BUSINESS

Businesses must change their attitudes about people working from home and use the internet to connect employees through "telework", the Minister for Broadband and Communications Stephen Conroy has announced.

We anticipate a very volatile environment in the next several days after equity markets fluctuated wildly on Friday and the first downgrade of US sovereign debt from AAA to AA- was done by S & P since debt ratings began in 1917 after US markets closed.

New research has revealed that rural and regional workers are not receiving adequate mental health support services. Medibank Health Solutions has released research results which show rural and regional workers feel their employers have unrealistic work expectations which have led to a poor work-life balance.

As an emerging market that has only opened up to foreign investment in the early 1990s, job opportunities for foreigners in Vietnam are far more plentiful than anywhere else in Southeast Asia (except perhaps in Singapore).

Competition time! We love our washing lines and clothes lines around here at My Green Australia. So we want to celebrate this love and also welcome Spring and Summer time!

After switching on its first 4G base stations, using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, in May, Telstra has now announced it would start selling Australia’s first commercial LTE device later this month. Businesses in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will be the first to experience 4G/LTE mobile broadband.

In case you haven't noticed - and, in lieu of the press generated by the recent battle royal over how much to increase the U.S. national debt, most of you probably haven't - Europe is on the brink of financial collapse. But before you shed too many tears for the Mother Continent, save a few for America because at the pace we're going, we're next.

Late on Friday night US time, ratings agency Standard and Poor´s downgraded the long-term credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+.

After a tumultuous end to last week the Aussie opens on Monday at 1.0400 as investors continue to digest news of the United States downgrade by S & P on Saturday morning local time from AAA to AA+.

Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government's "AAA" sovereign credit rating Friday in a move that could send shock waves through global financial markets and potentially undermine world economic growth. In a press release, S&P, cut its top-notch long-term credit rating for the U.S. Treasury's debt to AA+ with a negative outlook.

Perhaps all those doomers and gloomers in Australia moaning about how tough times are here, will lift their blinkers and have a quick look at Australia's AAA credit rating and compare that to the US after Standard & Poor's cut on Saturday, our time.

So the biggest questions about the impact of the S&P downgrade of America's credit rating are: the impact on the share market here and offshore today and tonight, and how many dominoes will fall as the rating cut impacts on the emerging crisis of confidence.

According to research firm IDC, the smartphone market has recently crowned a new leader, and its name is Apple. Though many have been asking why the iPhone 5 is still not available in the Apple Store, the question that matters to Jobs is... Do they really need to release the iPhone 5 at this time?

AFTERNOON REPORT- CLOSING (4.30pm AEST)The Australian share market fell to a two year low today, as global markets were heavily sold off on fears of a renewed global economic slowdown. US markets posted their biggest one day decline in two and a half years overnight while the local market had its worst one day fall since January 2009. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) shed 183.2pts or 4.2pct to 4169.7. The All Ords closed at a level of 4097 on the 24th July 2009.

Sony's newest handheld device the PlayStation Vita will not be launching this year instead the gaming giant has pushed back the release of the gaming system into 2012.

Social media giant Facebook has filed suit against adult dating site Shagbook. The case: that Facebook's reputation would be damaged "by the issuance of a registration" of its name to Shagbook.

AFTERNOON REPORT (12pm AEST)The Australian share market has fallen to its lowest level since July 2009 in early trade. Overnight European share markets slumped to 11 month lows on continued worries about European sovereign debt, while US stocks recorded their biggest one day decline in two and a half years. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 187.8pts or 4.3pct to 4165.1.

Consumer group Choice has advised retailers to see the online shopping world as consumers do, as an opportunity and not as a threat. Choice welcomed the Productivity Commission’s draft report into the Australian retail industry, saying it supports arguments in the consumer group’s submission to the inquiry.

As promised, a massive public protest is now being announced to give the members of the public an opportunity to voice their outrage against today's arrest of three raw foods advocates who are all being charged with conspiracy.

The recent act of government-sponsored terrorism against Rawesome Foods in Venice, California was authorized by a woman named Michelle LeCavalier.

Not only that Apple is on the roll, it is wreaking havoc on its competitors and according to the latest report issued this week by global research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the tech titan’s second quarter smartphone numbers toppled perennial market leader Nokia of Finland.

The national construction industry remained in the doldrums in July with further declines in activity, employment and new orders. The latest Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association, rose just 0.3 points to 36.1. It was the 14th consecutive month of contraction for the sector (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity).

Australians are sick of sub-par customer service, according to a recent survey released by American Express.

Managers should be warned of burning out employees by excessive use of mobile devices outside work hours, consultancy firm Kelly Executive has said.

The market had been looking for an interim profit of just over $US8 billion for the six months to June from Rio Tinto.

The Dow fell 500 points, with a whack of that happening in the final minutes to make it the worst day since the dark times of late 2008 after Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Taking note of the emerging trend that site contributors are migrating out of Wikipedia, founder Jimmy Wales revealed on Thursday that the web-based encyclopaedia is implementing tweaks that hopefully would lure fresh entry providers.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

After a vicious blog post from Google's chief legal officer David Drummond that accused Microsoft and Apple of conspiring against Android, Microsoft isn't taking the high road but is firing back with tweets and blog posts.