Well, this week has been all about the 'taper', another annoying Fed-coined phrase that the market has latched onto with full force. Don't worry, we're not going to discuss it at any great length here.
Australia's corporate behemoths are publishing results left right and centre. It's tough to know what to make of the deluge of information, and there's a lot of shuffling going on. But a few clear trends are emerging.
Fumes from vehicular traffic and home cooking fires using coal briquettes have been found to be the major culprits of China's burgeoning and worsening air pollution.
Hong Kong may not be directly affected by severe tropical storm Trami, which is currently battering China, but it surely still made its presence felt in the country. Trami's coverage was so wide that it trapped pollutants in Hong Kong's air to reach "very high" levels, prompting the government to issue health warnings.
Apple Inc’s once “sought-after” status is no more, at least in China. What used to be a 49 per cent dominance in China’s market for tablets in the second quarter of 2012 has slipped to 28 per cent in the same quarter this 2013. The culprit? The growing domestic tablet makers. After all, the Chinese being stingy aren’t known for nothing.China’s technology savvy consumers have resorted to buying cheaper tablets that uses the Android operating system of Google, a trend first seen among smartp...
Occurrences of worldwide flooding has cornered the bulk of global insurance claims for the first half or six months of the year 2013, according to preliminary data released by Switzerland-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re on Wednesday.
Facebook joins hands with Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm among others in order to make the Internet accessible for all. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, announced the same Tuesday on his FB page.
The predominantly Islam country of Iran has arrested and convicted one of its nationals for allegedly handing out copies of the Bible to friends and family, according to the Vatican missionary news agency Fides on Wednesday. His behaviour was considered a threat to national security. He was slapped with a 10-year jail time.
At least 19 areas in the Philippines' Luzon region have been put in a state of calamity following the onslaught of rains and floods brought by a Storm Trami-intensified southwest monsoon.
With Japan yet to roll out whatever plans it has to mitigate the damaging effects of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant which has already leaked highly radioactive water to its nearby ocean waters, a group of people has expressed their desire to turn the site into a tourist spot. Seriously. Would you go visit?
Effective November, China will cease harvesting the internal organs of its executed prisoners which has supported the requirements of its national organ donation system for years.
Tropical storm Maring (international name: Trami) may already be pressing the panic buttons of most residents in the Philippine capital of Metro Manila, but state weather forecasters continued to pacify the Filipino populace that the rains it dumped was still far off compared from those dumped by the fatal 2009 typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana).
Complex things are more fragile, says Nassim Taleb, author of the books The Black Swan and Antifragile. Your computer and its misbehaviours are daily proof. You can click on the same button as yesterday only to get completely different results. And encoded error messages are absolutely no help.
With the string of vehicular accidents in Canada caused by distracted driving, citizens believed it is about time to consider the behaviour liable for a criminal offense charge complete with stiffer penalties.
The Philippine government was forced to suspend offices and classes in 14 provinces, including in the capital Metro Manila, as tropical storm Maring (international name: Trami) maintained its strength and continued to enhance the southwest monsoon early Monday. The state forecasting weather agency has advised the 14 provinces to brace for severe flooding.
Unless China radically implements measures and steps to salvage what remains of its environment, it may have to expect and get used to dwindling tourist numbers.
'I get calls weekly asking if I will sell my home. I finally stopped one to ask, 'Does anybody actually say yes?' And he said, 'Of course. Otherwise, why would we do this?''
Students wanting to study overseas, particularly in Australia, either need to have been able to have saved a lot or at least able to maintain two jobs to be able to afford paying for their tuition costs and other expenses. According to a new research HSBC, Australia ranks the list of most expensive countries for oversea students, followed by the United States, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Canada is cheaper.
Canada's Capital District Health Authority in the province of Nova Scotia is about to get enmeshed in a potentially disruptive legal landmark case. A woman from Halifax is about to press charges against the health service provider after losing her breast due to a sickening hospital records mix-up.
A woman working as a poultry slaughtering worker in Boluo country in Southern China's Guangdong province has contracted the dreaded H7N9 avian influenza, prompting authorities to confirm the virus can be transmitted to humans.
Everything seems in order as we kick off another week of reckoning. Japan's national debt just exceeded 1 quadrillion yen for the first time as everyone celebrates the success of 'Abenomics'.
How times have changed. The front page of the Australian Financial Review says the 'RBA 'risks' house price bubble' now that it has pushed rates to a record low. They've got it wrong of course, on two counts.
Greece earned a surplus instead of a deficit, which is a good news for the European Union.
Official data to be released on Wednesday will confirm that the eurozone will soon exit the longest recession that dragged its economy for about 18 months or six quarters. The Telegraph said a 0.2 per cent gross domestic product growth rate is expected to be reported.
The only funnier paragraph we've read recently was the preceding one: 'Australia will post a budget deficit of $30.1 billion for the fiscal year, a gross miscalculation from its May estimate of $18 billion, but the government promises to stay on track.'
Workers of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have alleged its operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have been lying about the true state of meltdown crisis in the facility.
Pope Francis has issued a new decree effectively expanding the supervisory role of the Financial Information Authority (FIA) over the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), otherwise known as the Vatican Bank, in a serious attempt to thwart and eliminate any money-laundering schemes and activities within its halls.
All around the world, the smoldering heat wave continues to break and set records from end to end of the globe.
As China steps up measures to combat its growing air pollution from out of proportions, imposing excessive rates on automotive license plates to encourage residents from buying additional units, local Chinese auto makers are unfortunately being driven to extinction.
The spotlight is on the New Zealand dollar as the country's largest dairy exporter was hit by a botulism scare which caused a slump in the Kiwi dollar earlier this week. As New Zealand's premier brand Fonterra was hit by import restrictions of products in China and other countries, the Kiwi dollar had a rare break from its strong momentum and plunged to its year low.
