Berlin - German retail sales fell for the second consecutive month in July falling by a bigger-than-forecast 1.5 per cent amid concerns about high inflation and deepening economic uncertainty, data released Monday showed.

Analysts had expected monthly seasonally adjusted retail sales data, which was drawn up by the nation's statistics office, to drop by a more modest 0.3 per cent in July. On a yearly basis, retail sales in Europe's biggest economy were unchanged.

The July fall in retail sales was despite a continuing improvement in the German labour market.

Bangkok - Thailand's inflation fell by 3 per cent in August, compared with the previous month, as the government's populist policies on reduced utility bills went into effect and world oil prices fell, commerce officials said Monday.

Year-on-year inflation in August was at 6.4. per cent, but it was down 3 per cent compared with July, when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 9.2 per cent year-on-year.

The CPI for the first eight months was 6.7 per cent, said Commerce Ministry Permanent Secretary Siripol Yotmuangcharoen.

Sydney - Things must be bad: revenues at Sydney's Star City casino are down by a quarter as the comfort blanket of a red-hot resources sector slips away and more people feel the chill of the global financial freeze.

Times must be good: the Queensland state government is spending 400,000 Australian dollars (about 350,000 US dollars) a month carting water to Cloncurry, a copper and gold mining town that is running low on supplies because its population has doubled in the past five years.

And there it is: a two-speed economy - tough times in Sydney, where a fifth of Australians live, but dollars aplenty in boom towns like Cloncurry.

Manila - The Asian Development Bank said Friday that it returned to the US dollar bond market with a 1.25-billion-dollar five-year global benchmark bond issue.

The Manila-based bank said the proceeds of the issue would be used to finance its non-concessional operations.

It added that it plans to raise about 9 billion dollars in 2008.

Thursday's issue was lead-managed by BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Nomura. The bonds are to mature on September 5, 2013, and were priced at 99.552 per cent to yield 67.25 basis points over the 3.375 per cent US Treasury note.

"We are very satisfied with the transaction and the robust demand from investors, which resulted in an oversubscribed book," bank treasurer Mikio Kashiwagi said.

Tokyo - Japan's economic indicators on Friday showed the fastest rise of the nation's consumer price index (CPI) in more than 16 years, a slowing down of household spending, a slightly better unemployment rate and stronger industrial output data for July.

Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) grew 2.4 per cent in July from a year before, marking the 10th straight monthly rise, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday.

Berlin - A slide in oil prices lead inflation in the 15-member eurozone to drop below 4 per cent in August, data to be released Friday is forecast to show, as a result helping to ease the pressure