Vittorio Hernandez

Paranormal activities experienced by four finalists of Channel 7's The One TV show which features Australia's best psychics helped boost tourism in Australia's Norfolk Island.

The Internet and magazines helped 8 million Australians who renovated their homes in the past 12 months.

About 4,000 litres of sulphuric acid leaked on Friday from the Foreshore Road Plant of Orica in New South Wales (NSW). It was the sixth industrial accident to hit the chemical manufacturer since its Kooragang Island plant suffered a carcinogenic chemical spill over the Newcastle suburb of Stockton in August.

The Australian government announced on Sunday that it would allow by July 2012 the entry to the country of season workers from the Pacific Islands to be employed in fruit and vegetable farm

The Australian share market has started the trading week on a dismal note, after global ratings agency Fitch placed Belgium, France, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on credit watch and left France on negative credit watch. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down more than two percent with selling across the board.

Qantas has ended its industrial dispute with aircraft engineers after both parties agreed to a 3 per cent annual wage increase for the next three years. However, the other demands of the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) such as the construction of a new engineering hangar, was rejected.

Australian miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto and the country's steel industry are to be affected by the weaker metal demand in China for 2012.

Days after menswear store Fletcher Jones announced the closure of several outlets, the weak retail environment claimed another victim. Giant Myer (ASX: MYR) announced on Monday it would shutter in 2012 weak performing chains.

The Australian sharemarket managed to remain a touch higher for the whole session and ended 0.5 pct or 21 pts stronger to 4218.8. Almost all sectors improved however weakness from the energy, consumer discretionary and I.T sectors held back the gains.

A report released by Roy Morgan showed that 63 per cent of New Zealanders are obese. The New Zealand State of the Nation Report 3 covers a decade and 120,000 interviews.

Insurance Australia Group will buy New Zealand's second-largest general insurer AMI for $290 million. However, the purchase excludes all of AMI's liabilities related to the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011.

More Australians are planning to work past the compulsory retirement age, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

About 75 per cent or 6.2 million households in Australia have broadband access, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday said.

About 150,000 bank customers have filed a $200-million class action lawsuit against the four largest Australian banks and Citibank over bank fees.

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) agreed to purchase for A$130 million the Bank of Cyprus (ASX: BOCY), which caters mainly to Greek and Cypriot communities based in Australia.

Australia has joined the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands in condemning Japan's annual whale hunt in Antarctica which starts Friday.

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said on Thursday that the government should not have intervened in the Qantas labor row. Instead of referring the problem to Fair Work Australia, he said the Gillard government should have let Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce take full responsibility for the consequences of his unilateral decision to ground all Qantas fleet.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the first time in four sessions with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.4 pct or 18.1 pts to 4215.9. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector, particularly the retailers are amongst the worst performers at lunch however.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second time this week with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) ending the day 1.2 pct or 52 pts lower to 4197.8. Today's falls have wiped out almost all of the gains recorded so far this month. In fact since the start of the month, shares have only edged higher by an unimpressive 0.3 pct.

Union representatives of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) from Australia and New Zealand were not allowed by the Fiji government to enter the island on Wednesday. The three-day mission was to investigate alleged violation of human and labour rights by the Bainimarama military regime.

Experts have warned Australians of the proliferation of mosquitoes in summer and diseases carried by the insect. The mosquito population is forecast to hit their highest level in more than 10 years.

The Mackay Conservation Group warned of the danger of the new coal terminal being planned in Queensland a day after the state government announced the award of tracks of land to two companies which will develop the ports.

The World Bank (WB) banned on Thursday Australian engineering firm Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) from participating in its projects for two years. The ban was due to KBR's misconduct in talks over a Vietnamese water supply contract.

The Australian sharemarket is doing it tough at lunch with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 1.3 pct or 55.1 pts to 4194.7. Today's weakness has effectively wiped out almost all of this month's gains.

Another Australian retailer fell victim to the weak business environment. Menswear chain Fletcher Jones will close one third of its outlets and lay off 61 employees.

Australian banks are citing the high cost of money caused by the ongoing eurozone debt crisis as they reason why they would not likely follow the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) the next time the central bank cuts the overnight cash rate.

The Australian sharemarket certainly could not put 'consistency' down on its resume as one of its strong points. Over the past 20 business days, local shares have improved exactly half of the time and have gained by an uninspiring 2.5 pct over the past three months.

A painting sourced from Melbourne, Australia by Dutch artist Adriaen Coorte fetched ₤2.1 million on Wednesday at an auction in London. Titled Three peaches on a stone ledge with a Painted Lady butterfly, the selling price broke pre-sale estimates of ₤300,000-500,000.

The Queensland government awarded on Wednesday to Adani Mining and Dudgeon Point Project Management (DPPM) land for a new coal port south of MacKay. The planned port would have an export capacity of 180 million tonnes.