Melbourne, July 28 : Rising petrol prices are adversely affecting businesses, according to a survey.

About 49 per cent of the 1000 businesses surveyed said that the impact was “very significant”.

The survey conducted by CNET for 3 Mobile showed that 66 per cent of the respondents were businesses with fewer than 100 employers, while 27.8 per cent had just two to nine employees.

Such respondents covered a range of industries, including construction, education, heat, retail and IC&T (installation, checkout and test).

Melbourne, July 27 : Prince William took part in a British navy helicopter raid that opened fire on a speedboat believed to be used by drug runners, reports the Ministry of Defence.

On July 18, the 26-year-old, who is serving with British frigate HMS Iron Duke in the Caribbean, was on a Lynx helicopter that chased down the speedboat suspected of involvement in trafficking cocaine, reports News. com. au.

The helicopter chased the 9m boat about 175 km north of Venezuela''s and Colombia''s coastlines as it tried to avoid detection and ignored warning shots.

Melbourne, July 26: Employees Down Under are being given so much work these days that it is now eating away into a large chunk of their lifestyles, according to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

The union survey, which took in the views of more than 2800 Australian workers, found more than half reported that they often had too much work for one person to manage.

A third said their supervisors expected them to put work ahead of personal life, and 75 per cent said they would be happy to take a pay cut to work fewer hours.

The study was funded by the Australian Research Council and the South Australian, WA and Victorian Governments.

Melbourne, July 26: The Australian Federal Police (AFP) today said that it would not be responding to any parallel media inquiry, over allegations that it repeatedly denied a lawyer to Indian born doctor Mohamed Haneef during his first interview.

The AFP has also been accused of secretly hiding transcripts of interviews with Dr Haneef for more than a year.

Dr Haneef’s legal team Maurice Blackburn lawyers claimed that the AFP repeatedly ignored the Indian doctor’s request for a lawyer in the moments after his arrest.

Melbourne, July 25 : The number of worldwide UFO sightings might be increasing with every passing week, but skeptics are still not swayed by the theory that ‘aliens do exist’.

On July 24, moonwalker astronaut Edgar Mitchell claimed that extra-terrestrials have been coming to visit for decades.

Dr Mitchell, 77, added that governments have been covering the sightings up for 60 years.

But the Australian Skeptics are still not impressed by what Dr Mitchell - or anyone else - thought they saw. 

Skeptic spokesman Barry Williams said that the truth is closer to home.

Melbourne, July 24 : Working in an organisation that is going through crisis? Can’t decide between staying or leaving the job? Well, don’t fret, for here are some tips which can help you decide whether to stay or go from the company.

According to Will Werhane, global managing director at the human resources consulting firm Hay Group, look around to see if your most talented colleagues are heading for the exit sign.

That''s a pretty good indication that those among the most vested in the organisation are worried and don''t think it''s worth staying, Will said.

"When the people who are the future of the organisation are leaving, that''s a sign that company isn''t doing well," News. com. au quoted him, as saying.