Today's 7.30am headlines

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN (Business news)
Big Apache gas find contradicts talk of shortfall
US oil group Apache Energy has made its third major gas discovery in the waters off Dampier since April, denting local industry claims of a looming gas shortage.

Japanese giant bows out of wool trade
Japan's Itochu Corporation, the biggest wool exporter out of Australia for the past four decades, will stop trading within months.

Chevron flags bigger Gorgon
Chevron has admitted it has a long-term plan to expand dramatically the Gorgon gas project on environmentally fragile Barrow Island to feed growing demand for liquefied natural gas.

WA arts wants more from corporates
The Perth International Arts Festival is continuing to benefit form WA's resources boom, with new sponsorship from some of the biggest players in the resources sector helping boost the budget for this summer's event 10 per cent to a record $12 million.

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN (General news)
Debt crisis to push rates 'in weeks'
Lenders warned they will raise interest rates by half a percentage point in coming weeks as the global credit crunch makes an impact.

PM stares down his Liberal critics
John Howard is banking on Peter Costello's lack of political courage to keep his job and left little doubt yesterday that he would fight any challenger.

The units of today's boom are tomorrow's eyesores: architects
Top architects warned that the rush to cash in on WA's booming housing and construction market had given rise to bland, boring, box-like buildings that would leave a legacy of concrete eyesores across Perth.

MacTiernan tells iron ore miners to bid for ports
WA's Planning Minister Alannah MacTiernan has told Yilgarn Infrastructure and Murchison Metals they will have to bid against each other for the port at Oakajee, north of Geraldton, as they failed to reach an agreement on sharing the infrastructure.

Sandalford owner's $6.5m plan for Rottnest