BUSINESS

Following the announcement of Ford last week that it is shutting down its manufacturing business in 2016, two of Australia's biggest private sector companies also announced its plan to cut jobs soon.

The new week has started the same way the last one finished, with sellers on the front foot. The debate about the US Federal Reserve exiting its quantitative easing program continues to dominate the bigger picture. At a local level the earnings picture is creating concerns with profit downgrades figuring prominently in recent weeks.

Professor Sukkareih of the Robotics and Intelligence Systems at the University of Sydney develops two robots named Mantis and Shrimp to boost Australian agriculture.

Apple founder Steve Jobs had been the subject of criticisms in his lifetime for apparently for not giving enough contributions to charity. His philanthropic involvements only get exposed after his death through his equally private widow, Laurene Powell Jobs.

The Australian government plans to increase its food exports by $13.5 billion or by boosting the value of agriculture and food-related product by 45 per cent. The aim is to help feed China's non-stop booming population.

When Imelda Marcos was governor of Metro Manila in the 1970s, while First Lady at the same time, she was notorious for her mantra that only "the true, the good and the beautiful" should be seen by the world about the Philippines.

While Philippine Catholic Church officials have joined Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino in castigating Inferno author Dan Brown for describing the country's capital city as the gates of hell, the book earned positive reviews from major newspapers.

The cost of raising a child today has increased by half its recorded amount six years ago, according to a report by AMP and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) from Australia’s University of Canberra. The report reveals that a middle-income family now is facing the inevitable - - to spend more on raising children than attending to basic socio-economic needs like, education.

Holiday revelers looking forward to the Memorial Day Weekend are being advised to work around their travel itineraries as authorities expect a massive holiday-related traffic jam following the collapse of a portion of the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge in Washington, US on Thursday evening.

Sony finally released the latest firmware for Xperia ZL using Over-the-Air update with build of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS.

Recently, reports of Sony doing final stage of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean for Sony Xperia S, but now it seems like the update is finally available for download and installation on your handset.

Apparently, signs of the China's economic recovery are weakening as the latest flash manufacturing PMI showed that factory activity slumped significantly in May. Data released by HSBC Holdings Plc indicated that the economic growth of the world's second economy was visibly slackening in the second quarter of the year. It seems that bad days are gathering over China's manufacturing.

Yesterday we wondered whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his speech to Congress, would come out in support of his colleagues (and the banks) or whether he'd speak with one eye on his legacy. Turns out he's managed to do both!

While the spread of H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China, public healthcare experts say the bird flu outbreak has cost the country's poultry industry more than 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in losses despite Beijing's swift actions to contain the outbreak.

Despite a slight rise on the open, local shares are falling by 1.3 per cent, taking the losses for the week so far to more than 3.5 per cent. If markets continue in this direction for the rest of the session, we're set to have the worst week in a year.

Ford Motor Co. is to give Australian production the brush-off as it has informed that it would stop manufacturing cars in the world's twelve largest economy.

Latest data from the China Customs Statistics Information Center had revealed that China, which feeds more than 95 per cent of the world's demand for rare earths, had exported 2,196 metric tonnes of the precious metals in April, buoyed by the prevailing low global market prices as well as improved demand from Japan.

WIth the recent inquisition of Apple's controversial tax avoidance practices, analysts take a closer look at the company's unrecognized tax benefits and what it means to company shareholders.

Rolls Royce has announced the recall of 19 of its Ghost limousines due to fuel odor. Last year, the car company also recalled units in two batches due to concern on safety features.

The bird flu strain H7N9, which had so far infected 131 and killed 36 in China, could be passed on between humans through the air and close contact.

By David Fessler, Investment U Senior AnalystSomething big is about to strike the mining industry. When it does, savvy investors have a grand opportunity on their hands.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 12 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P lost 0.3% to 1650 and the Nasdaq fell 0.

HTC announced the new Desire 600 smartphone with Android Jelly Bean OS, quad-core processor and BlinkFeed feature while another handset leaked with benchmark results named HTC Desire 200.

In the midst of Ford's decision to ship out of Australia, Holden and Toyota express their intent to stay put in Australia, at least for now. Toyota is even pointing to its $330 million new engine production facility that is meant to cater locally and the whole of Asia.

Jeff Gordon, senior global online communication manager of HTC, explained that the Chinese version of its flagship phone has a microSD slot because it was designed specifically for smaller Chinese radio bands which provided more space inside the device to accommodate the slot.

Expect the buzz about the Samsung Galaxy S4 to be louder as another U.S. carrier announced the availability of the best-selling smartphone of the South Korean tech giant and amid a new TV advert that will surely catch the attention of young people.

Monstrous and never-ending gridlock like the video shown above is the bane of both Metro manila residents and foreign visitors alike. Throw in garbage and flooded streets during the monsoon season, and it is no wonder that Metro Manila despite the Philippines being a beautiful country is low in quality-of-life indices of different agencies.

The Australian sharemarket had its worst day in two months, pushed lower by Ben Bernanke's much anticipated testimony before congress last night. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) slumped by 2 per cent, adding to yesterday's 0.27 per cent losses.

Hundreds of Ford workers in Australia were in shock as the company announced its plan to shut down operations by October 2016. As the news broke out, hundreds of workers were devastated. It did not matter whether they worked there since three decades back – people will lose their jobs in three years time.