China’s industrial output has slowed to its weakest growth since the financial crisis, prompting concerns over the global recovery. Production rose by 5.4% in January and February – the worst since 2008. China is trying to refocus its economy from investment and export-led growth to consumer spending. UK finance minister George Osborne said China’s slowdown is one of a “dangerous Read More

India’s retail inflation is expected to have eased in February helped by falls in prices of some food items, after edging up for six straight months, raising expectations of a central bank rate cut next month. Analysts say Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, could soften monetary stance after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stuck to a fiscal Read More

Brisbane is falling in love with apartments – and it’s creating a dramatic shift in the way Brisbanites live. In the inner-southern suburbs, CoreLogic RP Data’s median unit price of $688,750 outstrips the median house price by almost $80,000. Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella says many significant apartment projects are now well under way. “Like many inner-city Read More

Andreas Schleicher of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development says that British schoolchildren are falling behind in maths because lessons in the subject are ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’ Rex British schoolchildren are falling behind in maths because lessons in the subject are “a mile wide and an inch deep”, according to an international education expert. Maths Read More

US carmakers General Motors and Ford have both announced strategies geared at taking on the tech world’s growing influence in the car industry. GM will buy Cruise Automation, a firm that creates self-driving technology. Ford will set up a Silicon Valley-based subsidiary to invest in car-sharing and ride-hailing services. Both have been making investments in technology to boost their role Read More

European shares rose on Monday as funding plans from the European Central Bank for the region’s lenders buoyed markets, while Italian banking stocks surged on the prospect of a possible rescue deal. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had climbed 2.7 percent on Friday, was up 1 percent while the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also advanced 1.2 Read More

One of the northern beaches’ largest and most prestigious family estates has hit the market for the first time ever, and is tipped to smash the 2016 sales record out of the park. The sprawling property at 1-3 Amiens Rd, Clontarf, is part of the estate of the late Transfield founder Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, an Italian migrant who came to Australia Read More

Almost 30 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds in the UK said the information about apprenticeships in their school or college is ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ or ‘non-existent’, compared with just 6 per cent who thought the same about information they were given regarding university iStock School leavers are being put off becoming apprentices by widespread misconceptions about levels of pay, Read More

The UK’s trade deficit narrowed in January, official figures show, but its goods trade gap with the EU widened to a record level. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total trade deficit – covering goods and services – shrank to £3.5bn from £3.7bn in December. The deficit in goods alone narrowed to £10.29bn – down from £10.45bn the Read More

Stocks in Japan and China led gains on Monday, extending a rally on Wall Street which closed at its highest level so far this year on Friday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 finished the session up 1.75% to 17,233.75 points. Investor sentiment in Japan was given a boost as official machinery orders data showed a 15% jump in January from December, beating Read More