Jamelle Agbuis

Olympic track champion Gerraint Thomas of Sky Procycling has snatched the lead in the Santos Tour Down Under after an impressive win on the second stage of the six day UCI WorldTour event.

Everybody's worried about America's middle class. Some say they're hurtin'. Others say they're disappearing. Most want to help them out.

Safety and quality seem like obvious goals for health care education. But improving the way budding doctors and nurses are taught, bringing those professions together in the classroom and clinical settings, and measuring the results, turns out to be a challenge.

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.

Tiger Woods completed a four-shot victory at the Farmers Insurance Open on Monday, despite some anxious moments.

Reseachers from the University of Melbourne and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) have discovered a new protein that protects against viral infections such as influenza.

It's a whitish, ductile metal. It is No. 46 on the Periodic Table of Elements...and it is a "Buy". I don't just mean that it is a solid investment opportunity in which you can buy shares. I'm talking about an opportunity so big, you could literally pull a truck up to the front door - but make sure it's an armored truck, as I'll explain below - and drive home with the stuff.

After few years, finally Toyota Motor Corp. got it. According to data released on the 28th of January, the Japan's company has discrowned US General Motors Co. and has become the world's top carmaker after 4 years.

Ryanair witnessed strong profits in its third fiscal quarter ended December as the company enjoyed extensive pre-holiday reservations. The increase in fuel prices, however, did not seem to affect the profits of the airline.

Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy is the latest high earner to do a runner from France. He wants to set up a private equity fund in London and will be escaping the 'tax the rich' environment in his former home. French actor Gerard Depardieu broke the same news a few months ago.

The maker of Cartier jewelry Richemont SA posted its third quarter results showing that sales in the period grew by approximately 5 percent at constant exchange rates and about 9 percent at actual rates.

The connection between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration as we grow older has been elusive. But for the first time, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a link between these hallmark maladies of old age. Their discovery opens the door to boosting the quality of sleep in elderly people to improve memory.

Starve it to death by depriving it of what appears to be a favorite food: HDL cholesterol.

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.

If your goal as a leader is to be an authoritarian and rule over people rather than represent them and govern on their behalf, then you're probably a student of one of the most popular and oft-taught political principles throughout the ages: the use of fear.

As more and more people wake up to the dangers of fluoride, chlorine, pharmaceuticals, and the many other toxic compounds found in municipal water supplies, the market for bottled water has exploded. But in the process, some major food and beverage corporations have unwittingly begun peddling that very same tap water in bottles as "pure," a deceptive labeling term that is the subject of a new trade controversy in Europe.

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.

At last! The UK Green Deal energy efficiency scheme is due to be entirely launched on the 28th of January. The green initiative has been strongly backed by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary.

Starbucks Corp. reported a 13 percent jump in profits in its first fiscal quarter which was driven by high-end sales in the US and China, where other cafes have suffered losses lately. The results matched the expectations of analysts who predicted similar high rise profits.

Santander UK is speculated to be eyeballing a £2 billion acquisition of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks as it wants to bolster and expand its presence in the Great Britain.

Occasionally, the laboratory efforts of research scientists contracted by Big Pharma produce side effect findings that are of interest to those of us who focus on natural preventative and healing remedies.

Worldbex Services International (WSI), the leading events and exposition management company in the Philippines takes charge to another year of Asia’s largest and much anticipated building and construction trade show, the 18th Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition – WORLDBEX 2013 “ON SOLID GROUND” at the World Trade Center Manila and Philippine Trade Training Center this March 13-17, 2013 from 10AM to 8PM.

After all, it seems that the long battle for Fraser & Neave Ltd. is over. Apparently, a group led by Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. decided to withdraw from the race as it did not increase its bid to match Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's offer of approximately $11.2 billion for the Singapore-listed property and beverage company.

An outbreak of extreme wealth has been exacerbating the problem of inequality, thus making it much more difficult to fight with poverty, according to Oxfam International - the worldwide confederation of 17 organizations. As it was underlined prior to the annual meeting in Davos, the world's richest 100 individuals collected enough in 2012 to put an end to the burning issue of poverty.

Real estate agents who have been avoiding Facebook now have even less excuse to avoid the social network behemoth. The company's recent announcement that they would be setting up a "graph search" on the website - meaning that the search function will become more accurate and allow more specific requests - could lead to Facebook users utilising the site more often in their hunt for new property.

David Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain, promised the UK membership of the European Union following an extensive reform which would include an in and out referendum, provided his party is re-elected as the government in the 2015 general elections. However, some European leaders disagree with Cameron's pledge to renegotiate membership terms.

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.