POLITICS & POLICY

What could have otherwise been a routine, perhaps boring visit of a state official, no less than by incoming Premier Li Keqiang, in China's poor areas became a source of amused and giddy laughs when a bare bottomed Chinese boy stole the limelight during the interview video that was flashed all over the country.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar fell to USD 1.0273, its lowest level in more than three months, after comments from European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi caused stock markets to decline.

Major stock benchmarks pared sharp losses but remained solidly in the red Thursday, weighed down by growth-sensitive sectors amid worries on Europe and underwhelming data on the U.S. economy.

At least six people have died and thousands more were displaced by the tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, just a few hours after it experienced a powerful 8.0 magnitude undersea earthquake.

In what could be a final sign of desperation to remove the presence of the rare earths processing plant of Lynas in Kuantan, Malaysia, Wong Tack, one of its strong opponents and president of the Himpunan Hijau, has allegedly threatened to burn it down.

The salvaging operations on the stranded minesweeper USS Guardian off the Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines has started on Wednesday, with the crane ship Smit Borneo finally allowed to sink its anchor into the Sulu Sea.

More details on the alleged use of Health Services Union (HSU) funds by embattled MP Craig Thomson came out on Wednesday when he showed up to face the 154 charges filed before a Melbourne court.

Real life Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield is all giddy to make a milestone in the history of space science as he converses for the first time via a scheduled space chat rendezvous with fellow Canadian and actor William Shatner, more known as Star Trek's 'Captain Kirk,' yet another prominent icon in the global movie and television history.

U.S stocks pulled back as the energy and technology sectors struggled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 31 points, or 0.2%, to 13949 Wednesday afternoon, after sliding as many as 66 points in the opening minutes of trading.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar breaks support as weak Retail Sales weighs on the currency.

At least three villages in the Solomon Islands are believed to have experienced damages and casualties brought by a 0.9m high tsunami that was triggered by an 8.0 magnitude undersea earthquake that struck the islands earlier in the day on Wednesday.

Five more charges were filed on Wednesday against embattled independent MP Craig Emerson when he appeared together with his wife, Zoe Arnold, before the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Nations in the South Pacific, including the Philippines and New Zealand, have been advised by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) to brace for a possible tsunami occurrence following the powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck off the Solomon Islands on Wednesday.

The name Lynsi Torres suddenly popped up on the social media sites identified as the youngest female billionaire in the United States. With little information known on Lynsi Torres, people are now curious and dying to find out who is this successful businesswoman.

Same-sex marriage has finally passed its first round in the senate with a 400-175 vote.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has regained some lost ground overnight as the market digested the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to leave the cash rate unchanged yesterday at 3.00%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped toward its first triple-digit drop this year, as weakness in technology stocks helped derail a five-week rally for the blue chips

Embattled independent MP Craig Thomson disclosed on Tuesday that he was strip searched twice, not once. He provided more details of the experience which he described as humiliating and over the top.

As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) adopted a wait-and-see attitude and kept on Tuesday the overnight cash rate at 3 per cent. The central bank made the decision after release of economic data from the U.S. and China which showed some improvement.

If for any consolation to those affected by the recent floods of ex-cyclone Oswald, the flooding disaster would have been far more catastrophic had it not been for the dry spell that Australia experienced in late 2012, according to the weather bureau.

Japan and Jamaica on Monday have formally launched a pilot project to test the commercial viability of the island's bauxite waste, more known as red mud, for possible rare earth elements.

The crane ships sent to lift up the grounded minesweeper USS Guardian from the Philippine Tubbataha Reef has been foreseen to add more injury to the reef since it would need to drop an anchor right smack into the corals to keep it steady.

The merging of The Daily Beast and Newsweek brings forth a new name in the industry: NewsBeast.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar remains steady ahead of the RBA meeting later today.

Shares of Aquila Resources tumbled down on Monday as it further suspended its $7.4 billion iron ore project in the West Pilbara due to funding struggles.

An anonymous Virginia resident witnessed the unidentified flying object floating above sky while conducting a video recording at around 4 p.m. on January 27, 2013. The footage served as evidence on the puzzling UFO sighting which was recorded at the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

Authorities in Queensland are now racing to construct a 300-bed village in Bundaberg as residents of the town start to rebuild their lives after the devastating January 2013 Queensland floods brought by ex-cyclone Oswald.

Donations to victims of Queensland's 2013 floods, as opposed to the devastating surge of waters that came on in January, are only coming in by the trickles.

Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been cleared from the criminal negligence raps filed against her in relation to the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre that killed 58 people, 32 of whom were journalists.