Unemployment rate in Japan rose to a 5.4% in June, marking a six year high even as consumer prices fell at a rapid pace amid signs that the economy is still struggling to recover from the impact of recession.

The statistics bureau of Japan reported on Friday that the country’s unemployment rate had inched higher from 5.2% in May this year to 5.4% in June, marking the highest point in the last six years. The latest rise in jobless rate was higher than the 5.3% median forecast made by economic experts.

Yet another economic report revealed that consumer prices in Japan fell last month at a record rate of 1.7%. This estimate does not include prices of fresh food and is the preferred gauge of consumer prices by Japan’s Central Bank.

Analysts believe that coming months will see further worsening of Japan’s employment condition, with the jobless rate rising to a record 5.8%. This is because more companies are laying off jobs in an attempt to cut costs as the worst post-war recession in Japan lingers on. However there are some signs of the economy looking up as rate of exports in Japan rise and factory output rebounds.

Americans spend around $34 billion a year on alternative medicine, a new government report revealed on Thursday.

The report also estimated that Americans pay a third of the amount from their own pockets of what they spend on prescription drugs. Most of the money spent on alternative medicine goes into buying herbal supplements, visits to the chiropractor, meditation practices as well as other complementary and alternative medicines.

The estimates were compiled on the basis of response to a national health survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics in 2007. anOther important finding of the report claimed that the money spent on complementary and alternative medicine products and services in America comprise nearly 11% of the overall out-of-pocket spending on healthcare.

Other highlights of the government report reveal that the biggest out of pocket expenditure of $15 billion was directed towards non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements while almost $12 billion were spent fon visits to practitioners like acupuncturists, homeopathic specialists and chiropractors. Yet another $4 billion in out of pocket expenses went towards stretching and meditation-related sessions like yoga, tai-chi and qigong while $2.9 billion accounted for homeopathic medications.

British Airways Plc posted a larger-than-expected loss in its first fiscal quarter this year as air travel continued to slide because of the global recession.

London-based British Airways reported a net loss of 106 million pounds or $175 million over the three months ending June this year which was higher than the 96 million pound loss that had been forecast by industry analysts. Compared to this, the airlines had notched up a profit of 27 million pounds for the same period a year back. Current year First quarter sales at British Airways also fell by 12 percent to just 1.98 billion pounds.

British Airways is the third largest airlines in Europe and has been struggling to cut costs to combat the effects of recession. The airlines has delayed plane deliveries, cut back on in-flight catering and even talked of cutting as many as 4000 jobs across Britain. Earlier this month, British Airways also raised around $1 billion in new funding as part of its strategy to boost cash flows.

Airlines across the world have been suffering from declining traffic, especially in the first class and business segments. At British Airways, passenger traffic fell 3.8 percent in the first quarter while the proportion of seats filled came down by 1.1 percentage points to 72.9 percent.

One of the most popular travel destinations in Southeast Asia is the small city state of Singapore whose nature parks are among the best in the world. The Underwater World in Singapore in fact is only the second of its type in the world, the first being located in Japan.

Singapore’s Underwater World is tropical oceanarium which has around 2500 creatures from 250 species. The underwater tunnel with moving walkway lets visitors have a fish-eye view of life beneath the surface of the sea. One can see fishes all around and sea-horses, sea-dragons and dugong are only some of the rare sea creatures that are visible. Singapore Wetlands is the latest addition to this oceanarium where one can see freshwater and estuarine animals found in Singapore as well as in neighboring areas. Some of these animals include the Archerfish, Monitor Lizard, Mangrove Horseshoe Crab, Mud Crab, Oriental Small-clawed Otter, Mudskipper and Sea Turtle. However it is difficult to sight most of these creatures as many are nocturnal and do not come out during the day or are disturbed by the sight of visitors.

Underwater World offers several surface attractions as well like the Turtle Pool, the Touch Pool and the Living Reef. To visit this amazing place, check out the best hotel deals in Singapore at www.ooaha.com.

Passengers travelling by train in parts of Southeast England and on a key route to London are in for harrowing times as workers on the National Express East Anglia franchise begin a 48-hour strike.

The National Express workers’ strike is expected to affect rail services through Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex besides hampering travel on important rail routes into and out of the national capital London. Trains to Stansted Airport, Southend and Colchester are also likely to be hit by the workers’ agitation.

Yet another crucial rail route to London from Norwich is also expected to be severely hit. Around two million commuters use the London-Norwich line every week, most of whom are City workers who arrive into the capital through London’s Liverpool Street Station. Operator National Express East Anglia called the agitation “unrealistic and unnecessary” while union members threatened that it might force the East Anglia branch to shut down completely.

The strike is being called by members of the RMT or Rail and Maritime and Transport union as well as by Aslef members over increase of pay. While National Express claims to have offered the workers a pay hike above the national rate of inflation, union members claim that the operating company is putting profits before its workforce and customers.

Insurance broker Aon Corp posted its second quarter results on Thursday marking an increase of 9 percent in earnings.

Aon Corp announced that in the second quarter its net income was $149 million or 52 cents a share marking a 9% rise in earnings from previous quarter. However its second quarter earnings were still a far cry from last year’s profits of $1.1 billion or $3.71 a share in the same quarter which included a gain of $ 1 billion from the profitable sale of the company’s underwriting units.

In the second quarter this year Aon also marked a rise in income from continuing operations which apart from special items grew from 70 cents to 76 cents. However company executives revealed that revenues in the second quarter fell by 4 percent to $1.89 billion.

Despite the fall in revenues and investment income, Aon Corp. managed to post 9% rise in second quarter earnings by substantially pruning its operating costs. This follows from the recent trend of insurers slashing rates on commercial coverage to get more business thus eating into brokers’ profits.

Aon Corp is the largest global insurance broker by world market. Its main business is to find insurance coverage for commercial enterprises.

Israel is a land of where the past and present come together in many striking ways. While its political past continues to be a source of unrest, the ancient history of the land makes for several exciting travel destinations in Israel.

One of the most visited destinations of travelers to Israel is the archeological site of Caesarea. The history of city site goes back to ancient Roman times as the name suggests. In about 22 B.C.E King Herod another Roman king seized control of the city and ordered the construction of a number of grand buildings. Most of these structures were built as evidence of the might and glory of his own empire. Some of the structures and its parts that survive till this day echo with the grandeur and strength of ancient architectural traditions. visitors to Caesarea can still see an amphitheater, a bathhouse, aqueducts and other artifacts from Herod’s age.

After the decline of Roman supremacy in Caesarea, the Crusaders took over in the C.E. 1100s. they constructed buildings with the prime intention of protecting the city against invaders and this architectural premise can be seen in the remains of the city walls and fortresses which survive to this day.

Visitors to this ancient Israeli city can check out www.ooaha.com which has best Caesarea hotel deals.

German car maker BMW announced its exit from Formula One Championships at the end of the 2009 season in a press conference at Munich on Wednesday.

BMW, the Germany-based car maker put rumors to rest by confirming its withdrawal from Formula One championship on Wednesday morning. This comes after days of reconsidering the company’s investment in the sport. BMW had taken over Sauber in 2005 but had started facing difficult times since last year due to the global recession and its consequent impact on global car sales.

The withdrawal of BMW from the Formula One car racing event throws the future of the Formula One Championships into uncertainty as it comes just eight months after Honda’s dramatic exit last December. The withdrawal of key car makers from the sporting event also puts a question mark on the proposed signing of the Concorde Agreement. Under the terms of this new agreement, thirteen teams would have been legally bound to the sport until the year 2012. It was expected that member teams would sign the Concorde Agreement by the end of this week. However with the withdrawal of Honda and now BMW, other car makers like Toyota and Renault are also reported to be considering their investment into the sport.

Home prices in major cities across United States registered the first monthly rise after nearly three years, bringing in fresh hopes that the worst of the housing market slump may be finally over.

The Case-Shiller index compiled by Standard & Poor showed that home prices in 20 US metropolitan areas rose 0.5% in the three month period ending May from what they were in the previous quarter ending April this year. The latest rise in home prices marked the first increase in the index after almost 34 months of continuous decline.

The marginal rise in Case-Shiller home price index is the latest in a series of positive signs that the US housing market may be recovering after having sunk to the bottom last year. Industry analysts believe that the April-to-May rise in home prices represent a significant change from continuously falling home prices. The index in fact reveals that in fifteen of the twenty metropolitan areas surveyed, home prices rose or at least remained stable. This news comes in the wake of yet another industry survey which found that sale of new as well as existing homes was on the rise for three straight months through June.

Media company Viacom Inc revealed a sharp drop in profits in its second quarterly results due to lower sales of television advertising and its movie DVDs in the market.

Profits of Viacom Inc plunged by 32% as the company reported net income of $277 million or 46 cents per share in the quarter ending June this year. on the other hand In the same period last year, the company had registered a net income of $406 million or 46 cents a share. Net revenues too fell 14% in the second quarter to $3.3 billion.

The drastic fall in profits at Viacom is being attributed to the advertising downturn which has affected almost all media companies in the United States. Besides that Viacom suffered due to falling sales of its movie DVDs as well as its “Rock Band” video game. Even its film studio Paramount Pictures did not perform well and lost considerable sums of money.

Another reason why Viacom seemed to struggle with its bottom-line is because its flagship MTV network was unable to garner high viewer ratings. Executives have now decided to try various combinations of reality shows to better appeal to young audiences. Based in New York, Viacom Inc is controlled by Sumner Redstone.