BUSINESS

China's Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has announced the country has increased its 2014 mining quotes on light rare earths at 105,000 tonnes, a jump of 12 per cent from last year. Mining quotas for heavy rare earths and tungsten, in the meantime, were retained at 2013 levels.

It has been said that print media's survival is at risk because of new media. More people have stopped buying the traditional newspaper and instead shifted to the Internet or television and radio for news.

Almost 3 million Australians are downloading from Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrent

Japan is set to deploy into outer space two satellites that will specifically monitor the environmental damages made around the crippled Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear power plants. The lift off will occur from a Russian space centre in the Ural region.

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground for the third time this week, with almost all sectors in the red at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by 0.5 per cent, taking some of the shine off yesterday's 1.5 per cent surge. U.S. markets managed to edge higher despite the threat of further military intervention in Iraq.

A Brazil-bound Air Canada flight has been forced to return to Pearson Airport in Toronto after security was breached at Canada's largest airport.

In an irony of ironies, American Apparel CEO Dov Charney was fired on Wednesday by the board of directors from the company he founded for lack of apparel while dancing in front of two female employees.

Apple Inc has become a favorite stock of environmental mutual funds due to the company's efforts to "go green." Environment-conscious mutual fund managers are taking notice of Apple stock as it strives to become a socially and environmentally responsible company.

US equities inched higher yet again after a strong recovery off the lows. Unemployment claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index continued to show good signs that the US economy is in a recovery. While equities continued to eke out gains, the highlight of the session was the rally in gold. After testing a key downtrend resistance twice this week, gold was finally off to the races after breaking this downtrend. With the Fed maintaining its dovish stance and Europe ready to provide unprecedent...

US President Obama has announced that the US will send 300 military advisers to Iraq and was still keeping open the possibility of targeted air strikes against rebel forces.

The fear of many Australian to be disconnected happened on Thursday when outage hit the three telecommunication companies, cutting Aussies off from their mobile phones.

The drop in demand for the key steelmaking ingredient continues that a major Australian exporter of iron ore further lowered this week its price of the commodity, while on miner went into administration.

Fresh record highs in US markets overnight helped local shares post their biggest gains of 2014. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 1.5 per cent, finishing above 5400pts for the first time in a week and largely making up for last week's 1.1 per cent tumble. Volume was also healthy due to index option expiry today. This tends to result in a spike in market activity.

The Australian sharemarket has broken a two day losing streak, helped by fresh record highs in US markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.9 per cent, making it the best day for local shares in over two months.

London-based Audioboom Group PLC (LSE: BOOM.L) is on an expansion mode. The provider of social media platform for audio producers to record either live or from the studio, upload and share audio by syndication and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook has now about 2,000 content channels.

Apple Inc. is granted a faceprinting patent that automatically recognises ‘iconic images’

Apple Inc releases new entry-level 21.5 inch iMac as it strategize to rip market share from Windows PC

US equities extended gains on the back of the Fed meeting, printing fresh record highs, while the greenback lost some ground as yields fell. Most of the results from the meeting were expected, with the Fed tapering by an additional $10 billion and highlighted some positive signs in the US economy. While the Fed sounded upbeat about the economy, it certainly managed to maintain a dovish tone. Despite the tick up in inflation and fall in unemployment, Janet Yellen feels the easy monetary condition...

The US Federal Reserve has reduced its monthly asset purchases by US$10 billion to US$35 billion a month. The Federal Reserve has cut the forecast range for economic growth in 2014 from 2.8-3.0% to 2.1-2.3%. Fed chief Janet Yellen said that weaker-than-expected growth could delay any move to lift interest rates.

Supermarket giant Coles could be facing a fine of up to $1.1 million per violation or over $3 million total penalty after the Federal Court found on Wednesday its claim of selling freshly baked bread as false and breached three sections of the Australian Consumer Law.

A hundred days after it first went missing and with apparently still no end in sight, authorities investigating into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 continued to rally on hoping for a glimmer of hope. Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre on Wednesday said a new search zone will be released by end of June.

The Australian share market closed lower for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, taking weekly losses so far to 0.4 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed lower by 17 points or 0.3 per cent to 5363.9 points.

Apple Inc.'s iPad has lost to Samsung Electronics in a tablet competitive assessment study. Results indicated iPad is no longer the most dominant tablet in the market.

Kanye West claims that Apple-Beats happened because Samsung-Jay Z happened

Apple’s Australian iTunes store is depriving Australian fans of Game of Thrones Season 4

The Australian sharemarket has been modestly lower for the second consecutive session for most of the morning. A 1.5 per cent slump from the energy sector and weakness from the banks are holding stocks back most. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now largely flat with the index off by just 0.2pts.

Zara and other international retailers’ Australian earnings are dwindling – a signal that worst is over for local department store, says Myer’s Bernie Brookes

Air Canada has ran into an expected delay in the delivery of its 251-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner, forcing the airline to lease planes for three summer routes, including Spain and South America.

With Apple Inc expected to launch an iWatch later this year based on various reports, analysts have begun to speculate and make their own predictions as to how many wearable devices the iPhone maker can sell.