ECONOMY

Gripped by a toxic smog pollution which doesn't seem to abate, Beijing will be barring fireworks on heavily polluted days in the lead up to the Spring Festival holiday on Sunday as part of a package of measures aimed at dealing with air pollution in the capital.

The United States Embassy in Manila said the U.S. government has vowed to extend the 'appropriate compensation' to the Tubbataha Reef that was damaged when its mine countermeasure ship USS Guardian ran aground on the precious World Heritage site on January 17.

A new research of Australia's data usage habits has found that Aussies have been venturing more towards wi-fi hotspots in increasing numbers, which is not surprising since the same study likewise revealed that half of all Australian adults now already own a smartphone. That Aussies will clamor for more free wi-fi hotspots to support their rapid mobile requirements is just a matter of time, so to speak.

A report released on Wednesday by the National Australia Bank (NAB) estimated that the number of jobless Australians would rise to 700,000 by the end of 2013. That means 50,000 Aussies would be added to the ranks of the unemployed.

Have you seen the news reports about the awful air pollution across China? Yes, I know. With all its breakneck growth over the past 25 years or so, the words 'air pollution' and China are almost one and the same. Still, right now, in the depths of winter, the air in China is unusually bad - even for China!

While you were off enjoying the Australia Day holiday, which was actually on Saturday, markets around the world mostly went up...again. This is all pretty standard in the era of the omnipotent central banker.

The increase in consumer prices proved to be lower-than- expected in the fourth quarter, widening the scope for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut down on interest rates to help lift the weakened economy. Also, the low rate of inflation pushed the Australian dollar to depreciate.

The Japan's Ministry of Finance informed that the annual trade deficit in 2012 increased to record $78 billion as the country saw its exports continue to decline due to a territorial dispute with China and prolonged crisis in Europe. The new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, tries to introduce new measures aimed at boosting the struggling economy.

It's morning in the world again. Yes, the sunshine beat down upon Southbank this morning. Your editor was out for a stroll after an early morning breakfast with some visiting colleagues. The armies of marching (and cycling) workers betrayed no sign of citizens under siege during a great war.

And there's only one currency that's not involved in the escalating currency wars. That currency is gold. So why is it continuing to lounge around, pretending that nothing is happening? We have a few ideas on that, but first let's look at the latest happenings in the currency war saga.

Virtual marketplace eBay has pulled out from its shelves the controversial 'Django Unchained' toys after the Weinstein Company, the film's producer and likewise facilitated the creation of the toys, discontinued making them following complaints and criticisms from various African-American advocacy groups.

Crediting strong sales of its Galaxy S3 smartphone and Galaxy Note 2 phablet, Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., now the world's preferred mobile phone maker, has reported profits during the fourth quarter of 2012 has jumped tremendously to a record high 76 per cent versus a year ago.

An international survey by content delivery provider Akamai Technologies has found that of all the continents in the world, Internet speed was found to be at its fastest in Asia.

After 19 years, U.S. military women soldiers wanting to engage in direct frontline combat as their ultimate service and sacrifice to their country will now become a reality as the Pentagon on Wednesday terminated its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles.

Given the speed of lightning exchanges in Twitter, a new research made by the Australian University of Sydney said public health authorities ought to maximise the medium to announce important and updated public health information.

Racing overtime, the World Wildlife Fund and the Australian Marine Conservation Society have merged together to create a conservation campaign, primarily geared towards political leaders, in a futile attempt to save the Great Barrier Reef from being delisted off its World Heritage status.

What could have been an otherwise pristine and silent coral reef has been turned into an overnight sensation after a Navy minesweeper vessel by no less than the world's economic giant unceremoniously damaged the protected marine area.

Google's main bottomline is to make passwords a thing of the past.

Obama's New Economy: Hundreds of Thousands of PhDs, Masters Graduates now on Food Stamps, Some Work as Janitors

Newest data showed that China's economic growth in the fourth quarter sped up for the first time in two years, but 2012 growth was the weakest in 13 years. It seems that the uncertain economic outlook might force the government to support further growth.

Toyota Australia on Friday announced it is ready to ship this year its four-cylinder automobile engines to Thailand and Malaysia.

When most, if not all, parents thought that sibling rivalry occurs only at stages when their children, most specially twins, get to understand the concept, a video research conducted by London doctors on twins showed the fight for supremacy starts early from inside the womb.

The International Monetary Fund informed that it approved the next loan tranche of approximately €839 million for Portugal under the country's €78 billion international bailout.

China's foreign direct investment decreased roughly 3.7 percent in 2012 from 2011. It is a first fall in China's annual FDI since 2009, according to the official figures. China saw its 2012 FDI drop as investors either had not been so keen on investing in emerging markets due to current economic conditions or had been choosing to transfer their businesses to markets with cheaper workforce.

The much touted Qantas and Emirates alliance will now finally lift off after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Thursday gave the two airline companies the awaited interim approval for its partnership.

In what seemed to be a subtle way of overturning Google's dominance in the search engine arena on the World Wide Web, Facebook launched on Tuesday its New Graph Search that enables its more than 1 billion users discover people, photos, places and interests. Well, at least for now.

Well here we go. Let the countdown begin. China's fourth quarter GDP numbers come out on Friday. We reckon most of the run up in the All Ords to 4751 has been in anticipation of good news. If form holds, stocks will trade down once the news is in.

Jacob Lew has been nominated to be the next Treasury Secretary of the United States. Mr Lew is an Obama Administration loyalist and insider, and is committed to the President's strategy of taxing his way out of America's $16.4 trillion deficit.

A $116 billion stimulus package has been approved as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to get the Japan's economy back on track after the dark times. The steps introduced by the Japanese government are aimed at forcing economic growth.