Pope Francis, who had earned a reputation for keeping his security detail on their toes whenever he goes out of the expected cordon sanitaire during events in Vatican, will be doing the same for his first international trip. On Wednesday, the Vatican announced this year's newly-installed spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic church had just dumped the idea of riding the ever famous bulletproof popemobile for his Rio de Janeiro, Brazil trip in observance of the World Youth Day 2013 festivitie...
Public nurses and midwives across the state of New South Wales in Australia have decided to take their employment-rant related concerns to a higher level. Patients confined at NSW state hospitals and community health service centres may expect work disruption as the nurses have voted to a state-wide strike action on July 24.
Although China's Internet penetration rate was 42 per cent as of last count, the South Asian giant continues to hold on to the number one post in terms of users. A report from China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) released on Wednesday said the penetration rate went up by 2 per cent to 44 per cent as number of users rose to 591 million.
Today, just two weeks after the end of the June quarter, China will release its second quarter GDP statistics. It's a miracle of statistical compilation.
With the 28th World Day of Youth (WDY) just a mere six days away, the Vatican has released the itinerary of Pope Francis for the anticipated global event to be held in Brazil from July 23-29.
According to data on the Chinese economy, growth in the second quarter declined to 7.5% from 7.7% in the quarter leading up to March. China is one of Australia's biggest importers of natural resources. Analysts say that demand for Australian resources is still high in China and is unlikely to fall.
Banks in Australia have the highest concentration of residential mortgages than any other type of institution in the world, making them vulnerable to a possible house price correction according to the analysis of a leading credit market economist. Since houses in Australia are overvalued, many Australians consider housing affordability an issue. This is true especially for voters as housing ranks ahead of border security, broadband and education among the issues government must focus on.
Not much in the markets to draw our attention. Other than another pronouncement by the Fed that it will remain 'highly accommodative' for the so-called 'foreseeable future'.
The Australian market was subdued from morning to mid-day at the start of this week as investors become cautious while awaiting key data regarding China's economy. Some investors took profits after recent market gains, contributing to the fall.
Is he Harvey Two-Face or Janus? The 'he' we're referring to is US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He thoroughly confused markets after the US close on Wednesday. On the one hand, the Fed will not necessarily end QE when the US unemployment rate reaches 6.5%. On the other hand, interest rates will not rise even if the Fed 'tapers off' bond purchases.
Everything is looking good for the US of A! Or is it?
Eight more cities in China want to limit the purchases of private cars in order to fight and manage the growing double whammy air pollution as well as traffic congestion menace in the country. The eight include Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin and Wuhan.
Newcrest Mining Ltd is cutting jobs at its Telfer mine in Western Australia as proof of concrete action on its controversial restructuring plans announced last June 7.
Labour force figures today are expected to push the unemployment rate higher than last month's 5.5 per cent as the decline of the Australian dollar and sluggish economy hampers jobs growth.
In full compliance to orders from the leader of the Roman Catholic church Pope Francis to practice austerity and simplicity at all times, a priest from Colombia has decided to sell off his white Mercedes Benz E200 convertible with a black top to the market for $63,000.
The IMF says China's slow growth was a big risk as the world's second biggest economy moves to growth led by consumption. Any kind of economic slowdown could affect Australia and other commodity exporters. China is one of the biggest consumers of energy in the world. China's trade surplus of US$27.13 billion missed expectations this June as both imports and exports declined as well. A government spokesperson says China's foreign trade to face "grave challenges" ahead.
New Zealand has signed a trade deal with Taiwan on Wednesday to become the isolated Taipei's first trading partner outside its allies. The economic cooperation agreement has been negotiated quietly since last year. The two-way trade between the two countries totaled US$1.2 billion in 2012, making New Zealand the 40th largest trading partner of Taiwan.
Consumers were more optimistic about the outlook of the economy in July, though they were vexed about spending and personal finances, says report.
The Federal Reserve's EZ money policies will either succeed or fail. Either way, it will be a disaster.
New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, wants to further dispose and liquidate three more old government buildings to raise needed funds to inject into its coffers.
As the inflation rate of China increases, the stocks in Asian and European Markets improve.
A train accident involving a crude oil tanker train in Lec-Megantic, Quebec may have an increase in death toll in the coming days.
The New Zealand dollar soared after investors expected the U.S. dollar to move far too fast following the positive U.S. jobs figures last week.
The Kiwi dollar increased to 78.01 U.S. cents from closing at 77.26 cents in Wellington last July 8. The U.S. dollar index receded overnight after soaring to its three-year high following upbeat employment numbers last July 5.
China's key financial centre Shanghai has received State Council approval to establish a trial free-trade zone within its surrounding area, serving as a test for some of the government's financial overhauls, including interest rate liberalisation and full convertibility of the renminbi, reported the China Daily on Thursday.
A report by The Economist's Intelligence Unit called the "Worldwide cost of living index 2013" has named two of Australia's major cities in the top five most expensive cities in the world to live in. Sydney ranked third behind Japan's Tokyo and Osaka, while Melbourne took fifth spot after the Norway's capital, Oslo.
An international study has confirmed the all too obvious - that the air pollution wrought by the excessive coal burning in China's north has affected the life expectancy of the people there, reducing it by as much as five years.
Australian bonds are lower on speculation that a job rise in the U.S. will lead to an easing of bond buying by the Federal Reserve. According to a report by the U.S. that claimed 195,000 new jobs emerged in June.
The number of job advertisements has declined for the fourth consecutive month. Western Australia takes a toll as the mining industry slows down due to falling gold prices leading to job cuts.
The demand for easy money is a powerful one. Europe's austerity drive (also known as living within one's means) has hit a few road blocks - again. Portugal has had enough and the political situation there looks shaky. As a result, government bond yields shot up to 8% yesterday.
The Australian market seems to want to ignore looming risks, like China's credit-crunch induced slowdown. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates on hold but basically said they stand ready to cut further if the economy continues to weaken. The market liked the sound of that and had its strongest day in 18 months.
