POLITICS & POLICY

Improving the competitiveness of the Australian economy will be fundamental to making the most of opportunities for engagement with the world's growth hub of Asia, Business Council of Australia President Tony Shepherd said.

The Australian sharemarket managed to remain a touch higher for the whole session and ended 0.5 pct or 21 pts stronger to 4218.8. Almost all sectors improved however weakness from the energy, consumer discretionary and I.T sectors held back the gains.

You would think such a scene would happen only in medieval fiction, but early this week, a woman convicted of practicing "witchcraft and sorcery" was beheaded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Practicing "witchcraft and sorcery" is a capital offense in Saudi Arabia.

India's Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said the country's exports of gem and jewellery will be able to maintain its growth forecast at 15 percent for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

China is eyeing the African countries of Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso to help the world's second-largest economy develop its cotton-planting operations.

Some 30,000 non-Arab Libyans plan to return next week to their town, which they abandoned due to reprisal attacks by anti-Gaddafi militias.

Prices of iron ore will average $150 per metric tonne from 2012 to 2015, research and investing company Goldman Sachs & Partners Australia Pty Ltd said.

Lara Giddings slammed union leaders, accusing them of spreading baseless speculation that David O'Byrne is strategizing a change in leadership following reports that Tasmania’s business lobby stresses tough budget measures should be maintained even with a change of Premier.

Petronet LNG Ltd. is about to embark on a fund-raising campaign to gather funds that will support the expansion plans on its Dahej liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the state of Gujarat.

Victoria police investigating the alleged hacking of the Labor Party's database of supporters in November 2010 searched the computers of three reporters from "The Age" inside the newspaper's office instead of confiscating the machines on Thursday.

Spurred by its growing domestic demand for electricity parallel to its increasing population and rapid urbanization, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by China will climb 30 per cent to a record high in 2012.

After building more than enough stockpiles in September and October that will last its country's energy requirements through the winter, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by South Korea, the world's second-largest buyer of the commodity, had fallen 34.5 per cent in November compared to a year ago.

Chevron Corporation's Australia unit, the Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company, announced on Thursday its discovery of another natural gas find in the Exmouth Plateau area of the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. The recent find is the company's 12th in Australia since mid 2009.

Australia has joined the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands in condemning Japan's annual whale hunt in Antarctica which starts Friday.

Police officials swooped down on the Melbourne office of The Age, owned and operated by Fairfax Media, following allegations that one story ran by the newspaper utilized information hacked from sensitive files kept by the Australian Labor Party.

Caltex Australia is expecting profits to slide in 2011 because of production disruptions and wild changes in the global supply and price of crude oil.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the first time in four sessions with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.4 pct or 18.1 pts to 4215.9. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector, particularly the retailers are amongst the worst performers at lunch however.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde admitted on Thursday that global economies could soon slide into brink of collapse if the restive situation in Europe is not resolved at the soonest possible time.

MORNING REPORT (8.00am AEDT)The Empire manufacturing survey bounced to a 7-month high of 9.53 in December. The Philly Fed survey bounced to an 8-month high of 10.3 in December. Both suggest that the US economy is weathering the ongoing European crisis relatively well. US producer prices rose 0.3pct in November after falling by a similar magnitude in October. Excluding food and energy producer prices was up just 0.1pct in November.

From Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd.U.S. stocks gained after investors took heart from stronger U.S. economic data, but fell off session highs after the head of the International Monetary Fund stoked fears that Europe's sovereign-debt crisis is worsening.

Australia is now one in a list of countries with the most expensive essentials from food to housing, according to a study. In fact, key essentials are now pricier in Australia than in London, New York and Singapore, prompting Aussies to call Australia as the land of the great big rip-off, reports said.

U.S. coal giant Peabody Energy said it will increase seaborne export coal volumes at its Wilpinjong and Millennium mines in Australia by 3 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes after expanding both operations.

The independent Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental watchdog group, in a report released on Tuesday said some 20 sites in 10 US States risk toxic contamination from coal ash.

There are more liquor shops in poorer suburbs than anywhere in Victoria, according to new data. Either the locals want more liquor, or they just could not resist what is right in front of them.

Member-nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have agreed to raise its oil yield quota to 30 million barrels a day (mbpd), which is actually what the cartel has almost been producing lately.

A lawyer representing Muammar Gaddafi's daughter, Aisha Gaddafi, said on Wednesday he had sent a letter to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ask if an enquiry had been launched into the killing of her father and brother.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second time this week with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) ending the day 1.2 pct or 52 pts lower to 4197.8. Today's falls have wiped out almost all of the gains recorded so far this month. In fact since the start of the month, shares have only edged higher by an unimpressive 0.3 pct.

China's largest patrol ship will guard its territory in the East China Sea, where a group of uninhabited islands also being claimed by Japan and Taiwan is located.

South Korea has been added as one of Australia's close military allies as the two nations formally agreed on Wednesday to conduct more joint exercises in the future in hope of further cementing their ties.