POLITICS & POLICY

Riding a bike used to be a great way for exercise and it's still is but the formerly fun activity is now a looming hazard in Australia's streets.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian dollar benefits from comments that China may expand the daily CNY trading band (currently +/- 1%) and establish a managed float.

To protect her from future rampages of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, the brothers of Councillor Pam McConneell are planning to provide her more protection such as a helmet. The added measure is in response to their elderly and diminutive politician sister suffering a fat lip on Monday after the mayor hit her while trying to protect his brother engaged in verbal tussle with the council audience.

Due to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's continued refusal to apologise for the phone tapping on several Indonesian officials, Jakarta is downgrading its relationship with Canberra, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday night.

Taxis play a major part in the urban landscape and nearly impossible to picture a city without them. Cabbies of Adelaide have something to be fearful about. There has been an increase in nighttime beatings that have taken place in recent months. Many drivers have avoided driving at night to escape the wave of violent assaults.

Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up diplomatic pressure on Australia after allegations surfaced that Australian spies had tapped the phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. First Lady Kristiani Herawati and another eight government ministers and officials. Mr Yudhoyono said the action was deplorable and will lead to a review of all bilateral cooperation agreements.

Attempting to douse Indonesia’s anger at the phone tapping scandal that threatens to mar relations between the two countries, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Tuesday said her government took "exceedingly seriously" Indonesia’s concerns about allegations that Australia tapped the phone of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other senior figures in the country.

Australian Greenpeace Activist Colin Russell, arrested along with 29 other people by Russian authorities after their protest against a Russian Arctic oil rig, has been sent to jail for another 3 months. A court in St. Petersburg ruled that Russell must stay in prison until Feb. 24, 2014.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to apologize for spying on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his family. He has also asked to keep 'cool heads' to get over the present diplomatic situation

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott gets $12,000 monthly from taxpayers for the maintenance of a luxurious house in Canberra. Mr. Abbott does not live in the house.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key signed on Tuesday five deals with Thai companies as part of his 2-day business visit to the Southeast Asian nation. He led a delegation made up of 22 Kiwi companies.

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is questioning why a one-year lease for a Canberra house with a rental of $3,000 a week was signed before the September election which saw Tony Abbott became prime minister.

Iran on Monday unveiled a new aircraft which it claimed is the biggest drone capable of staying afloat for up to 30 hours. Iran’s Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said the reconnaissance and combat drone named Fotros has a range of 1,250 miles (2,000km) and could cover much of the Middle East including Israel. Iran said the Fotros is the biggest missile-equipped drone to be developed in the Islamic republic.

A newspaper for migrants in New Zealand encouraged Filipinos to donate to a fund for victims of super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. However, Filipino Migrant News made a list of preferred agencies that excluded government institutions.

Chaos marked the Monday meeting of the Toronto city council as the Ford brothers engaged the crowd in a shouting match. The verbal battle was preceded by the filming of the public gallery which those present objected to.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and the country’s Defence Minister Senator David Johnston will be travelling to the United States to attend the 2013 Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) to be held in Washington on Nov 20. The ministerial consultation will be hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel. Through the discussions, both sides are seeking to bring about renewed focus on their shared strategic concerns in the...

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is trading back below USD0.9400 this morning after a fairly subdued session overnight.

Social Media sites in Indonesia reek with anti-Australian comments as a result of Australia spying activities on Indonesian President Yudhoyono’s

National Security Administration whistle blower Edward Snowden claimed that Australia's intelligence agency had tried to spy for 15 days in August 2009 on the personal phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Australia and Sri Lanka agreed to expand cooperation between their naval forces in an effort to crack down on the people smuggling trade. A deal to this effect was reached after talks between Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse when they met on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.

Eco-activists has proven here is nothing like a common cause to unite people in making their governments to stand up and take pride.

In one of the largest global investigation of its kind, 65 Australian nationals among 339 other suspects have been arrested worldwide by law enforcement agencies as they cracked down on an international child exploitation Web site operating from Canada. The three-year long investigation saved 6 Australian children among 386 others worldwide from exploitation.

Australia appeared sympathetic towards Sri Lanka, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott praising the Sri Lankan government’s effort to bring about reconciliation after the country’s three decade-long civil war against separatist Tamils. The Australian prime minister was speaking as he handed over the chairmanship of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to Sri Lanka.

Despite the rain, tens of thousands of Australians attended climate change rallies across the country to urge Prime Minister Tony Abbott to retain the carbon tax. The Australian Labour Party and Greens politicians, together with environmental groups and volunteer firefighters took turns to criticise the Coalition government at the Climate Action Day, one of the largest rallies in support of climate change action.

An Australian man was shot dead on Sunday, by suspected robbers, some of them in police uniform, in the upmarket Runda estate of Nairobi, Kenya. The man identified as Patrick John Richer, 39, was the creative director of an international advertising agency and had been working in Africa for about a decade. He along with his Kenyan wife, Lesili Richer had moved into the house only two months back.

ABC’s Four Corner Programs revealed people smugglers are selling travel documents to asylum seekers

Global news organisation, Bloomberg, suspended a journalist, Michael Forsthye allegedly for having leaked a controversial investigative story about connections between Chinese billionaires and powerful government officials, after it was known that he leaked the news story to other outlets. Bloomberg editors were attempting to kill the story, written after a year-long investigation following fears that it would put the company's profitable monitor business at risk of being kicked out, by Chine...

Thousands of protesters from more than 130 communities all around Canada staged rallies to protest Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project.

Leaked Snowden documents reveal that Australia had been spying on Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's