AUSTRALIA

A group of U.S. senators urged President Barack Obama Monday to back legislation requiring the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a long list of other trade pacts they blame for millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Japan's Asahi Breweries said it could spend up to 400 billion yen ($4.6 billion) on acquisitions to avoid getting left behind amid a rush towards consolidation in the global food and beverage industry.

The benchmark contract for European Union carbon emissions futures were steady on Tuesday, ignoring the threat of a blocks to an Australian emissions trading scheme, traders said.

A U.N.-backed scheme that aims to reward developing nations for saving or rehabilitating their forests has made major progress during climate negotiations over the past two years and is likely to advance further at talks in Copenhagen.

The Australian government's plans to cut carbon emissions were headed for defeat in a hostile Senate after the elevation of a new opposition leader opposed to carbon trade laws, setting a trigger for an early 2010 election.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia's No. 2 oil and gas producer, said on Tuesday about half of the construction workers for its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project have gone on strike over housing issues.

The yen tumbled on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan called an emergency policy review to discuss ways to boost the ailing economy, but it regained some ground after the meeting when the central bank did not go as far as some investors had expected.

Looking to work overseas? Head to Canada, Australia or Thailand, according to an annual global survey which found recession-hit Britain was one of the worst locations to live for expatriates.

Australia's key policy to fight global warming limped closer to defeat on Monday with parliament set to delay or reject the government's carbon emissions trade scheme, raising the chances of an early election.

Australia's major rivers are shrinking and farms are gripped by drought as scientists warn of climate change, but that has not convinced some skeptical politicians to back carbon-trade laws.

Australia has overtaken the United States, the heartland of the McMansion, to boast the world's largest homes, according to a report by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Australian upmarket department store David Jones Ltd is cautiously confident about its sales performance over the upcoming Christmas sales period, Chief Executive Mark McInnes said on Monday.

The 2008-09 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 tabled in Parliament today shows that the Rudd Government is delivering more funding for more aged care services to more older Australians.

Violence and theft. Not words one would normally associate with Leona Lewis, the squeaky-clean winner of The X Factor, who went on to stunning worldwide success with her debut album, Spirit.

Movie flops aren't just about losing money. Yes, big budgets that go bust are one consideration. But flops are also about lofty expectations dashed and high profiles brought low. They trigger embarrassing catcalls from the peanut gallery and a general whoever-thought-that-was-a-good-idea-in-the-first-place bewilderment.

Australia's parliament delayed a final vote on a government carbon trade plan on Friday, missing a key deadline, throwing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's climate change policy into doubt and raising the possibility of a snap election.

One of News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch's sons sold about $27.6 million of his shares in the media company this week as his investment company purchased a large stake in an Australian radio broadcaster.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would lobby for support for his plan to make banks pay for any future bailout at a Commonwealth summit this week.

Global miner BHP Billiton dismissed talk on Thursday that its iron ore partner, Rio Tinto , was baulking at their proposed $116 billion joint venture and said they were close to a binding agreement.

New Zealand insurer and fund manager Tower Ltd on Thursday reported a 23 percent rise in full-year profit on growth in its core businesses.

Australian nickel miner Minara Resources Ltd will submit a joint bid with a Chinese firm on Wednesday for BHP Billiton's Ravensthorpe nickel operation, a source familiar with the bid told Reuters.