The lower oil prices are forcing rig operators to reduce their activity in North Dakota. The number oil rigs operational fell to 49 indicating the lowest since August 2009. The number of oil rigs is expected to further drop to 30 this year. There're concerns over possible bankruptcies following the decline in oil drilling North Dakota.

Airbus Group's corporate venture capital fund Airbus Ventures has announced its first investment that was extended to a Phoenix-based Local Motors Inc. Airbus Ventures is keen on startups in the aviation industry that support Airbus business strategy. Local Motors Inc develops open source designs for building cars, helicopters and airplanes.

Majority of e-Commerce startups are running below expectations. Some of them sold for a fraction of their previous valuations. Groupon, One Kings Line and Wish.com were few examples that give insight of what's happening.

The Australian search team looking for the missing Malaysian Airline MH370, which disappeared almost two years ago, found another shipwreck that dates back 200 years ago. They still haven’t found the aircraft.

General Electric Co. has been intending to sell its electrical appliance chapter prior to initiation of global economic debacle. The Federal Justice Department has foiled its earlier bid to sell its century old electrical appliance portfolio. Finally, it has reached a consensus to sale the business unit to Chinese electrical equipments maker Haier for more than $4 billion.

Biotrial Private Facility has been conducting trial of a pain killer over 90 volunteers. Six of them have fall sick and one of them has got severe brain injury. Volunteers rarely fall sick while undergoing through such trials, since the drug must go through several tests over animals with wide range of dosage. Paris prosecutors have initiated investigations to unearth the cause behind the regulator approved trial.

Walmart and Macy’s have announced shutting hundreds of stores on Friday and thus lingers the list with other retailing giants like Sears and Target. Surprising growth of ecommerce has reduced growth of the departmental stores and shopping malls. With the announcement of the World’s largest retailer, traditional stores have been started to witness the blink of extinction.

Just Prior to the State of Address to the Congress, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has imposed economic emergency for 60 days. The concerned decree is aimed to allocate funds to keep alive the socialist government’s signature anti poverty programs. If opposition led Congress denies the imposed decree, Maduro will have to appeal to the Supreme Court of justice for its continued effectiveness.

Oil and gas market have been tattering due to existing sharp downtrend in price. Many oil companies have been writing down the value of shale assets over the past 20 months since prices started crashing. BHP Billinton Ltd. has also become dependent on bank debts to maintain soaring expenses and plans to cut dividends for the first time in 25 years. Finally, following the industry trend, BHP has announced for writing down US energy assets worth $7.2 billion.

China has been claiming most of the potentially oil- gas enriched islands located in the South China Sea region. Moreover, naval routes of this region are extremely important for passage of huge trade consignments. These factors have allured China to take control over the zone. But Chinese efforts in this regard are creating tensions among its neighboring countries, also claimant for the disputed islands.