IBT Staff Reporter

Under the new plan to improve the liquor legislation in Western Australia, the glasses at pubs and clubs will display their alcohol volume in standard drinks.

BP Plc is seeking to sell its German petrol station chain Aral for around 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported on Saturday, citing investment bankers familiar with BP's plans.

French financial holding firm Eurazeo said on Saturday it is in exclusive talks to sell its B&B Hotels chain to U.S. private equity firm the Carlyle Group.

Crude oil futures continued to trade in a very narrow range, unable to cross the $79 a barrel threshold even though they ended 4.4% higher on the month. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate rallied with the stock market late Friday to finish the week at $78.95 a barrel, virtually unchanged from $78.98 a week ago, after dipping just below $77 a barrel earlier in the week. End-of-month trading might have accounted for some the late gains, analysts said.

The base metals have recovered from the depressed levels of early June with prices trending higher in July and hence Natixis Commodity Markets maintains a positive view for base metals. The impact of escalating sovereign debt crisis in Europe and unctertainy over China's efforts to curb excessive credit creation which were the main concerns of the first quarter of 2010 has eased, Natixis Commodity Markets maintains.

With a series of auto makers announcing good sales and profits this week, palladium prices soared to new heights on Friday. Palladium settled up $22.50, or 4.8 percent, at $491.20 an ounce. Palladium and platinum, which also is higher, are used in making catalytic converters for cars.

Global wheat prices are expected to remain higher due to lower output forecast by International Grain Council (IGC) and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). IGC has revised the global wheat forecast lower by 1.9% for the 2010-11 to 651 million metric tons due to the output losses in parts of Black Sea regions, such as EU and Canada.

Global oil and gold prices ended the week on a positive note mainly on rising investor confidence despite highly volatile market conditions. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, rose 59 cents to close at $78.95 dollars per barrel.

Gold traders in Nepal repeated their request with the government for permission to import more gold than the present quota of 10 kg a day. In a request letter to the government, Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association (NEGOSIDA) said internal demand is increasing and with the festival season approaching, the demand for gold will increase up to 30 kg a day.

Investors in India are waking up to the power of gold. In a recent survey, it has come out that Asian investors are more likely to buy gold in the next six months than their North American and European counterparts.

Research In Motion will introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc's iPad, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the company's plans.

U.S. stocks are unlikely to break above a key technical level next week unless monthly jobs data and consumer company results paint a more promising picture of the recovery.

Northwest Airlines, now a part of Delta Air Lines , has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of air cargo, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's personal finances recovered in 2009, disclosure forms released by the central bank on Friday showed.

Walt Disney Co has struck a deal to sell Miramax, the studio behind such films as Trainspotting and No Country for Old Men, for more than $660 million to a group that includes construction magnate Ron Tutor and investment firm Colony Capital LLC.

Two security experts said on Friday they released a tool for attacking smartphones that use Google Inc's Android operating system to persuade manufacturers to fix a bug that lets hackers read a victim's email and text messages.

Jesup & Lamont Inc, a 133-year-old brokerage, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday in Manhattan, a month after it was shut down by regulators for failing to have enough capital.

U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.

U.S. stocks closed little changed on Friday, but Wall Street wrapped up its best month in a year after the earnings season rounded the final turn with a group of strong results that offset the impact of poor economic data.

Recently, a new magic pill - a tablet has been developed for people with type 2 diabetes with an aim to lower blood glucose levels, without having the side effects of the usual medications.

A flu vaccination ban for kids has been lifted for two flu vaccines, Vaxigrip and Influvac, following a series of adverse reactions from the influenza immunization earlier this year.

Chrysler, the No. 3 U.S. automaker, would be profitable on a net basis if it were not for the interest costs of loans remaining from its bailout.

Huntington's disease is an incurable genetic disease that is trademarked by a steady decline in motor functions, and the degradation and death of cells in the brain. While the real cause of the disease has escaped scientists for a while now, new findings reveal that the build-up of mutant protein called huntingtin is the culprit.

A study reveals that more than one in twenty Australian children deliberately harm themselves physically through cutting, burning or biting into their skin, within 12-month duration

A new Australian study suggests that ADHD in adolescents might be linked to Western diets that tend to be high in refined sugar and sodium, total fat and saturated fat.

U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.

Economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.

Research In Motion is not known for its dramatic flair. Like the BlackBerry itself, with its renowned email security, the Canadian smartphone maker seems to put function before form.