POLITICS & POLICY

Just when a full-blooded rally gets underway, the Fed comes out and spoils it! Last night (Aussie time) saw the release of the minutes to the Fed's December board meeting.

Ending compulsory voting in Queensland would lead to the eventual rise of radical politics in Australia, National Senator Barnaby Joyce said on Friday.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar still strong peaks at a two week high as the United States avoids fiscal cliff.

Without fanfare, President Obama has reauthorized a law that allows the U.S. government to conduct surveillance on overseas activities of suspected spies and terrorists.

Prince Harry's drunken behavior could place him in trouble anew. After courting the Queen's wrath for his naked photos while partying in Las Vegas with American girls four months ago, the British monarch may be headed for another royal dressing down.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar peaks at a 2-week high as the United States avoids a fiscal cliff. The local unit traded back above 1.0500 against the Greenback in overnight trade as US Congress approved a bill rolling back a package of tax hikes and spending cuts that had threatened to push America back into recession.

Politics is a very volatile career, as some Australian politicians discovered in 2012. The tagline of popular reality TV show Project Runway captures it all for these five MPs who not only made headlines but also fell from power. As host Heidi Klum would say it, "One day you're in, and the next day you're out," which definitely applied to these five MPs.

Last year, 2012, was a crucial year in the political life of Opposition leader Tony Abbott because of challenges to his leadership and even interpersonal skills that may cost him his dream to be Australia's prime minister in 2013.

If the question of who would be Australia's next prime minister was asked a year ago, the answer would have been obvious.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is trading at USD 1.0380 this morning. The major news was the White House / Senate 'deal', and this saw the NZD rally yet interestingly, the AUD underperformed relative to the NZD, GBP and CAD.

Like any other political figure, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a top target for parodies, ranging from her dancing 2012's monster hit Gangnam style to a TV programme that was based on her character.

While 2013 will be a crucial year for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard because the election result will determine if she will remain in her post or be replaced by Opposition leader Tony Abbott, 2012 was certainly a banner year for the leader of the Australian Labor Party and the country's first female prime minister.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard stressed on national unity while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott impressed upon Australians that the Coalition’s economy-centric 2013 agenda is “the positive choice.” The two leaders delivered their respective New Year’s messages Monday morning.

Days before 2012 ended, Time Magazine recognised U.S. President Barack Obama as the year's Person of the Year, indicating the global recognition of his reelection and confidence in his leadership despite the difficult year 2012 was for the United States.

Asian markets have responded to the late turnaround seen on Wall Street to post some healthy gains going into the weekend. With US President Barack Obama having reportedly cut his holiday short and returning to Washington to meet US leaders for last ditch talks, there is growing optimism that a deal can be knocked before the deadline.

Scientists from Australia have started laying down development works on what could become the world's largest and most capable radio-telescope which would see the federal government injecting at least $19 million just to put the project into reality.

Chevron Australia has unlocked more gas discoveries in the Carnarvon Basin, off Western Australia, bringing its total discovery haul to 19 just in the area alone.

Taiwan, one of the countries laying territorial claims over the islands of the South China Sea, has laid down plans to start exploring for oil and natural gas resources in the waters around Taiping Island in 2013.

A study of the activity in the South China Sea reefs had shown the coral reefs in the area greatly deteriorated at the expense of the economic growth activities in mainland China.

Financial and materials shares led U.S. stocks lower as the Senate's top Democrat warned a budget deal looks unlikely and a reading on consumer confidence tumbled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131 points, or 1%, to 12984 in mid-afternoon trading, dipping below 13000 for the first time since Dec. 5.

Retail therapy may be slow and down, but credit card transactions during the 2012 Boxing Day Sales nonetheless have increased by as much as 30 per cent for the National Australia Bank, it said on Thursday.

China's biggest rare earths producer, Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech, declared middle of this week it will continue to extend its self-imposed production suspension of firing, smelting and separating of rare earths to another month, spurred by the continued dropping prices of the precious commodities in the world market.

Mark Zuckerberg’s sister and Facebook co-founder, Randi, expressed her disappointment when a personal family photo she posted exclusively for her friends was shared to the public in another social networking site “Twitter.”

Warren Richard Rodwell, an Australian national kidnapped by the Philippine extremist Group Abu Sayyaf in 2011, has resurfaced in a video to say that he is still alive. However, he also said he has lost faith in the system of his government and whatever rescue efforts, if at all, are being made for his release.

It won't be long, but the tradition of the mad dash for the Boxing Day Sales could become a thing of the past. For one, counterpart Web sites of retailers that participated in the annual discounted selling spree had laid down their wares much earlier as Australians get all the more hooked on online shopping.

After a fairly steady Asian session, risk assets declined through European and US trade ahead of the Christmas break. Market participants also remained concerned about the fiscal cliff negotiations, which we expect to get further leads on when Republicans reconvene later today.

For the first time, Prince Harry has reportedly killed a Taliban chief in Afghanistan. The Royal Prince, who is an Apache pilot, released a missile strike to eradicate the terrorist leader in the late of October.

Beleaguered Australian retailer Billabong International Ltd. has opened its financial books to a new takeover suitor group led by former Billabong director and president of its American business, Paul Naude, and his backers, Sycamore Partners Management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The consortium offered a takeover approach of $1.10 cash per Billabong share or roughly $526.8 million.

The world, especially those who live along the coastal areas, either evacuate this early or arm themselves with better and definitive actions concerning their homes and sources of livelihood as a recent study released over the weekend showed the ice sheet off the western part of Antartica is warming faster than earlier projected, and that sea water level forebodingly rising is not only a threat but could be the inevitable scenario in the very near future.