POLITICS & POLICY

Years of protracted wars and financial dangers force United States to realign military spending but will not weaken armed forces.

China's total crude steel demand for 2012 has been projected to grow 4 per cent to 700 million tons even as Chinese steel mills remain cautious to buy the commodity, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said on Thursday.

An Australian government plan to brand the Anzac Day celebration has little support in the country.

China will not abide by the emissions trading scheme (ETS) of the European Union, which took effect on New Year's Day and requires polluting industries to pay specific amount of taxes.

The Australian Labor Party places great importance on industrial relations as shown by the lesser incidence of disputes under the Labor government, according to Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten.

India's largest iron ore producer, NMDC Ltd., is currently in negotiation talks for a $300-million coal mine acquisitions in Mozambique and Russia.

Gold jewelers in India took to a restocking binge after prices of the precious yellow metal fell due to a strengthened rupee.

After a strong year in 2011, with gains registered at roughly 15 per cent in just 12 months, gold has been forecast to average $1,850 a troy ounce for 2012 and 2013 by HSBC. The question now hangs: Is gold - long considered a safe haven to guard one's assets - still worth buying? The answer could still be yes.

The Australian sharemarket has been flirting with both positive and negative territory for much of the morning but has spent most of its time in the red. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down 0.5 pct or 22.8 pts to 4173.8.

Young Pirates, the youth wing of Swedish political party Pirate Party, has registered as a religion and church allowing its 3,000 members to freely practice their faith: file-sharing.

Jan. 30 may just be a regular date and day for most global citizens, but for Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp., Jan. 30 may well be its sweetest taste at victory over its highly controversial Malaysian LAMP advanced materials plant.

Three Australian soldiers have been wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan, reports said. The attack unfolded against the soldiers from Mentoring Task Force 3 during an operational mission on January 2, about 60 kilometres north-west of the Multi-National Base at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province, the Australian Defence Force revealed in a statement on Thursday.

The Philippine government rules out any ransom negotiations over kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell, and says it will continue with its operations until Rodwell is safely rescued. Four men who wore police uniforms stormed into Rodwell’s house in a village near the seaside town of Ipil in Mindanao region on December 5.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Aussie Dollar unwound the last two days of gains, hitting a low of 1.0232 against the greenback overnight following falls in European markets and a mixed read on Wall Street.

From Morrison Securities Pty Ltd. U.S. stocks turned mostly higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 extending gains into a third day, as an improving labor market helped curtail concern about Europe's debt troubles.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has suspended to the second half of 2012 a planned implementation of new, tougher criteria for commercial lenders.

Australia is suffering a soft-drink shortage, at the most inappropriate time of the year when one needs to quench thirst to battle the summer heat wave.

A solitary sentry wearing a world-shattering war garb was standing outside Michael Bachmann's depressing caucus party held at the West Des Moines Marriott last night while watching the tragedy.

A different surprise welcomed the New Year in Tokyo. An earthquake that has a magnitude of 7.0 shuddered people's holiday celebration on Jan. 1.

The Australian sharemarket gave back part of its weekly gains today with all sectors ending the session in the red. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) slumped by 1 pct or 42.9 pts to 4196.6. It is important to remember however that shares rose by over 3 pct over the first two trading days of the week (Tuesday and Wednesday).

Three coal projects of India's state-owned coal company Coal India Ltd. (CIL) have been recommended for environmental clearance, a much welcomed good news after the company slashed its output target for fiscal year 2012.

Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she has concluded her US presidential campaign, becoming the first Republican candidate to leave the race after failing to see favorable results in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

The U.K. may become the world's third-biggest importer and consumer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), after Britain surpassed the import statistics of Spain in 2010, a U.S.-based gas consultant on Wednesday said

The continuing global interest in Zambia's natural resources, particularly copper, which have led to increased investments in its mining sector, have prompted the Chamber of Mines of Zambia (CMZ) to forecast copper production capacity to hit 1.6 million tonnes per annum by 2016.

Raw coal production from China jumped 4.4 per cent in November from a year ago, giving a total of 321 million tonnes. With this, the country's overall coal output from January to November 2011 reached 3.46 billion tonnes, a hike of 11.6 per cent from the same period of 2010.

Iran has reiterated on Wednesday that the United States will face the full might of its military forces if the latter insists on staying in the Persian Gulf region.

Yesterday, The Australian share market managed to improve for the second consecutive day with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 2.2 pct or 90.6 pts to 4245.8. But, overnight bank debt concerns in Europe, weak industrial metal prices and low trading in the U.S. held markets back. Causing the Australian markets to open lower, down 30 points.

Continued manic concerns over the maddening plight of financial crisis hitting the Euro zone have led copper futures, yet again, to tumble more than 3 percent on Wednesday.

Tankers hauling liquefied natural gas (LNG) ought to brace themselves not only for a busy operational turnover scheduling of transporting the chilled gas from supplier to client's port, but also for increased profits as global demand has been forecast to grow to an all-time high.