ECONOMY

New Zealand's flag carrier is expecting higher earnings for the year ending June as its first quarter 2014 profits lifted 40 per cent to NZ$140 million from a year ago.

State-owned New Zealand Post has announced it will be axing more jobs in the coming months as it struggles to keep operations alive and well.

Coffee drinkers seeking to reduce their consumption of the beverage may want to seriously ponder on that plan. Prices of coffee in the world market are expected to increase, spurred by droughts resulting from climate change.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy continued to maintain the nuclear leak that came out from a nuclear waste plant in New Mexico poses no hazards to the health of nearby residents, even as levels of airborne radioactivity had been found to be "slightly elevated."

Water samples collected off the coast of Canada had revealed traces of radionuclides linked with the radiation leak at the crippled Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima.

With the smog enveloping Beijing already on its sixth consecutive day, the World Health Organisation said the current levels of air pollution in China has reached a crisis.

The skyline of Melbourne's central business district will soon change with the addition of five residential towers with over 2,000 apartments worth $557 million.

Rich Chinese affected by Canada’s dumping of its investor programme turn to Australia to invest

For the first time in 25 years, Pope Francis has led the overhauling of the Vatican's financial system. On Monday, he announced the creation of an economics secretariat to control all economic, administrative, personnel and procurement functions of the Holy See. Australian Cardinal George Pell will man the post and report directly to the pope.

Australians planning to travel anytime soon to the Philippines were reminded to take necessary precautions before proceeding to the Southeast Asian country. Western Australia has reported a growing number of measles cases from those who just recently came from the Philippines.

The percentage of jobless youth reaches a disaster point according to the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

China is gobbling up more and more of Australia's olive oil produce as the country gets more health-conscious.

Canada has announced on Wednesday the winning bidders of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction, which raked in a whopping total of C$5.27 billion ($4.76 billion).

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd jumped on Wednesday after the Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas company Devon Energy Corp announced on the same day that the Canadian firm would acquire some of its assets.

Chinese millionaires sought special investment visas, bringing their money with them to the country.

Chinese millionaires sought special investment visas, bringing their money with them to the country

Frequent Canadian air travelers may soon expect more direct flights between the country and Mexico following an expanded air travel agreement signed on Tuesday. Mexicans flying to Canada, however, still need to apply and secure visas.

Analysts based in London have likened New Zealand to Ireland in its state of pre-global financial crisis with an economy on the brink of collapse. In a Bloomberg report, SLJ Macro Partners Stephen Jen and colleague Faith Yimazn said it was only a matter of time before the New Zealand dollar will decline. Both analysts remarked that the reality is "quite different" despite the Kiwi dollar's strong performance as of late.

Chinese millionaires whose applications have been withdrawn after Canada scraped its Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) were hardly upset. They can always turn to the U.S. and Europe to expand and migrate anyway.

China is planning to build the world's longest underwater tunnel at a whopping cost of 220 billion yuan ($36 billion).

A web site in Russia accepts Bitcoin while USD is used in more unlawful transactions said chair of Bitcoin foundation.

With the growing childcare costs for nannies contracted through agencies, Australian mothers were forced to pay nannies through the 'black market' or through online and referral by friends. Nannies taken through this unregulated approach were only paid $15 per hour.

Indonesia has started to claim normalcy and control as it reopened on Sunday the airports closed on Java island following Mount Kelud's eruption on Thursday.

Australia's once-booming car manufacturing industry is now dead with the final blow delivered by Japanese car maker Toyota when it announced it will pull out of the country in 2017. In May 2013, Ford Motors said it would stop manufacturing cars in Australia. In December, Holden by General Motors followed suit. Toyota has sealed the fate of Australia's car industry by closing its assembly plants by the end of 2017. The last announcement has triggered fears of recession in Australia.

A recent household upload index has shown that Canada ranks only as a mere slow-moving 54th among the nations as far as Internet upload speeds is concerned. The country was listed just below Kenya and just above Mexico.

Air Canada's shares hit turbulence on Wednesday after the company announced an unfavorable fourth quarter 2013 results blaming the weak Canadian dollar and severe weather patterns.

Mexico's Grupo Bimbo SAB has acquired Canada Bread Company Limited for C$1.83 billion ($1.65 billion), the North American company announced on Wednesday.

New Zealand is expected to have a bigger growth rate in 2014 as Westpac bank raises its growth forecast to 4.2 per cent from the previous rate of 3.8 per cent. The bank revised its predictions following New Zealand's strong trade performance. In Westpac's recent economic review, the bank expects the Kiwi dollar to trade above $80 U.S. cents against the U.S. dollar and over 90 cents against the Australian dollar all the way to 2015.

Tokyo has a new governor, Yoichi Masuzoe. And with his election, observers believed it won't be long before some, if not all, of Japan's idling nuclear power plants get to restart again.