POLITICS & POLICY

As the Australian Senate votes on the carbon price on Tuesday, the Labor government said it will stick to its proposed $23 per tonne price.

BHP Billiton's indenture arrangement bill, a prerequisite to start the expansion plans of its $30 billion Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine project, has received ample backing from the Liberal MPs, guaranteeing its likely passage before Christmas.

Australian Prime Julia Gillard has the Qantas crisis and the G20 Summit to thank for lifting her sagging popularity. Latest survey made by Newspoll released on Tuesday shows that Labor got a 47 per cent rating, up by 1 per cent, while the coalition lost 1 per cent.

Bell FX Currency Outlook:The AUD has traded in a wide range in the last 24 hours as it continues to take direction, like just about all financial markets, from developments in Europe.

From Morrison Securities Pty. LtdU.S. stocks rose Monday, helped by late-session reports that detailed some of the options for Europe's bailout fund. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a gain of 85.15 points, or 0.71%, to 12068.39, after falling by more than 100 points midsession. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 7.89 points, or 0.63%, to 1261.12. The modest gains were enough to move the broad market measure back into the black for 2011, now up 0.28% year to date...

By Craig James, Commsec Chief EconomistMORNING REPORT (US close - 8am AEDT)Euro zone retail sales fell by 0.7pct in September - the first fall in four months and far weaker than forecasts centred on a 0.1pct decline. But August sales were revised up to +0.1pct from a decline of 0.3pct. And in the UK, the Halifax home price index lifted by 1.2pct in October. In the three months to October, prices were down 1.8pct on a year ago.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have sued SeaWorld marine parks arguing that the park was keeping whales as slaves and that the animals should be set free under America's 13th Amendment.

University of Michigan's community outreach coordinator, Carol Stephanchuck, didn't know what she found when she went through random boxes from storage.

Miss Venezuela, Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colmenares, was crowned Miss World 2011 in London Sunday evening. The 60th anniversary of the beauty pageant was marked at the Earls Court in west London.

The famous James Bond star and knighted celebrity has nothing but great words to say about the royal couple for their tireless efforts on helping different aids and charities.

The destructive floods in Bangkok and Thailand's northern provinces have disrupted global supply chains as major production hubs for electronic supplies and automotive parts are now submerged.

The Chinese are known for being thrifty in business. They hate high prices. And this temperament may overwhelm the boom in most commodities, as is the case now in the prices of copper and rare earth metals.

It seemed that investors stayed well away from the Australian sharemarket today ahead of further clarification on a number of topics from the Eurozone and particularly Greece over the next few days. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) fell by 0.2 pct or 7.2 pts to 4335.3.

Following the cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia Friday of the country's growth forecast to 3.25 per cent for 2011/12, Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Monday the national coffers could still return to a budget surplus in 2012/13 as planned.

First, the Duchess was spotted declining glasses of champagne, and now, the future queen is altering her diet to gain weight. Is it because she is truly ready to bear a royal heir?

China, the world's second-largest economy, will weather out the fiscal turmoil hitting the eurozone and will eventually survive the global financial meltdown.

In his final months, Steve Jobs, the celebrated visionary, looked to Walter Isaacson to tell his life story so that the family he left behind would get a chance to know him.

The celebrity world is filled with many desirable women, but these are the five that most men are dying to have a date with. Find out if your favorite made the list.

Attempts to cement the state-government's local dominance exporting the rare elements mostly used in today's electronic gadgets, seemed to backfire as local industry members have dumped its inventory in the market causing prices to skid its early highs of RMB 300,000 per ton in a matter of weeks.

A group of Chinese media and public intellectuals on Sunday called on the China federal government to modify the present standards used in monitoring Beijing's air pollution.

With fast-emerging economies like India needy of its metals and mineral reserves such as coal, Australia is pressured to hunt for overseas skilled workers to address a looming mining workforce shortage in order to maintain a steady production of its metals and mineral reserves.

Ninety-eight per cent of Victoria nurses who belong to the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) Victoria branch voted "Yes" on Friday for protected action.

Shifts in the weather patterns and a supply overstock have steadied spot prices of Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for December delivery.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon pushed for an amendment of the Qantas Sale Act to prevent a repeat of the unilateral grounding of Qantas planes which stranded about 70,000 passengers.

Investments, by way of standard market forces, after a 10-year bullish cycle, ultimately goes down into bearish momentum. But not in the case of gold futures, as prices are foreseen to further shoot up and hit $2,000 per ounce by mid-2012.

Job advertisements in both print and the internet across Australia continued its decline in October, easing 0.7 percent month-on-month and 1.8 percent, y-o-y, according to the latest ANZ survey.

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground for the fifth time in six days with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 0.4 pct or 16.8 pts to 4325.7. Most sectors are weaker with the exception of the defensive healthcare sector, the telcos and the Information technology (IT) sector which is gaining strongly.

Queenslanders will celebrate Queen's Birthday twice next year, as the state made some changes in the schedule of the public holidays for better spacing of breaks.

The organizers for next year's Grand Prix have extended their invitation to the Duchess' sister to attend next year's event. Will she make it?