POLITICS & POLICY

Julian Assange will remain under the protection of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London despite efforts by the British police to lure him out via an official summon sent to the beleaguered WikiLeaks founder.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened weaker this morning with markets skittish as European leaders commenced their two day summit in Brussels.

Major benchmarks trimmed earlier sharp declines in the final hour of trading to finish modestly lower, as optimism for possible aid to debt-strapped European countries pared losses that followed another weak round of U.S. economic data and a Supreme Court health-care decision

The Australian market ended largely flat today after rising for much of the session. It was also a very quiet day ahead of an important meeting in Europe which takes place tonight. This week has actually been one of the quietest so far this year.

As the D day for the carbon tax fast approaches with less than one week to its implementation, the debate between pro- and anti-carbon tax groups as well as strategies to back or oppose the measure are becoming more intense.

East Timor authorities would employ the expertise of an Australian expert to hopefully unearth more clues on the identities of the bones that were accidentally discovered by local construction workers in Dili, the tiny nation's capital.

The parliament of Kyrgyzstan has voted to review and revise the operating licence the country has awarded to Canadian miner Centerra Gold over the Kumtor gold mine project.

Hungary has formally expressed its approval for the development of the Mecsek Hills Uranium mine project through a joint venture, Australian miner Wildhorse Energy (WHE) announced on Wednesday.

NBN Co flatly denied that Australia's $36-billion nationwide broadband roll out has hit a snag following reports that major contractors attached to the federal initiative were mulling possible pull outs from the project that has been plagued by numerous delays.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been asked to intervene on the prevailing rare earths dispute by world economic leaders - the U.S., European Union and Japan against China.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged the Senate today to pass the Rob Oakeshott bill, which the House of Representatives has approved Wednesday night, that would pave the way for the Australian government to implement offshore processing on refugees seeking protection in the country.

Investors pushed stocks to a second consecutive day of gains as a rise in oil prices and positive readings on the U.S. housing sector lifted sentiment ahead of a two-day European summit meeting.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is slightly higher this morning, currently trading at USD1.0080 ahead of another two day European summit.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil and gas producer, has been granted the go-ahead to construct a $133.6 million worth liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage terminal project on Hainan island.

We all know that time apart makes the heart grow fonder. Based on this thinking, investors should have celebrated today due to markets improving for the first time in five trading days. The mining sector lost a little ground, however all other regions of the market recorded at least modest gains. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended 0.7 pct or 27.7 pts in the back to 4084.

A consortium composed of Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil Power Ltd. and Total Gas & Power Venture is mulling to build a 500-megawatt combined heat and power (CHP) plant at the South Hook liquefied natural gas import terminal in Wales. The terminal is said to be the biggest regasification hub in entire Europe.

Due to survey results that point to a likely defeat of the Australian Labor Party in the 2013 election, the party is tapping more into technology to win more votes. ALP leader and Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged Labor MPs to tap mummy bloggers on social networking sites such as Facebook.

With all the hype of new nuclear power generators being constructed in different parts of the world and Japan's much hyped reopening and rekindling of its nuclear power supply generation, prices of spot uranium basically remain unchanged at $50.75 per pound U3O8 last week, TradeTech said.

The Labor-led government wants to push ahead with the Malaysian people-swap deal while the Coalition insists on its proposal to establish offshore processing in Nauru, conflicting ideas that independent MP Rob Oakeshott says can be fused by his bill.

Will the much-hyped, industry shaping $65 billion mega-merger between commodities trader Glencore International Plc and blue-chip miner Xstrata Plc, what with the investor retaliation over the planned retention payments for Xstrata Plc executives, ever push through? Or will it just remain forever floating in oblivion in a project that can be described as what could have been?

Canadian company Orbite Aluminae Inc. announced on Tuesday it has successfully extracted the first commercial samples of heavy rare earth oxides and scandium from its aluminous clay deposit at its Grande-Vallee property in Quebec, aided by the use of its patented heavy rare earth and rare-metal extraction and separation technology.

With less than a week before the Gillard government starts the collection of the $23-per tonne carbon tax, the Opposition is using all means to discredit the tax. The Coalition strategies include tapping small Australian businesses to post fliers that apologises to customers for hiking their prices on account of the carbon tax.

U.S. authorities announced on Tuesday the arrest of 24 suspected hackers tagged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as responsible for the pilferage of credit cards and bank accounts information from Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is trading slightly higher this morning on renewed thoughts the RBA will leave the cash rate on hold at its meeting on July 3 and that the Australian economy, in general, is holding up in the face of Europe's woes.

Consumer discretionary and energy shares led a modest rebound in U.S. stocks after data showed home prices fell less than expected in April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 32.01 points, or 0.3%, to 12534.67.

Global demand for liquid-fuel, such as oil, condensates, and natural gas liquids, has been forecast to grow 0.9 per cent between 2010 and 2035, to 109.5 million barrels a day, the US Energy Information Administration said Monday in a published report titled 'Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) for 2012.'

At least 50 jobs of varied nature stand to get affected in the recently concluded strategic business review of Ivanhoe Australia Ltd., which it conducted to cut costs and generate savings for the company.

Unlike the Coalition, Australian business operators firmly believe that the country's carbon pricing will remain in place despite vows by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that he will repeal the tax if he wins government power in 2013.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer reportedly clashed with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott last week over policy differences within the Liberal Party, reports said.