BUSINESS

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson today announced a five-year initiative to provide free Wi-Fi service at 26 locations in 20 New York City parks across the five boroughs. Starting today, AT&T Wi-Fi is available free of charge to any users at Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem, with 23 additional park locations to follow throughout...

Drift is a bad thing in economic policy and in an economy generally, it can indicate a lack of momentum, an absence of strong policy making, or an economy that just won't answer the helm.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 75 points or 0.6% while the S&P rose 0.7% to 1289 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Sadly, it was no big surprise to read a recent article in The Wall Street Journal setting out in stark detail how poorly many Americans look after their personal finances.

Facebook, the world's most popular social networking site, has rolled out a facial recognition technology to identify people in photos uploaded on its website, but the feature has stirred up controversy due to privacy issues.

The security breach at Citigroup Inc., which lost personal information of 210,000 credit card customers to hackers, is just the latest of a string of cyber attacks on high-profile companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission commenced legal action against the company for unconscionable conduct, after failing to inform customers that the business is insolvent and under administration. The ACCC wants the federal court to stop the Sydney-based firm from continuing its business.

Researchers have developed a technique that can warn patients if they will suffer from Alzheimer's at least ten years before the symptoms manifest.

Australians may be swimming in debt but that doesn't mean they're worried about it. A recent survey from insurance provider Genworth found that although most Australian home owners are among the most indebted in the world they have no problems borrowing more than their means.

Concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy sent the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to its sixth straight day of losses, its longest such streak since February 2009, as investors continued to worry that the recovery has run out of steam.

The US Federal Reserve Beige book suggested that economic activity across the 12 reported Fed districts generally continued to expand albeit at a slower pace in May.

Australia needs to brace for higher electricity rates and transport costs as soon as the government implements the carbon tax. This is one of the key results of the independent study made by the designated independent team the Productivity Commission.

An Air New Zealand Boeing 767 made an emergency landing at the Auckland airport on Thursday after experiencing engine problems shortly after take-off, the airline and emergency services said.

Australia’s unemployment rate eased at 4.9 percent in May as some 7,800 were employed raising the total to 11.445 million, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced on Thursday. Nevertheless, the type of jobs created by the economy has been eroded with lesser full-time jobs and more part-time work offered to residents.

- Australian Institute of Management completes National Salary Survey- Survey shows a skills shortage is generating increased wage pressures- Companies are responding by becoming increasingly flexible- Training and development programs also increasing By Chris ShawThe Australian Institute of Managem...

The AUD has found support back at 1.0600 and the market believes the most likely move in the near term will be a retracement back up to the top of the trading range at 1.0760. That said, today’s employment numbers, due at 11.30am AEDT, could be a game changer. A number below 20k could see the AUD’s outlook shift to bearish.

Industrial action will soon hit the Australian coal operations of BHP Billiton as some 4000 coking coal workers are set to walk out from their job sites beginning next week, demanding from the giant resources company better pay and solid tenure assurances.

Two statements from Stockland Holdings yesterday failed to have a dramatic impact on the share price, but they did show the way the company is changing its orientation.

Housing affordability has seen a slight improvement, but the REIA has claimed affordability still constitutes a significant hurdle for homebuyers.

Leading mortgage brokers and non-banks have thrown aside normal competitive pressures to join forces in a last stand against the government's impending ban on exit fees, which is set to come into force on 1 July.

Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, today announced that the Government has suspended the export of live cattle to Indonesia "until new safeguards are established for the trade".

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 21 points or 0.2% while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1279 and the Nasdaq was hit 1.

For the first time, Australia's biggest airport will be managed by a woman effective on 1 July, the company said as Ms Kerrie Mather has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sydney Airport.

Failure to actively groom women throughout the leadership pipeline is a huge risk for businesses, particularly with a growing skills shortage in many industries and an ageing workforce, but if it's done well it can represent a vast opportunity.

Foreign investors are not letting Japan's rough trot upset them, or the fear of a credit rating downgrade worry them; they are continuing to load up on Japanese securities, according to figures released yesterday.

The banking industry is set to review the long-term future of paying by paper as the chequebook's days are numbered while PINs continue win over pens.

The current conditions in the commodity markets may represent an unsustainable bubble which is open to a sudden correction, warns a new report from Standard and Poor’s global rating service.

Australia's government led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard did not promise to give the local cattle industry any compensation for the recent implementation of a live export ban to Indonesia, which will last for six months.

Sony Corp.'s film studio said yesterday it has provided notice to the approximately 37,500 people who may have had some personally identifiable information stolen during the recent attack on sonypictures.com.