Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, has announced a huge investment of $1.1 billion innovation fund to help startups and STEM. The National Innovation and Science Agenda, announced at Australia's science body in Canberra CSIRO on Monday, has been labeled as an "ideas boom" to move Australia forward after the "mining boom."
Oceania
Iluka ceases production at Jacinth-Ambrosia project; to trim 33 jobs
Iluka Resources said it will cease production in zircon operation at Jacinth-Ambrosia project in South Australia following fall in zircon prices. The company's decision will positively impact the global market.
OPPO Releases Aussie Emoji Keyboard App For Androids
Three out of five Aussies considers emoji as the universal language for messaging. OPPO Mobile Australia has released Aussie Emoji Keyboard reflecting the spirit of Aussie culture. Primarily the keyboard features more than 40 Australian themed emojis and available only for the Android users for free in the Google Play Store.
Wynn Macau Cautions Casino Contractor For Compensation Up to $200 Million Over Construction Delay
Wynn Palace, an under construction casino, is widely expected to attract Chinese consumers and thus transform Macau to a popular tourist region. The casino project has been expected to be completed by June 25 followed by a revision on deadline. But work progress seems to be slow and the contractor for the $4.1 billion project is probably going the miss the extended time frame further. Steve Wynn, founder of Wynn Macau Ltd. has sent a letter to the construction company cautioning to count compensation up to $200 million if it fails to meet the revised deadline.
BHP Billinton Writes Down US Shale Assets Worth $7.2 billion, No Surprise For The Investors
Oil and gas market have been tattering due to existing sharp downtrend in price. Many oil companies have been writing down the value of shale assets over the past 20 months since prices started crashing. BHP Billinton Ltd. has also become dependent on bank debts to maintain soaring expenses and plans to cut dividends for the first time in 25 years. Finally, following the industry trend, BHP has announced for writing down US energy assets worth $7.2 billion.
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A Madrid base service and infrastructure company, Ferrovial SA offered a total of A$715 million in cash to acquire more than half of stakes in Broadspectrum Ltd. The new offer makes by the company comes after the Australian company rejected its previous offer a year ago that value the company at A$1 billion.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to hasten environmental tests of sulfur content on coal imports as Australian exporters claim that the new standards disrupts the trade and drives down the already low prices.
It seems like technology came too late for Martin Brody from the movie Jaws. The government of New South Wales, Australia spent big on advanced technology that can detect sharks to keep beachgoers safe this summer.
Google's two new Nexus devices are now available for pre-order in Australia Monday from the Google store, and will be widely available on November.
The $6.5-bn acquisition offer to Asciano Ltd by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is landed in trouble as the Australian regulator seeks an extensive review following the concern raised by the country's competition watchdog citing the reason that the Canadian firm's deal could lessen competition in rail haulage. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has postponed its decision on the acquisition offer made by Brookfield till 17 December.
Good news to Aussie Facebook lovers. Nearby Friends, a feature from Facebook can now be used by our mates in Down Under to locate their friends along the neighborhood or vice versa.
Australia - Vocus Communications will purchase M2 Group for A$1.93B. The merging will be completed in 2016. Vocus Communications Ltd. had come up with an agreement to purchase M2 Group for A$1.93B, that's US$1.35B worth. The deal will be the country's biggest acquisition in the telecom industry in four months, Bloomberg reported.
Buoyed with drop in Australian currency and rise in revenues from its asset management unit and risk management fees, Macquarie Group Ltd is confident of achieving 40 percent growth in profits for the first half of 2015 year.
Oil Search Ltd has refused the $8-billion takeover bid made by Woodside Petroleum Ltd, the biggest energy company in Australia. The rejection has turned out to be a major hurdle for Woodside Petroleum as the energy major is exploring low-cost LNG assets in Papua New Guinea (PNG), a nearby neighbor of Australia.
