AUSTRALIA

The deal, likely to be signed next week, comes months after GE sold its financial businesses in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. in a drive to become a "simpler" industrial business.

Financial markets, roiled by falling oil prices this week, expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates for the first time in nine years next week.

The hacking group claimed responsibility for crashing Shinzo Abe’s official website and threatened to take it down if Japan continued to kill whales.

Low petroleum prices are hurting capital spending and inflation prospects, raising questions about global growth.

Australian Federal Police have raided what witnesses say is the Sydney home of a man named by Wired magazine as the probable creator of cryptocurrency bitcoin. As correspondent Ivor Bennett reports, his identity has long been a mystery.

In 2013, over $258 billion in illegal funds was transferred out of China, making it the largest source of illicit financial outflow among all developing nations, according to a new study.

The two deals, in Japan and South Korea, could fetch the company billions of dollars amid investor pressure to shed risks associated with lending businesses, according to reports.

A report released by the Australian Transport Bureau reportedly mentioned the possibility of the sudden power cut and the reasons that may have led to it.

The police raid in Australia came hours after reports that Craig Steven Wright was probably the secretive bitcoin creator.

Chinese imports fell for a thirteenth month, hurting commodity-linked stocks and currencies around the world.

As Beijing signals a red alert over smog, concerns about air pollution are high -- but worries about climate change are significantly lower.

The overhaul of its business highlights the scale of the commodity slump's impact on the mining sector.

Users of the instant messaging app Snapchat in North America, Europe and Australia are reporting problems with the service.

Japan shares rose as much as 0.1 percent after the government revised third-quarter economic growth upward.

A 31-year-old PhD Muslim student reportedly found a severed pig's head while preparing for daily prayers.

The Australian government criticized Tokyo's "deeply disappointing decision" to resume the controversial hunt, just days after a Japanese whaling fleet left for Antarctica.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used his first major economic policy statement to map a path beyond the country's fading resources boom.

The U.S. reported 211,000 new non-farm jobs in November, and revised October new jobs data upward to 298,000.

The anti-terrorism bill, which received approval from both sides of the upper house, updated the current law to reflect “the new age of terrorism,” said Attorney-General George Brandis.

The news comes as Australian authorities said that they were "optimistic" the plane will be found in the current search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

Many investors expected Mario Draghi's European Central Bank to increase bond purchases and cut interest rates more.