion), ditching a way higher offer lodged earlier by rival Myer Holdings Ltd at A$3.4-billion ($3.09-billion).

Exactly a month after it went missing, Malaysia Airlines MH370 still has yet to be found. The combined forces of 26 nations still have yet to find definite pieces of evidence leading to its possible wreckage site. All that remains conclusive is the millions of dollars thrown into the search and retrieval operations.

The Ebola virus outbreak now enveloping West Africa could take months before it gets totally eradicated, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Financially strapped Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, has been slapped a US$1 billion lawsuit by the 79 US sailors who were the first respondents to the crisis three years ago. The sailors claimed the operator lied about the high level of radiation in the area as they carried out their humanitarian mission.

Already upgraded into a category three system, Weather Bureau forecasters on Tuesday forecast Tropical Cyclone Ita would even strengthen further into a category four.

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters has recently denounced the intention of Prime Minister John Key to sell more of the Kiwi country to foreign ownership.