POLITICS & POLICY

Gold and copper mining company Anglo Asian Mining PLC's production and development plans for the Gosha gold deposit has been approved by the Azerbaijan government.

The Australian share market lost ground yesterday as the ongoing European concerns held markets and commodities back, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending off 36 points to 4,316 points.

Areva, a nuclear power plant builder based in France, has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan on a joint exploration program for a possible uranium development project in Australia.

And so it goes. The issuance of the controversial temporary operating licence (TOL) for the Malaysian rare earths processing plant of Lynas Corp. continues to hang.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened slightly lower again this morning after talks between Greece's political parties failed, which led to safe haven interest in the US Dollar and adding to the recent weakness in our own currency.

MORNING REPORT. The Empire manufacturing survey rebounded jumping from 6.56 to 17.09 in May. Across the sub-indices both new orders and shipments recorded healthy (7am AEST)US advance retail sales edged rose by 0.1pct in April after the brisk 0.8pct rise in Marchgains.

The Australian sharemarket received a negative lead from global markets last night, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending 0.8 pct or 35.6 pts lower to 4316.3. This was no major surprise as European shares hit a four-month low and dropped by around 2 pct last night. The situation in Greece continued to weigh heavily on investor confidence while Moody's (one of the major ratings agencies) downgraded 26 Italian banks last night by between one and four notches. This included Unicredit and In...

Not only numbers in the arrival of tourist exchanges are affected in the ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines, but also the potential income of the airline industry shuttling the tourists between the two Asian countries.

Japan, which has since expanded its energy mix in a bid to rely less on nuclear power, has scheduled a public forum of producers and consumers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Tokyo on September.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor Party may have benefitted somehow from the cash handouts announced last week in the federal budget in terms of more primary votes. However, the Craig Thomson scandal continues to drag the party.

Natural gas and oil development projects near the Atlantic Ocean, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, could be facing potential damages in the coming months with the onset of the rainy season.

China, stronghold of the world's supply of rare earths, is set to carry out a proposal of uniting its many rare earths manufacturers into a one large company that represents the entire sector.

New Queensland Premier Campbell Newman officially swore into office on Tuesday members of the new state parliament, which saw an overhaul during the March election and booted out the Labor government.

About 64 per cent of 1,000 Australian businesses surveyed by the Pricewaterhouse Cooper's (PwC) Private Business Barometer worry about the direct hit their business will suffer from the carbon tax.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed higher boosted by an ease in Chinese monetary policy, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 9 points to 4,351 points.

The national budget presented last week by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan appears to have successfully boosted the poll numbers of the ruling Labor Party, according to the latest Newspoll survey.

American rare earths miner Molycorp Inc. announced on Monday it will float in the market an offering of senior secured notes in the hopes of raising $650 million to help push its $1.3 billion acquisition plans of Canadian rare earth processor Neo Material Technologies Inc.

Last night it was a case of 'same story, different day'. Despite ongoing negotiations between the various political parties to cobble together a coalition government, an agreement failed to be reached, making fresh elections next month the most likely scenario. With repeat elections predicted to lead to a socialist/anti-bailout biased government, fears have intensified that a Greek exit from the European Union is on the verge of becoming inevitable. Some have predicted such a scenario wou...

Euro-zone industrial production fell by 0.3pct in March, taking the annual contraction to -2.2pct - the lowest annual pace since 2009. Performance across the four major Eurozone countries was again vastly divergent. Industrial production over the year to March stood at: Germany (+1.4pct), France (-1.2pct), Italy(-5.8pct) and Spain (-7.5pct).

Many analysts and economists believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would likely not cut the overnight cash rate in the near future because of the release last week of the unemployment data which surprisingly went down to 4.9 per cent in April instead of the expected 5.3 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket has kicked off the week in better form, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.2 pct or 9.2 pts to 4351.9. Last week was the worst weekly performance for the local market in around six months. This weekend, the Chinese Central Bank cut its reserve requirements for Chinese banks to give the economy a bit of a boost. This essentially means that banks will have more cash to lend out to borrowers.

The government of Mozambique has announced it is currently preparing the necessary prerequisites for the international tenders it intends to make on the new oil and natural gas blocks in the Rovuma Basin in the far northern portion of the country.

If it seems as though the FBI is making a large number of terror busts these days, maybe it's because the agency itself is at least partly responsible for hatching the plots.

China has started on Sunday the construction of what could be the world's largest capacity power transmission line capable of transmitting 37 billion kWh on average annually.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Monday that former Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is free to comment on anything and anytime, dismissing suggestions that the ruling party was imposing on its erstwhile leader to shun media interviews.

The Australian Council of Trade Union (ACTU) proposed a millionaire's tax on wealthy Aussies such as Gina Rinehart, Clive Palmer and Andrew Forrest. The proposed levy is similar to the Buffett Rule in the U.S.

Three of Asia's biggest economies have agreed Sunday to commence their discussions for the likely establishment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among them, which China believes would propel the region to further economic strength.

The Fair Work Ombudsman will go over the books of about 120 cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets in Adelaide to check abuse of workers, particularly in the area of wages.

After hitting its lowest since early January on Friday, the safe-haven precious yellow metal gold edged a little on Monday, adding $3.39 an ounce to $1,581.69 by 0248 GMT.