POLITICS & POLICY

Slavery, according to the Australian government, remains thriving in many corners of the world and the country has its share of the problem in the form of arranged marriage, human organ trafficking and forced prostitution.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave the minerals resource rent tax a boost on Wednesday night by saying at the Minerals Council of Australia annual dinner that the government with go on with spreading the benefits of the mining boom.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott aims to disprove the claim by large Australian mining companies that there are not enough local miners to fill in vacancies. He issued a challenge for the mining firms to send a plane to New South Wales and Mr Oakeshott promised to fill the jet with workers from his electorate.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar has come under intense selling pressure overnight as a result of the ongoing Euro-zone debt crisis.

Embattled MP Craig Thomson may have created a stir in Parliament on Wednesday when he sat and voted with Liberals four times. However, the bigger story about Mr Thompson failed to air because Nine Network placed on indefinite hold on the same day the broadcast of its interview with a former prostitute who claimed the MP from Dobell was her client.

U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday as worries about the health of Spanish banks stoked concerns about the euro zone's debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 160.83 points, or 1.28%, to 12419.86, for its worst one-day percentage fall since April 10.

Long-term prices of uranium have been on the upswing, a first since the devastating 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis that not only affected Japan but the entire uranium industry as well, the Financial Post reported, citing information from the trade publication Ux Consulting.

The Indian consortium that will mine copper and gold in Afghanistan is expected to meet on the first week of June to discuss each member's equity shareholding after due diligence work on the mineral deposits has been completed.

Wilkie Creek coal mine, U.S. firm Peabody Energy Corp.'s asset in Australia, is being eyed for possible acquisition by South Korea's LG International.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the first time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.5 pct or 19.5 pts to 4148.7. The market gained by around 1 pct yesterday and on Monday but could not continue the winning streak. At its low point of the day, shares were down by 1 pct, while the market was flat at its best. Despite today's losses, local shares are still around 1.6 pct higher now than on Friday last week. The dollar value of shares that exchanged hands today re...

The Coalition remains committed to repeal the laws enabling the controversial mining tax and carbon pricing but according to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, specific provisions in the programs may not be easy to roll back.

Up on its toes to fill its energy requirements, Japan, for the first time ever, has imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) even from as far as Spain and Brazil.

Embattled MP Craig Thomson caused a stir in Parliament on Wednesday by sitting with Liberals and voting against the Gillard government. Mr Thomson's move made Opposition leader Tony Abbott - who has been pushing for Mr Thomson's resignation - uncomfortable and scurry for the parliament door.

Origin Energy Limited, nearing a final investment decision on the second stage of its Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project, has been reportedly pondering a A$1 billion ($985 million) share sale.

The state government of Queensland in Australia on Tuesday has given a conditional stamp of approval to the $6.4 billion joint project of India's GVK Power & Infrastructure and Hancock Coal owned by the world's richest woman, Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Out to conquer every probable location of natural resource in the world, China, is mulling to start working on developing its deep-sea mining technology by as early as 2030, state news agency Xinhua News reported.

China's statistical authorities on Tuesday announced that the average income of both private and government Chinese workers jumped by double digits in 2011 across various employment categories.

China's largest and widest microblogging service, Sina Weibo recently introduced new rules and regulations for their users in order to prevent online rumors and other content that are considered as inappropriate by Internet censors.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar continued to firm slowly last night in what was a relatively quiet session amongst a positive night for equity markets.

U.S. stocks marched higher Tuesday on rising optimism about Greece's prospects to remain in the euro zone, which offset a disappointing reading on U.S. consumer confidence.

The Australian sharemarket improved following a slow start to trade, to finish significantly higher for the second day running. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 1.2 pct or 48 pts to 4168.2. This morning however, shares were down by as much as 0.67 pct in the first hour of trade only to steadily improve as the day wore on. At the start of trade, nine of 12 market sectors were losing ground, whereas only two of 12 ended the day in the red.

Although embattled MP Craig Thomson's political career is apparently on a downward slope due to the Fair Work Australia (FWA) report that he misused $500,000 of Health Services Union (HSU) funds, it is not only the legislator whose reputation has been damaged.

Barrick Gold Corp. has acquired the Mill Canyon property in Nevada for $24 million from Victoria Gold Corp., effectively expanding by some 7,000 acres the area it owns in the vicinity of its Cortez gold mine project.

The Labor government has dealt with the controversies that arose in the aftermath of the enterprise migration agreement (EMA) extended to the Roy Hill iron ore project owned by Australia's richest Gina Rinehart.

U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, through its unit Colombian Natural Resources SAS, has purchased for $407 million the thermal coal assets of Vale SA, the world's largest iron-ore producer, in Colombia.

The federal government of Australia is set to start collection of the carbon tax in less than five weeks, but a survey found that many small- and medium-sized businesses are still confused about the tax.

The latest Newspoll numbers delivered wide smiles to the Australia Labor Party, which today was afforded considerable boost on its primary vote, with the weekend survey showing climbs of up to five points in the department.

Only about half of Australia's mining boom windfall was spent properly by the Howard and Rudd governments, think tank Per Capita said in a report released on Monday.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar is slightly lower overnight, as news that the Spanish government will need to bailout one of its largest banks, with the possibility of more bailouts to come.