07/03/2012 World Business Report

will be a separate state. Now for the latest international

business news. It is time for World Business Report.

Welcome. The headlines: Allen Stanford faces the rest of his life

in jail after being found guilty in swindling and asters added billions

of dollars. -- investors. The tablet market is set to raise

again when Apple is to introduce a The lawyer for the one-time

billionaire Allen Stanford who was convicted of a $7 billion fraud

last night says he expects to appeal the verdict. The man who

wants bankrolled a $20 million us cricket tournaments faces the rest

of his life in prison. He was found guilty of defrauding up to 30,000

people from 100 different countries. Allen Stanford, one-time

billionaire with high-powered connections in the US, UK and

Antigua, now revealed as a fraudster. He created I financial

scam over the -- over 20 years. He funnelled the money through a

secret Swiss bank accounts to fund his own lavish lifestyle.

appears to have paid off the regulators. It was just the

constant of spinning of money. 30,000 investors lost money through

the scheme. He has been in JLC ins 2009. -- being in jail since. The

key to his convection is due to his long-time aide who turned into a

star witness for the US government. His conviction is the latest in a

series of high-profile fraud prosecutions in America. It looks

highly unlikely that investors will get any of their money back. His

lawyers say they will appeal the conviction.

We are following the events in the US. It sounds like Mitt Romney has

been narrowly won at the very important state of Ohio. This was

closely contested with Rick Santorum. Eight looks like Mitt

Romney has won at the state which is the key state to win during

today's events. It is one of the largest and reflects the American

voters in four. It is a wide range of people being represented in the

state of Ohio. Mitt Romney has narrowly won that state. More later.

Australia's economy has expanded at half the pace experts had expected.

Fourth-quarter GDP rose 0.4% from the previous three months. I

enjoyed by a senior economists. Why is Australia struggling? There is a

mining boom going on. That means the Australian dollar has been very

strong and that interest rates are very high. Those sectors of the

economy which are exposed to the Australian dollar, like the tourism

and education sectors, are suffering. Interest rates sectors

as well. That is the main reason. Parts of the economy which is not

directly exposed to mining is going through a tough time. Is this a

trend we should be concerned about? We think of Australia as the one

economy back did not go into recession when the rest of us did.

It is going through a tough patch now? The overall economy has

underperformed for the last four years. There are reasons for that

including flooding, the international financial crisis but

there is also a structural change going on. If you assume peak mining

boom is going to continue due to the Chinese economic strength, the

strong Australian dollar is something Australian businesses

will have to get used to. It is proving to be quite difficult for

many. Australians are saving much more than they used to. They are

less inclined to spend. These other things that are going on which

mitigate against the strength of the economy. How do you ever come

back? The fact the Australians are saving more is a good thing for

their own personal financial help. Especially when they get older. The

Australian economy it warned their people out there spending in the

shops. You cut interest rates. The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates

twice. We think they will cut it again. We will get few years on the

unemployment rate tomorrow which we think is accelerating modestly. In

the short-term, there is scope for monetary policy to play a part in

helping the Australian economy along. There is a longer term issue

in the structure. Governments will have to address it in the next

couple of years. Thank you. Let's look at other parts of Asia.

The slowdown is being felt elsewhere. What is happening in

Malaysia? It has slowed down in his export

figures by 0.4%. It is lower than broadcasted. Some of these could be

attributed to the seasonal factors such as the Chinese New Year. There

are other factors at work. For instance, the slowdown in Europe.

Technology exports have been hit. And exports to China and Singapore

were also weak. One bright spot was palm oil. Malaysia is the second

largest producer of palm oil. Its prices have spike. Prices rose 7.5%

from one year ago. Still with China announcing lower growth target for

the year, this may have an impact. Brazil and Shelia have announced a

slowdown in growth and this could infect other economies in the

region as well. -- Brazil and Australia.

Let's talk about Apple. They are trying to keep their age in the

tablet market. There is an expectation they will outsell

traditional desktop computers. They are expected to launch a new

version of the iPad today in sun Francisco. -- sun Francisco.

An old fashioned bakery using new technology. Along with a latte and

an iPad to sign with your finger. Its tablet computer has replaced

the traditional register in this bakery. There are many benefits.

All of our systems are Apple. It is connected to the iPad and it makes

it easier. We are able to export our reports directly into Excel. It

says as time. We do not need a book-keeper. Imagine if tabards we

used in businesses up and down the street. That is a world Apple were

like to see in the future. It is why the company's bust has a lot

riding on the launch of the iPad three. Candi tablet computer

overtake the PC market? This technology blogger says that day is

not as far off as you may expect. For most people, the Tablet end up

serving most of their needs. They are actually cheaper than expensive

PCs. The prediction is some time around at the fall of 2013, tablets

or past PC sales. Businesses are helping to drive at -- Drive tablet

sales. We see more and more about communication customers beginning

to use tablets in place of or in addition to personal computers in

the workplace. We see small businesses and even of Fortune 500

enterprises which are making the tablet and everyday business tour.