New figures from the New South Wales Government show that average Sydney rental prices are increasing by more than 10 per cent a year.

KIEV (AFP) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has asked Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to take over responsibility for solving the gas dispute with Russia, his spokesman Victor Baloga said Saturday.

The Fire Service says a fire at the Nyrstar zinc smelter in Hobart yesterday morning only caused minimal damage.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has not ruled out changing the law to force banks to make it easier for disgruntled home loan borrowers to shift their accounts.

BERLIN (AFP) - Airbus' A380 super jumbo, the world's largest passenger aircraft, has encountered problems with its inflatable escape slides, the Internet site of the Germany weekly Stern reported Saturday.

The Queensland Building Services Authority is warning people to do their homework before hiring a builder.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A 150-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan approved by the US Congress will give a shot in the arm to a lagging US economy, possibly mitigating the current downturn, analysts say.

TOKYO (AFP) - The head of the IMF on Saturday renewed his call for countries to consider fiscal measures to boost demand in the face of slowing economic growth caused by the US subprime loan crisis.

TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese government is planning to nominate Bank of Japan deputy governor Toshiro Muto as the next head of the central bank, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said Saturday.

BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazil's industrial output grew six percent last year, its biggest expansion since 2004, the state statistical agency said Friday.

The forestry union has condemned plans for a possible blockade to halt construction of the Gunns pulp mill at Bell Bay.

PARIS (AFP) - World stockmarkets lost 5.2 trillion dollars (3.

There is more industrial trouble brewing in Tasmanian schools.

TOKYO (AFP) - European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said Saturday the bank did not rule out either raising or lowering interest rates, while saying that the eurozone's economic fundamentals were sound.

TOKYO (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Saturday he was & quot;confident & quot; that the world's largest economy would continue to grow in 2008, rejecting talk of a recession triggered by housing market woes.

The Federal Opposition says a Government plan to make it easier for home loan customers to change banks won't do enough to cut costs for them.

TOKYO (AFP) - Group of Seven (G7) finance chiefs on Saturday called on China to allow faster appreciation of its currency, the yuan, to try to ease global economic imbalances.

Polaroid has announced it will stop producing the film that is used to produce its iconic pictures.

The fall-out from the closure of Mitsubishi in Adelaide is starting to spread through the local economy.

LONDON (AFP) - OPEC could switch the pricing of oil from dollars into euros within a decade, secretary general Abdullah al-Badri told a weekly magazine.