And the Australian dollar is worth around 87 US cents this morning. It'll also buy you just under 53 British pence and around one dollar five New Zealand.

 

Casino operator Echo Entertainment says the sale of its Townsville Casino will allow it to focus on operations in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Echo Entertainment is also the owner of Sydney Star Casino and it's confirmed the sale to private Australian company Colonial Leisure Group. The deal is worth around 70 million dollars. The move has been on the cards since Echo's annual general meeting last November.

 

The hearing implant maker Cochlear says it will appeal a United States court verdict which has awarded damages of 148 million dollars against the firm. The case against Cochlear was brought by the Alfred E.Man Foundation for scientific research and advanced bionics(仿生学，仿生电子学）and related a patent infringement. The lawsuit was filed in December,2007 and centres on two patents on testing systems and methods for hearing implants which were exclusively licensed by the Alfred E.Man Foundation to a competitor of Cochlear's. Cochlear will seek to overturn the verdict.