BUSINESS

An escort agency selling the virginity of a 19-year-old Chinese student of Sydney University has outraged the Australian Family Association (AFA) and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL).

By Paolo Manasse, Professor of Macroeconomics and International Economic Policy at the University of BolognaUPDATED: Changes in the Italian government are driven by the country's dire debt situation.

- Cost curves to support some commodity prices- Sell-off in iron ore looks overdone- ANZ adjusts iron ore and coking coal forecasts- Support for thermal coal- Standard Bank looking for long positions in PGMsBy Chris ShawTo account for recent price movements across the commodities complex, RBS has co...

The first airplanes in U.S. commercial aviation to use biofuels took off this week from Houston. United Airlines Continental flight 1403 flew from Houston to Chicago powered by the first 100 percent algae-derived jet fuel. Alaska Airlines will also fly two flights from Seattle to Washington and Portland powered by a blend of biofuel made from cooking oil on Wednesday.

Another mixed report from business about confidence and conditions in October.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 101 points or 0.8% while the S&P gained 1.2% to 1275 and the Nasdaq added 1.

We had another solid trade performance in September, which capped a strong three months for the country's trade account.

Developers have ported Apple's virtual assistant to other iPhone versions namely the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS and even on the iPod touch.

With the tough competition of tablet computers in the market, Panasonic brought again its Tough technology and launched the Toughpad that could out battle even the toughest environment in mobile computing.

Australia's top mortgage lender, Commonwealth Bank, forecast on Tuesday that the global economy would slow down due to the European debt crisis. As a result, the bank's funding cost could go up.

Google's Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest update to its Android OS and many Android owners are already wondering when their own phones will get the update.HTC answered this question by announcing on Monday in their Facebook page that they are releasing eight devices in 2012 with the Android Ice Cream already installed. HTC listed the following phones including the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, as well as the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze...

A battle is brewing between wine producers and proponents of a coal seam gas project in Hunter Valley as the vineyard owners seek to stop AGL Energy from exploring and putting in gas wells through the area's vineyards.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first airliner made mainly from carbon composite materials, suffered its first trouble on Monday when one used by a Japanese airline failed to release its landing gear and the pilot had to manually deploy it.

Mindoro Resources (ASX: MDO) announced on Tuesday three new high-grade gold intercepts from two further drill holes at its mine in Batangas province in the Philippines. The gold intercepts are part of the infill and extension drilling of the Southwest Breccia (SWB) epithermal gold shoot at the town of Lobo.

The marketing war between Apple and Google over a larger share of the smartphone and tablet computer pie has give rise to a new culture in the workplace. Independent technology analyst Ovum calls it the "Bring your own device" (BYOD) phenomenon.

Australian banking major ANZ, currently the worst performing banking stock's amongst the major lenders says it intends to cut back on pay rises for at least 900 of its most senior most executives to no more than one per cent amid a decline in lending.

Newly appointed CEO of Australian retail giant Woolworths Limited, Grant O' Brien, has unveiled a multi-pronged strategy to expand the company's operations in Australia.

As the Australian Senate votes on the carbon price on Tuesday, the Labor government said it will stick to its proposed $23 per tonne price.

- Computershare granted approval for BNY Mellon shareholder registry acquisition- Acquisition a positive as it boosts earnings growth during a downturn- Brokers lift forecasts and price targets, one rating upgradedBy Chris ShawHaving announced the proposed acquisition of the shareholder registry ope...

Five hundred billion dollars. That’s how much Greece has borrowed, and now owes to many others.

The Summer Olympics in London are just six months away. What's the hospitality industry in London and the rest of the United Kingdom doing to get ready for the half a million visitors (not including the athletes) projected to visit the city during the games?

The third quarter was another bad period for Australia's retail industry, except for online sellers, as supermarkets and department stores recorded declining sales.

By Greg PeelUranium industry consultant TradeTech closed its indicative spot uranium price at US$51.75/lb for the month of October.

FNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website.In this latest broadcast, ATW's Jerry Simmons explains why he currently has a positive bias towards risk assets.

Nintendo intends to launch its next generation console the Wii U next year on April 2012.

The specs for Barnes and Noble's new tablets was leaked a week ahead of its official announcement and it looks like it's aimed as a direct competitor to Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The destructive floods in Bangkok and Thailand's northern provinces have disrupted global supply chains as major production hubs for electronic supplies and automotive parts are now submerged.

CMC Markets said on Monday that it would implement a fully segregated client money model, including client margins in Australia and New Zealand.

The outlook is promising for residential real estate in Sydney in 2012. Business research and forecasting firm BIS Shrapnel says Sydney's housing market is set to regain momentum next year after a slump in 2010-11 following interest rate rises and slow economic growth.