POLITICS & POLICY

From Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd. U.S. stocks slumped as a surge in Italian bond yields put the spotlight back on euro-zone sovereign-debt issues. Leading the declines were financial and materials stocks. J.P. Morgan Chase fell 5.9% and Bank of America declined 4.4%. Hewlett-Packard was also weak, shedding 5.4%, while Alcoa was off 5.2%.

Australian troops in Afghanistan are hunting an Afghan soldier who shot and seriously wounded three of their colleagues at the Patrol Base Basir in Uruzgan province on Tuesday.

If you're interested in a little bit of window shopping before Christmas, might as well window shop with the best of them right. These are the most luxurious, most exclusive gifts you can find under your tree this year.

Triggered by a number of regulatory policies promoting energy efficiency, coupled with new technology, biofuel use and increasing concern for climate change, the world's demand for oil may peak before 2020, new research suggests.

October freight rates for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels increased to $112,000 from $42,000 year-on-year.

Oil prices in Asia fell below $97 a barrel on Wednesday buoyed on China's retreating inflation rate.

Every year, Glamour looks to women of all ages who have accomplished something quite remarkable and honours them for their intelligence and spirit.

The Duchess shows again a softer side when she replied to a gushing 10-year-old who mailed her a letter back in July after seeing the Royal Wedding last April.

With the mining boom in Western Australia seen to sustain the overall economic growth of the country into the next century, mining companies are in a frenzy to hunt for thousands of workers to fill the parallel increasing workforce gap.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released Tuesday a report containing information indicating Iran had conducted activities to develop a nuclear explosive device. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the report a fake and accused IAEA director general Yukiya Amano of being a U.S. puppet.

The various and extensive use of permanent magnets in electronic gadgets, radars, hybrid cars, energy efficient solar panels and wind turbines will continuously push the demand and price for rare earths in 2012.

Indonesian Coal Miner ABM Investama will push through in December its planned initial public offering (IPO) despite recent market instability caused by weakening global demand for raw material coking coal.

Despite Opposition leader Tony Abbott's vow to repeal the carbon tax if he comes to power, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard claimed in a question-and-answer portion at the CarbonExpo conference in Melbourne on Wednesday that Mr Abbott will not repeal the tax.

The London Evening Standard has included these famous women in their annual top 20 "Most Influential" people in the capital among many other personalities.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the second straight day thanks to news that Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to step down later this month. This resulted in strong gains from the American markets late in trade this morning, which has translated in an impressive performance from shares locally. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is up 1.4 pct or 60.5 pts to 4417.2.

After hosting Queen Elizabeth in October, Australia will welcome on Nov. 16 and 17 U.S. President Barack Obama who will visit Canberra and Darwin.

Ned Kelly will finally get his last wish, burial on consecrated ground, 131 years after his execution.

Withstanding difficult coal market conditions and low interest from industry peers, Australian coal miner Queensland Coal Corporation will enter into an initial public offering early next year.

The chair of the ongoing media inquiry proposed on Tuesday a new industry levy to strengthen the Press Council, Australia's newspaper watchdog.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman received for the year about 198,000 complaints against telecommunication firms in Australia. The complaints were up by almost 25,000 from the previous year's 168,000.

Contrary to claims by the Opposition that the carbon tax passed Tuesday by the Australian Senate would cause economic slow down, a climate expert said that the impact of a $23 per tonne tax would be to increase inflation rate by less than 1 per cent.

From Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD has been steady since yesterday morning and is trading at USD 1.0375 as European politics dominated headlines and focus.

From Morrison Securities Pty. LtdU.S. stocks jumped in afternoon trading after reports that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to resign, seen as a breakthrough in the country's political impasse. Berlusconi was planning to resign after the country's 2012 budget vote is approved, according to several media reports. Few details were immediately available, but traders viewed the development as a positive one for stocks, which have been wracked by soaring Italian bond yields a...

From: Craig James, Commsec Chief EconomistMORNING REPORT (8am AEDT - US close) -- US ICSC chain store sales rose by 2.7pct in the week to November 5 compared with a year ago. ICSC research expects comparable store sales to rise 3.5-4pct in November. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.3pts to 90.2 in October - improving for the second straight month.

Lady Diana's Statue to be Erected in Front of Royal Couple's Kensington Apartment [PHOTOS]

Tennessee pastor Michael Pearl is being censured for his views on raising children by never "sparing the rod."

The host of U.S. reality cooking show, "Top Chef," is learning that juggling a television show, losing the baby weight and raising a toddler can be done if you have a little help, humility and a little bit of know-how.

The recent development in Herman Cain's alleged string of inappropriate behaviour towards female employees comes by the name of Sharon Bialek.

Newly listed Australian gold base metals and uranium miner Mining Group Limited announced it has bought an 80 per cent interest in the Philippines' Comval Project, effectively expanding its gold and base metal tenement overseas.