POLITICS & POLICY

Latest findings from a study conducted by scientists at the University of Queensland in Brisbane showed slurry from farms in Australia had been contributing to the collapse of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef.

Not only had she generated millions of hits in YouTube, Prime Minister Julia Gillard acknowledged on Wednesday that she also elicited praises from key world leaders who attended the Asia-Europe Summit held in Laos.

Four Australians, two from Victoria and one each from Queensland and New South Wales, capped their respective Tuesday nights in what seemed to be a page plucked from a fairytale book. Each knew their dreams had somehow been realized with a call informing them of their lottery winnings.

The British national, whose death in 2011 caused the downfall of popular Chinese politician Bo Xilai, was tagged as a willing informant of the UK government and appeared to have played the role two years before his demise, reports said.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar hits fresh highs amidst Melbourne Cup surprise hold from the RBA

It will be a pivotal week for economies around the world as the two largest markets get to pick their new leaders.

Now that the Melbourne Cup is over, Australians have turned their focus to the Oz Lotto's $100 million pot prize up for draw on Tuesday night.

Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah, a respected Malaysian nuclear physicist and consultant physician, has defended the beleaguered rare earths processing plant of Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp. in Kuantan, saying the allegations being spread by its opponents are fabricated lies that bear relations to the country's upcoming general election.

The Coalition has accused the Labor-led government of unduly injecting politics in the office of the Australian Treasury by utilising its functions in conducting cost analysis of tax polices identified with the Liberal-National alliance.

The integrity of the Melbourne Cup is now being questioned after champion jockey Damien Oliver reportedly confessed guilty to allegations that he placed an A$10,000 bet on a rival horse two years ago.

The experts were correct in their forecast that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will retain the current 3.25 per cent overnight cash rate when the central bank's monetary committee met on Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, Nov 6.

Apart from today's Melbourne Cup, another reason for jetsetters, kibitzers, stargazers and what nots to pack their bags and travel to Australia is the highly anticipated total solar eclipse on November 14, an hour after sunrise (afternoon of Tuesday, November 13, in the United States).

After being battered with more than 100,000 lightning strikes on the afternoon of Monday till midnight, emergency crews are racing overtime to restore power in most of South Australia, which have left tens of thousands without electricity, in time for the highly-anticipated Melbourne Cup today.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar little changed as currency markets play a waiting game. The Aussie dollar traded in a tight range as markets await the RBA meeting and the results of the US presidential elections tonight.

The Australian High Court would hear a landmark challenge to the 30 per cent minerals resource rent tax (MRRT). The challenge, raised by West Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Metals Group, would be heard by the court's full bench in 2013.

Australia’s economic goals remain firmly in place, Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Monday, insisting that Labor’s commitment of delivering a surplus by May 2013 is not a remote possibility.

Job advertisements in Australia's Internet and newspapers continued to drop for a seventh straight month in October, latest monthly figures released by the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) showed on Monday. It was the country's lowest in more than two years since January 2010.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning as thunderstorms head toward Adelaide in South Australia.

The latest Galaxy poll, commissioned by The Daily Telegraph, delivered on Monday figures that were far worrisome for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as they indicated he would replace the current occupant of The Lodge after the 2013 national election.

Six young Australians with Islamic backgrounds will be able to travel to Malaysia, and vice versa, to hone their leadership skills as well as develop a stronger understanding of other cultures and faiths after Australian Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr signed a joint Australia-Malaysia cultural exchange programme with Malaysian counterpart, Anifah Aman, over the weekend.

Two years after 200 countries, during a United Nations climate conference in 2010, agreed to control their respective carbon emission contributions to below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, much has yet to be really accomplished, much more acted and worked on, after a new analysis from (PricewaterhouseCoopers) PwC showed the annual rate of reduction of carbon emissions per unit of GDP has exceeded a critical threshold.

Australia, whose abundant metals and minerals resources helped propel it to become one of the stable economies to withstand any rollercoaster financial crisis in the past years, has been found to be unfortunately getting sicker because of the environmental hazards brought about by mining these very resources.

I'm going to make a bold prediction about the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election: The winner will be the guy who supports GMOs and bankster bailouts. Which candidate is this? Well BOTH of them, of course.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar retreated on Friday after trading on Friday afternoon over 1.0400 as concerns over the outcome of the US presidential election and the impending fiscal cliff in early 2013 overshadowed the better than expected US jobs figure for October.

Chevron's plans to import labour for its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has caught the ire of Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, which claimed Australia has more than enough competent local workers following the fallout of several mining projects of big global companies.

Third quarter earnings of Newmont Mining, the world's second largest gold miner, fell 26 per cent as operating costs escalated. A production decline at its Indonesian and Australian/Pacific mines also contributed to the drop.

Queensland motel and hotel operators are now empowered by the state government to deny or evict room occupants they believe are sex workers conducting business within their premises.

An assortment of positive economic reports strengthened investor optimism ahead of Friday's key employment report, and stocks held onto broad morning gains heading into the market's close.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is stronger on improved global sentiment due to positive economic data released in the US and China.