POLITICS & POLICY

The government of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has decided to go on with economic reforms and austerity measures purportedly to take advantage of the EU covenant that could reduce the country’s huge debt.

Global markets retreated sharply overnight, as Italian and Spanish bonds fell amid concern that European leaders will struggle to raise funds to contain the region's debt crisis.

The Chicago purchasing managers index eased from 60.4 to 58.4 in October, just short of forecasts centred on a result near 59.0. But the employment index rose from 60.6 to 62.3. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index improved from minus 14.4 to +2.3 in October. But the New York ISM index eased from 538.0 to 534.9 in October.

A Supreme Court-led inquiry has recommended that the state government of New South Wales considering privatising the rest of its electricity industry.

A few years from now, Australia will become the world leader in the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and could become its third leading commodity export, next to iron ore and coal.

The All Ordinaries index (XAO) fell by 1.2 pct or 50.9 pts to 4360.5. Almost all regions of the market lost ground today with the miners the worst performers in percentage terms.

Leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is accused of changing his colors again, this time on one of the most sensitive global issues, climate change and human impact.

Despite a pact reached last week, euro zone leaders are still far from achieving a lasting solution to the protracted sovereign debt crisis in the European continent.

The campaign against polio has received an added boost with the declaration of world leaders to channel more funds in the fight against Poliomyelitis.

Grace Kelly was a Hollywood actress turned royalty. Now that the script is on hand, who could possibly play her role?

It seems like only yesterday when the world buzzed about Kate and Wills engagement and later on celebrated the couple’s historic Royal Wedding, now they celebrate their six months in marriage.

If there is one trend these days, it is the acquisition of gold bullion by nervous investors and global markets. This "fear index" will likely fuel gold futures to further soar in the coming months.

With base metals taking a blow in prices in recent weeks, the Australian government may have to rethink of policy and fiscal regulations that will keep the country's economy afloat and not be totally dependent on majority of earnings coming from its mines and minerals sector.

Despite the global slowdown that continues to trouble the world's financial markets and some nation's political stability, a number of international companies remain confident they will be able to carry out and push their businesses to viability and stability.

The Transport Workers Union promised Monday that baggage handlers, ground crew and catering staff who belong to the union will not strike for the next 21 days, if Qantas negotiates in good faith.

Nomura opened the Chi-X Australia stock trading on Monday. The company promised to bring down prices by removing the monopoly of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

After a negative start, the local share market is paring losses to hold only slightly lower at lunchtime in the East. Stocks in New York ended modestly higher on Friday night while European share markets ended mixed. At Midday in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 9.5pts or 0.2pct to 4401.9.

Qantas planes are expected to be flying by mid afternoon.

Despite Fair Work Australia's (FWA) intervention on Qantas' labor row which will result in resumption of flights by 12 noon of Monday, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce's unilateral action did not escape criticism of several groups.

Iranian actress Marzieh Vafemehr, who was charged in connection to her role in the Australian film My Tehran for Sale, has been freed and spared from lashing, Amnesty International announced.

Queen Elizabeth has endorsed the need for reforms to allow the Commonwealth to deal with future challenges, according to The Australian. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2011, have accepted all 35 recommended course of actions for the strengthening of the role of the Commonwealth Ministers Action Group. A major contributing factor to the nod was the undemocratic overthrow of the Fijian government in a coup in 2006, according to WAtoday.com.au.

As Japan struggles to rise above the March 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters, the country is expected to turn to other fuels, notably gas in the form of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and coal to fill the nuclear gap.

The U.S Presidential candidates have revealed a little bit about their personalities as they named their favorite films

Global markets took a breather on Friday night, as investors consolidated after recent gains. US markets were relatively flat, while in Europe, markets were a touch weaker. There was a lot to take in after all the announcements out of Europe throughout the week. Despite Friday's subdued moves, global markets finished the week with huge gains.

Australia has been ranked as one of the world's nations whose government imposes a low tax rate on its citizens.

A new modeling tally released by the Australian federal government on Friday showed the workers' pension savings stand to gain more from the planned 30 per cent mining profits tax as it would boost pension funds to $535 billion by 2035.

Australian policy regulators have been urged to devise and implement fiscal plans that will help anchor the country as it glides and cushions itself on the impact brought about by the global economic slowdown.

The Australian sharemarket surged in the first hour of trade today, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by as much as 1.5 pct. As the day went on however, the market gave away much of its impressive gains to end largely flat by close of business.

The confidence of small businesses in Australia is yet to be fired up, according to the results of the latest survey done by the National Australia Bank.