POLITICS & POLICY

Love is that matters, according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as she reiterated Monday night her opposition on proposals to legalise gay marriage in Australia.

China might get dumped over the potentially big Belinga iron ore in Gabon, the AAP news agency reported, quoting Raymond Ndong Sima, Prime Minister of Gabon.

Another extremely sad revelation following a decade of war - new Pentagon statistics are showing that the military is losing an average of one soldier per day not to combat in Afghanistan, but to suicide.

The world remains heavily dependent on fossil fuel but a new report issued by the UN Environment Program on Monday highlighted an emerging trend that points to the increasing investments on renewable energy by key economies across the globe.

Molycorp, Inc.'s takeover bid over Canadian rare earths processor Neo Material Technologies Inc is now a done deal.

The Dow industrials snapped a four-day winning streak as investors questioned whether Madrid's weekend agreement to seek bailout funds for its banks will restore confidence in the Spanish economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 142.97 points, or 1.1%, to 12411.23 Monday.

Guinea is now ready to produce its first iron ore through its joint venture Guinea Development Corporation, with the first shipment expected to be loaded by June 30.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The news of a Spanish bailout boosted the AUD over the long weekend, briefly trading above parity, but it has since retreated back as investors come to the realisation that this is merely a quick fix.

Australia is gaining further inroads in China's economy, this time via Guangdong, considered as the most prosperous province in the Asian economic powerhouse and home to a lucrative market of more than 100 million people.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the first time in four days today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling 1.1 pct or 45.5 pts to 4111.2. Shares have only fallen by 0.14 pct over the past five days however. All sectors lost ground, however some of the miners performed strongly. Markets have been treading water ahead of the all-important Greek elections on 17 June.

The Australian government criticised on Friday ongoing efforts by interest organisations in India to curb the flow of Indian investments to coal mining projects into the country, specifically in Queensland.

The Coalition assailed the incompetence displayed by the Labor-led government in handling the latest human smuggling controversy that led to the shocking flight of an Iraqi national tagged by media reports as a major operator in the illegal activity.

Yesterday the Australian share market closed higher for the third straight day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 1.3% or 52 points to 4,156 points.

The gauntlet was let go by the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) on Friday, according to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, adding that one of the Big Four ended the week with a solid message to its peers - passing the full rate cut is possible.

It has been seven years since Australia and China first conducted their bilateral talks towards a possible free trade agreement (FTA). This year, Australia wants that FTA officially and formally signed.

Tornado hit the north-eastern suburbs Dianella and Morley in Perth Thursday noon, leaving a nasty trail of damage and causing power blackouts. Trees were uprooted, cars were damaged, power lines fell down and roofs flew mid air in the height of the tornado, which unleashed about 10 minutes of fury.

The Australian market is abuzz with activity after it received a much needed shot in the arm when TRUenergy, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed power utility CLP Holdings Ltd., on Thursday declared it will undertake an A$3 billion (US$2.98 billion) initial public offering (IPO) listing in November this year.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar continued its run higher overnight only to give back gains this morning, as the PBOC cut lending rates and boosted market sentiment early in the session.

The big debate over bringing in foreign workers appear to have been settled in favour of mining companies as Australian newspapers run job advertisements that will target skilled foreign workers.

Australia's growing unemployment problem may even worsen in the coming months as more job cuts loom, including in the public sector. Amid Thursday's announcement that the unemployment rate slightly rose to 5.1 per cent from 5 per cent, reports said New South Wales (NSW) plans to axe the jobs of 10,000 public workers.

The Dow industrials rose for a third straight session after surprise moves from China's central bankers, but a weak reading on U.S. consumer credit and no new direction from the Fed about potential stimulus kept a lid on gains.

The Australian sharemarket managed to rise for the third straight day today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improving by 1.3 pct or 52 pts to 4156.7. The gains early in the session were partly due to further stimulus measures in the U.S and news that European leaders are eager to assist Spain.

The government of Australia's state of Queensland, currently embroiled over a nasty feud with the federal government over the highly controversial $6.4-billion coal mine project between India's GVK Power & Infrastructure, and Hancock Coal owned by Gina Rinehart, the world's richest woman, has given its go-signal to a proposed rail link system that will supplement the coal mine project.

The state government of Queensland has been stripped of its regulatory approval powers over the $6.4-billion Alpha Coal Mine project betweenHancock Coal owned by Gina Rinehart and India's GVK Power & Infrastructure, Australia's federal government said on Thursday.

Australia's exports of iron ore to China from Port Hedland in May jumped 17 per cent month-on-month, latest figures released by port authorities showed on Thursday.

On the very same day that China declared one of its nuclear power energy companies is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) to fund its projects, another company has announced receiving funding boost from its parent company.

The Transit of Venus has long been completed, but some Earthlings are still thrilled by having observed the rare event. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the scientists who shouted out on Twitter the relevance of the Transit of Venus in modern day space study.

Nuclear power use may have abruptly lost its appeal in 2011 because of Japan's nuclear reactor disaster, but suffice to say, it is bound to stage a powerful comeback, thanks to the energy requirements of the emerging economies in the very same Asian continent where the world's third-largest economy is located.

China has decided to go on full scale with its nuclear power programme in anticipation of a massive energy requirement from a growing and urbanizing population.