Erik Pineda

The soon-to-be merged groups already agreed on a name, Glencore Xstrata International, and executives have settled their corporate positions and roles but the planned marriage appeared to have overlooked an important detail - the expressed consent of independent investors.

BHP Billiton said on Wednesday that its latest half-year results deviated from previous performances, achieving only a net income of $9.9 billion for the last six months leading to the end of December 2011.

Australia celebrates with the United Kingdom on its ongoing fete that highlights the six-decade rule of Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world's longest serving monarchs.

Political intervention will not benefit Australia's banking customers, according to leading figures of the nation's banking industry.

Smartphones supplanted personal computers as the bestselling gadget in 2011, with analysts crediting both Apple and Samsung for creating 'hero' handsets that delivered record-breaking results.

A weak retail environment this year could mean freeze hiring and even job losses, according to the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA), citing that latest data points to that dreadful likelihood.

America's recent hint that its combat role in Afghanistan could be transformed into training mission by middle of 2013 could accelerate Australia's withdrawal from the war-torn country.

All the fanfare normally attending the first sitting of the Parliament were present, punctuated by a bible reading that delved into 'betrayal', yet for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the first order of business is to focus on the economy.

The blockbuster 'merger of equals' between Xstrata and Glencore is nearing completion, media reports said, which indicated too that barring further glitches, the deal will be finalised by Tuesday this week.

Samsung Electronics has clarified over the weekend that its role on a television commercial produced by an Israeli network was limited only on a Galaxy tablet computer being employed in the promotional clip.

Latest inflation levels appear to be within the mark set by central bank authorities for the current year, according to the January edition of the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute measure of consumer prices.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard emphasised over the weekend the importance of loyalty and discipline within members of the Australian Labor Party, stressing that in-fighting and not the Coalition alone, would spell the end of Labor rule.

Xstrata, one of the biggest mining operators in Australia, is reportedly negotiating with giant commodities trading firm Glencore for a likely blockbuster merger that analysts said could easily reach $US79 billion.

January marked the significant growth of Australia's service industries, pushing up by 2.9 to 51.9 points in the month, according to the new survey jointly conducted by the Australian Industry Group (AIG) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

Australia's trade surplus further expanded in December, adding up $366 million in the month to reach $1.709 billion, creating a wide margin that according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was mostly delivered by commodity shipments.

The thought of following the lead of Gina Rinehart occurred on Clive Palmer, who declared on Thursday that dipping his fingers on media business was not bad proposition at all.

The standard Labor answer whenever the change of leadership question props up is "there is no vacancy."

Global productivity generally spiked in the first month of 2011 amidst the lingering financial woes battering much of Euro economies and the slowdown predicted by economists to hound China this year.

Australian authorities have ordered on Wednesday the destruction of some 24,000 ducks in Victoria to contain the spread of the avian flu detected in the southern region of the country.

The new generation of Nokia smartphones have been envisioned to tread more on the path of aesthetics.

It could only be a matter of time for the World Wide Web to shed its rough edges and mature into a new phase that 'automatically' guards against the intrusions of unwanted contents and materials.

Holden announced on Thursday the immediate implementation of new measures that it said will allow the carmaker to sustain its current production capability while bringing down costs at the same time.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed the spotty connection in Australia for her failure to get in touch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 8.9 will not hit the German market after all following an appeal court decision on Tuesday, finding the South Korean tech giant in clear violation of unfair competition laws.

Australian manufacturers have been experiencing growth over the past two months but analysts said the jumps were too minimal and barely out of the contraction level.

Coles' latest ploy of imposing steep discounts on fresh produce being sold on its numerous stores could backfire and drive many Australian farmers out of business.

Hancock Prospecting owner Gina Rinehart has reportedly acquired new shares of Fairfax Media on Tuesday, which could make her as the biggest single investor of the century-old company.

The Australian government will make true of its pledge to realise a budget surplus by 2013, notwithstanding the challenges this year that economists said could plunge key economies into recession, specifically in Europe.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Monday that China violated global trade regulations when it restricted the shipments of nine materials that were crucial in the production activities of steel, aluminium and chemical industries in a number of nations.