In the News...

CHINA MANUFACTURING GROWING

Chinese manufacturing grew by the biggest margin in five years in December, fuelling growth expectations for the world's third-biggest economy.

The purchasing managers index (PMI) from HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics reported the fastest rate of growth since records began in 2004.

The index is based on a survey of more than 400 Chinese manufacturers.

The finding supports the view among some economists that China's economy could grow by as much as 10% this year.


ICELAND VOTE ON BANKS

Iceland's president has announced plans to hold a referendum on the payment of compensation resulting from the collapse of the country's banks.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimmson said he would not sign a controversial bill to repay $5bn lost by UK and Dutch savers in Icesave accounts.

The government has seen strong domestic opposition to the bill.

The Landsbanki bank, which ran the Icesave accounts, collapsed at the height of the banking crisis in 2008.

The money would have gone to the UK and Dutch governments who compensated Icesave holders following the collapse.


BONO CAUSES A NET STORM

Bono, frontman of rock band U2, has warned the film industry not to make the same mistakes with file-sharing that have dogged the music industry.

Writing for the New York Times, Bono claimed internet service providers were "reverse Robin Hoods" benefiting from the music industry's lost profits.

He hinted that China's efforts prove that tracking net content is possible.

The editorial drew sharp criticism, both on its economic merits and for the suggestion of net content policing.


AUSTRALIA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DOWN

Australia's unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in November, as the country's economic recovery continued.

The jobless rate dropped to 5.7% last month, from 5.8% in October, as 30,800 new full-time jobs were created, said the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure surprised analysts, who had been expecting the unemployment rate to increase in November to 5.9%.

The latest figures raise the prospect that Australia will increase interest rates again.

Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates to 3.75% from 3.5% - the third month in succession that it had increased the price of borrowing.

Australia was also the first major economy to raise interest rates since the outbreak of the global financial crisis.


GOOGLE LOSES OUT TO CANADIANS

A Canadian company behind a search engine called Groovle.com has won a case filed against it by online search giant Google.

Google said the domain name used by the small business, 207 Media, was too similar to its own, but mediators the National Arbitration Forum disagreed.

In the complaint, Google asked for the judges to rule that 207 Media transfer the domain name over to it.

But three judges appointed by the forum refused the request.

They said the name was not similar enough to confuse people and the word 'groovle' was more closely linked to "groovy" or "groove" rather than Google.


SOURCE: BBC NEWS