SERVICES

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).

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.

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.

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.

India will remain the top knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) global site despite challenges from China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon pushed for an amendment of the Qantas Sale Act to prevent a repeat of the unilateral grounding of Qantas planes which stranded about 70,000 passengers.

Qantas passengers stranded last week by the grounding of the airline's fleet can get a free return economy flight to any destination within Australia, or a trans-Tasman flight to New Zealand and back.

Arianespace will launch its sixth satellite for Optus by 2013 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The rocket will launch from Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, Paul O'Sullivan, Optus Chief Executive, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, announced in Sydney, Australia.

As floods continue to wreck havoc in Thailand, the death toll has now risen to 356 and more than 2 million had been affected within the 147 districts and 26 provinces still submerged by the worst natural disaster in a century in this developing Southeast Asian country.

Embattled Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce took responsibility for the grounding of the air carrier's planes and crew on Saturday and Sunday which stranded almost 100,000 passengers.

Qantas said it will compensate all reasonable losses of passengers stranded during the two-day grounding of its planes over the weekend on top of giving refunds and re-booking affected customers.

Qantas would immediately refund passengers for canceled flights and out-of-pocket expenses caused by Chief Executive Alan Joyce's unilateral decision to ground all crew and flights on Saturday until Monday noon. However, to get immediate refunds, ticket holders must contact Qantas's call centre.

Qantas hopes to appease angry customers and lure them back to its fold with lower domestic and international fares, double frequent flyer points and other special deals.

Although Qantas is back in the air following the intervention by Fair Work Australia (FWA) over the industrial dispute, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce did not escape recrimination for his unilateral decision to ground the planes and crew on Saturday.

The Transport Workers Union promised Monday that baggage handlers, ground crew and catering staff who belong to the union will not strike for the next 21 days, if Qantas negotiates in good faith.

Despite Fair Work Australia's (FWA) intervention on Qantas' labor row which will result in resumption of flights by 12 noon of Monday, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce's unilateral action did not escape criticism of several groups.

Qantas will resume flights by noon Monday after Fair Work Australia (FWA) ordered an end to its lockout and grounding of 108 planes that stranded 68,000 passengers worldwide since Saturday.

The confidence of small businesses in Australia is yet to be fired up, according to the results of the latest survey done by the National Australia Bank.

The ongoing industrial dispute in Qantas which has caused family holidays to be canceled and business meetings to be postponed has dug so far a $68-million hole in Qantas's pocket.

Victoria's water minister said the project manager of the desalination plant under construction in Wonthaggi will have to pay $1.6 million fine for each day of delay in finishing the project after the June 30 deadline.

More travel woes are in store for over 10,000 domestic Qantas passengers with another round of strike scheduled on Friday following the rejection by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) of an offer from Qantas.

Despite the inconvenience suffered by Australian travelers because of the Qantas series of strikes, public opinion still appears to favor the unions that represent the air carrier's workers, instead of Qantas management.

Tourism Australia and Jetstar entered into a $10-million partnership in an attempt to boost the country's visitor arrivals, particularly those from Japan.

Resource-related projects are expected to significantly boost the engineering and commercial construction sectors over the 2011/12 and 2012/13 financial years, according to Australia's leading construction companies.

Florida-based asset management firm Stonehenge Capital Management (SCM) announced Monday that its new direction-neutral hedge fund strategy called Forward Curve Realignment (FCR) resulted in strong returns one month after its launching.

Qantas's prolonged labor problem is affecting not only the air carrier's bottom line, but also the financial viability of Australia's tourism industry.

Qantas tickets have become more expensive because of the ongoing labor problem with unions. Travelers from Melbourne to Sydney now have to pay $150 more for a one-way ticket, News.com.au reports.

A Virgin Australia pilot inspecting a parked plane at the Brisbane airport was blown over a staircase by the engine blast from another plane positioning for takeoff on Thursday.

As European banks struggle to commit as to how much their book values should be stated against the backdrop of deep sovereign bonds restructuring, Australian banks have remained strong and viable, according to a top officer of the Reserve Bank.