It's been a long-time coming with constant obstruction from many quarters but now AirAsia X is celebrating: it's got permission to operate the Kuala Lumpur to Sydney route, one which is highly lucrative for existing carriers.

The UK's HM Revenue and Customs is to begin a new approach to the recovery of tax evasion which it has begun to call tax fraud.

In 2011, Compliance Complete published a series of articles titled "What's Wrong with Counter-Money Laundering Laws?".

The articles promised that the author, Nigel Morris-Cotterill, Head, The Anti Money Laundering Network, would subsequently supply a draft law designed to improve on existing legislation.

The SD Association has announced "standardised wireless communication" is to be added to itsSD Memory Card Standards. It combines the convenience of Bluetooth with the expanded capability of WiFi network access.

If 2010 was bad for retail, then the reality of retail failures during a supposed recovery is awful and shows the lie that the economy is doing well, unless numbers are carefully chosen.

Airbus is replacing the little raised tip of the wings on its A320 designs with what it calls "sharklets." No, they are nothing like the air intakes on a Ferrari: they are super-sized wing tips some 2.5 metres tall.

Germany's medical regulator, the Federal Office for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices has issued advice that women should have the PIP breast implants removed because the silicon in them is industrial grade not approved for use in medicine or cosmetic procedures. Other countries have made decisions - and they are not all the same.

The stories reported in some media of the results of a Qantas Boeing 747 hitting severe and unexpected turbulence are shocking, over-excited and full of "I heard" and "I believe" statements. But the crew of QF32 from London to Sydney via Singapore are universally praised.

The UK's Accounting and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) has fined PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) a record fine of GBP1.4 million for failures in its audit of J P Morgan Securities Limited. PwC admitted the allegations.