AUSTRALIA

Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel's spy agency over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported.

The strength of the Australian economy was evident once again yesterday following the release of a much stronger than forecast 1.2% rise in Retail Sales during January adding some support to the AUD/USD in early Asian trade.

Asian shares climbed for a third session on Tuesday, led by tech stocks, while the Australian dollar slipped on uncertainty about the pace of future interest rate hikes.

Asian shares rose for a third straight session on Tuesday, led by tech stocks, while the Australian dollar slid ahead of what is expected to be a close decision by the central bank on whether to raise interest rates again.

The needs for procurement professionals across the country is increasing and as the demand exceeds the supply, the profession is facing a significant skills shortage. The Australian Technology Network of Universities and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council are working together to solve the problem.

The U.S. dollar is still somewhat overvalued while the Chinese renminbi is substantially undervalued, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday in an assessment of Group of 20 major economies.

The Aussie dollar rallied in early Asia yesterday before running into some resistance around the 90 cent handle to settle at 0.8975 heading into offshore trade.

Philippines is likely to grant permission to private firms to import up to 150,000 tons rice apart from its previous allocation of 200,000 tons due to the increased demand, said an official on Monday. NFA is considering additional quantity of 100,000 to 150,000 tons for private sector importation due to the overwhelming response from them, spokesman for the state-run National Food Authority (NFA).

The global financial system is radically flawed and radical solutions are needed, so regulators must resist attempts to dilute proposed reforms, a top European watchdog said on Monday.

Friday's private sector credit data out of Australia gave the Aussie dollar a boost from 0.8880 to send it above the 89 cent level heading into the European session.

NASA officials broke groun near Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, beginning a new antenna-building campaign to improve Deep Space Network communications.

Australia's Lydia Lassila soared through the air on a mountain covered in thick fog and cleanly landed two of the hardest jumps of the day to win Olympic gold in the women's freestyle aerials on Wednesday.

Joy turned to despair for South Korea on Wednesday when their victory lap was cut short by news of their disqualification gifting China the Olympic gold in the women's short track 3,000 meters relay.

The Canadian men restored order in their Olympic ice hockey house and headed to the semi-finals after a 7-3 rout of Russia on Wednesday, a day of redemption and medal manna from heaven for the host nation.

It seems Australia's mining sector is witnessing the biggest ever boom in its history and almost all mining companies are going through this phase now. According to reports appeared in the Australian media, the country's economy is built on a vast land mass rich in mineral deposits. And the mining sector has experienced five big mining booms, and these have generated periodic surges of export-based wealth from local discoveries or global demand.

Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday any changes in its ratings on Greece would depend on whether Athens was smoothly enacting its fiscal reform plans as promised.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was the center focus for global market participants on Wednesday as he testified before the House Financial Services Committee about the state of the U.S. economy and the Fed's monetary policy.

Over 6500 authors have asked to be excluded from the digital books agreement that Google reached with the publishing industry bestselling authors Jeffrey Archer and Louis de Bernières and critical favorites Thomas Pynchon, Zadie Smith.

As the saying goes, money isn't everything, but it certainly means more to people now than before the global financial crisis, and especially in China, Japan and South Korea.

A U.S. Navy warship prevented an attack on a Tanzanian ship and apprehended eight suspected pirates in the process, the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania said on Tuesday.

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance, Japan's second-largest life insurer, said on Monday it would sell about 1.07 trillion yen ($11.7 billion) worth of shares in the country's biggest initial public offering in more than a decade.