AUSTRALIA

China's exports of vital rare earth elements used for numerous high-tech goods slipped almost one-tenth last year but the overall value rocketed as quota cuts lifted international prices, data showed on Wednesday.

Asia's rapid economic growth will moderate slightly in 2011 even as policymakers combat rising prices with higher interest rates and try to keep local currencies from appreciating too sharply, a Reuters quarterly poll showed.

Swiss drug maker Roche said its investigational drug for advanced skin cancer - RG7204 - showed significant survival benefit in a late stage study.

Australian gaming and wagering company Tatts Group Ltd is considering refinancing its A$700 million in bank debt with its existing lenders after tapping the U.S. private market in December, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

Australia's government is reportedly considering a taxpayer levy to help pay for massive flood rebuilding, while preserving the budget's path back to surplus in 2012-13, as one major bank warned on Tuesday the damage bill could reach A$20 billion.

Extensive reconstruction after Australia's floods risks fuelling a wages blow-out, as flooded states and the booming resource sector bid for scarce workers, which will in turn push up inflation and add pressure for a tightening of interest rates.

Japan's JFE Steel Corp (5411.T) said on Tuesday it is boosting purchases of coking coal from the United States, China, Russia and Indonesia after heavy floods hit production sites in Australia, its biggest supplier.

Top negotiators from the world's largest trading powers will meet next week to push for a global trade accord, a signal that political momentum may be building for completion of the stalled talks.

Rafa Nadal begins his quest on Tuesday to become the first man to possess all four major crowns simultaneously since 1969 against Brazil's Marcos Daniel at the Australian Open.

Hitting the beach is one of the great traditions of Australian summer. Now, a mobile phone app lets swimmers know not only the best weather and surf conditions but also which beaches are the nearest - and safest.

Every time you fill up your car this winter you are participating in the biggest taxpayer swindle in history. Only a policy created in Washington DC could drive up the prices of gasoline and food, with the added benefits of costing the American taxpayer billions in tax subsidies and killing people in 3rd world countries.

Budget travel and staying at boutique hotels don't have to be mutually exclusive with a little research. Online boutique travel brand Mr & Mrs Smith (www.mrandmrssmith.com) selects 10 top boutique hotels around the world which won't cost the earth. All double rooms from less than $240. Reuters has not endorsed this list:

Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and other top tennis players hammed it up in exhibition matches on the eve of the Australian Open to raise money for victims of the country's devastating floods Sunday.

Rafa Nadal believes his quest for a fourth consecutive grand slam is mission almost impossible and the world number one belted back Roger Federer's suggestion the flu-hit Spaniard is the Australian Open favorite.

Australian number two Jarmila Groth claimed a major boost ahead of her home open with a 6-4 6-3 victory over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win the Hobart International title on Saturday.

Australia's University of New South Wales has broken the Guinness land speed record for a solar-powered car - about 55 miles per hour.

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed Robert Ashworth for the role of Asia managing partner.

Brisk walking regularly not only burn off calories, but will also lessen the diabetes risk provided you walk more, say Australian researchers. The researchers say 10,000 steps daily 5 days a week would be three times more protective in insulin sensitivity than 3,000 steps a day.

Australia's third-largest city started cleaning up stinking mud and debris on Friday after some of the country's worst floods on record, but in a sign of the task ahead, it could take six months to pump flood waters out of Queensland's coal mines.

The euro paused on Friday but was still on track to post its best weekly performance against the dollar in 20 months, while Asian equity markets struggled to extend recent gains, with Japan's Nikkei retreating from an 8-month peak.

Tata Steel, the world's seventh-largest steel maker, said on Friday that it would hold on to its shares in Australian miner Riversdale, calling it a strategic stake.