Business

Floods during the month of January have devastated Singapore. A major flood occurred from January 11 to January 12, 2007, during which almost 24 cm of rain fell, resulting in a landslide. A second major flood recently occurred at Kota Tinggi, leaving 17 people and 12 monkeys dead. As of January 31, 30,000 people still reside in relief centers in w:Johor. Almost 24 cm of rain fell in two days in northern Singapore, disrupting business operations in the area and triggering a landslide in Jalan Anak Bukit. The continuous rainfall, over 18 hours o

The United States Senate has approved a bill that will increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 [USD] over a period of two years. If passed and signed into law, this will mark the first time the minimum wage has been increased in 10 years. The measure will also decrease the amount of taxes that small businesses pay by about 8.3 billion dollars, which will balance out the cost to raise the minimum wage. "[This is] a victory for the American people. Passing this wage hike represents a small but necessary step to help lift America's working poo

India's steelmaker Tata Steel, of the Tata Group, buys Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group for £6.7 billion ($12 billion), making it the world's fifth largest steel manufacturer. 70-year-old Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, from one of India's best-known business families, won the race against Benjamin Steinbruch, 52, a famous Brazilian executive who is the chief and main owner of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). Tata paid investors 608 pence a share, whereas the Brazilians final offer in an auction by the U.K.'s Takeover Panel was 603 penc

Iran has announced that the country plans to expand its military and economic ties with Iraq, and that there are plans to build a branch of the Iranian Nation Bank in downtown Baghdad. Hassan Kazemi Qumi, Iran's ambassador to Baghdad has stated to The New York Times that the country plans to reconstruct Iraq and offer military training and supplies to the Iraqi military force for "the security fight." Qumi said the United States failed in the reconstruction of Iraq. "We have experience of reconstruction after war. We are ready to transfer thi

This Monday Hewlett-Packard is to announce that it is expanding its partnership with SAP. The partnership will be working with NetWeaver around several new services. The company is also expected to mention about its new enterprise solutions that are currently in development. Hewlett-Packard will offer its clients services for upgrading servers, storage and NetWeaver – SAP's application builder platform meant for integrating business processes throughout different systems. Among other services that the company is going to provide comprise asses

Kerry "maxduck" is trying to sell his letterbox on the popular New Zealand auction site, TradeMe, after his street was suspended from post being delivered to by New Zealand Post. Earlier last week New Zealand Post announced that it would temporarily stop delivering mail to three streets in Hamilton due to gang violence. The three streets includes 120 houses on Tennyson Road, Dryden Road, and Emerson Place, all the streets are located in Fairfield. Fiona Mayo, spokeswoman for New Zealand Post, said that if they had allowed posties to continue w

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey recently published a job advertisement that asked for a male document officer. A member of SHP, a mainstream Turkish political party, criticized the ad, stating that Trying to defend their position, the Central Bank officials stated that the job of a document officer is not a desk job, that it requires physical power, and that it is not suitable for women. They stated that they published the ad as it was in order not to give false hopes to prospective female job applicants. Although the traditional

According to a 2002 email exchange obtained by lawyers in an Iowa case, Microsoft executives wanted to "whack" Dell because it was focusing on Linux deals a little too much. The first email by Bill Veghte, currently a company vice president, describes a Linux panel where a Dell executive explains their plans to increase Linux in the enterprise market. The responses to his email start in a worried tone over market competition but quickly escalates as Paul Flessner, a senior vice president in Microsoft's server applications unit, states: Pa

Labatt, a company that makes beer, has decided to move their headquarters from Norwalk, Connecticut to Buffalo, New York. "We've got a very large volume base in Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester. Labatt USA is very excited to get back to Buffalo," said President of Labatt USA, Glen Walter, who also added that years ago the headquarters used to be in Buffalo. At least 20 marketing and sales jobs will be created as a result of the move. Offices will be housed in the Key Bank Tower located on Main Street in Downtown Buffalo. The move is expected t

The sales of the Microsoft Corporation has increased considerably during the latest quarter, having brought more profit than predicted by Wall Street. However, the delay in arrival of the major new products resulted in spoiled financial results. The quarter that finished in December marked the increase by 6 percent in the Microsoft sales, having reached the revenue of $12.5 billion. The delayed products - the latest versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 - are to be launched next week. Microsoft's video game business grew considerably i

French Presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has promised to address what he calls the French "moral crisis... of work". With unemployment for younger people running at alarming levels (15.5% in 2002 for those aged between 20 and 24 according to the OECD) and the memory of the 2005 riots still recent, Sarkozy promised to reign in government spending and implement tax policies that reward longer working hours. Once a matter of pride, the 35 hour maximum working week is seen by Mr. Sarkozy as contributing to the sluggish growth of the French ec

New Zealand policeman, Sergeant Gregory Arthur Smith has been caught by a speed camera going 115 kilometres per hour (km/h) in a 50km/h zone. Sergeant Smith has been charged with driving at a dangerous speed, despite having been responding to an emergency, and with his lights flashing. 42-year-old Sergeant Smith was responding to a priority one emergency involving ten school children on a crashed school bus, from Isla Bank School in Winton, Invercargill, New Zealand, and a car. The crash occurred on February 9, 2006. A priority one emergency