POLITICS & POLICY

With so much at stake for the entire continent, Eurozone nations are working hard to come up with solutions that could at long last resolved the prolonged economic crisis which may lead into another global recession.

The local share market traded virtually sideways today, as investors stayed out of the market ahead of a key meeting of European leaders at the weekend. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) lost 3.4pts by close to 4203.4 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) fell 3pts to 4141.9.

A day before their weekend summit in Brussels, members of the 17-member euro zone have declared their intentions to hold another round of talks next week to achieve a unified position on the financial disaster threatening the continent.

The Greek Parliament finally gave its concurrence to the widely unpopular austerity measures that may have aggravated the peace and order situation in Athens and the rest of the country.

Sixty-four U.S. Navy men, including 49 assigned aboard the aircraft carrier that buried al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at sea, have been expelled for using, possessing or selling the designer drug called "spice" that mimics the effects of marijuana.

Chaos broke out Friday at Melbourne City Square after police charged at Occupy Melbourne camp, tearing down tents and shacks outside the Town Hall. Protesters have spread up to the intersection of Swanson and Collins Sts, arms locked together in a human chain, refusing to move even as riot police stood just a metre away from them.

The Queen will meet Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Government House for an informal discussion Friday, and it is going to be a private meeting. The media has been passing on jokes that curtsying could not possibly be on the agenda, but the people in general have yet to get over the fact that Ms. Gillard preferred to shake the monarch's hand. "I felt most comfortable with bowing my head and the Queen extended her hand and so, of course, I shook her hand," Ms. Gillard said.

A Qantas plane carrying all of the Northern Territory's Central Australian politicians Friday morning had to turn back as part of safety precautions. After experiencing a technical problem, Qantas flight number 1935 with 115 passengers on board, turned around for an emergency landing in Darwin.

Comparison Web site WhistleOut backed the Labor government's claim that Australians would benefit from using the National Broadband Network (NBN) than current ADSL 2+ and line rental plans.

There is another Twitter feud in Hollywood and this time, its Maroon 5’s front man Adam Levine vs. Fox News anchors.

The Australian sharemarket is up a touch, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.5 pct or 20.3 pts to 4227.1 with most sectors edging higher at lunch. This is the third time this week that the market is improving, however is still down around 1 pct over the past five days. Investors are hesitating to over commit themselves to shares ahead of the European Union's Summit this weekend.

Win an all expense paid trip to London and meet Roger Federer by joining the Credit Suisse contest.

The positions of major European powers regarding the sovereign debt crisis seem not to be in harmony as the EU Summit in Brussels comes closer.

Libyan rebels claimed they have killed the country's ousted leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi on Thursday during a battle near his hometown Sirte.

Rival groups of protesters clashed in Athens on Thursday on the second day of a general strike to block the parliament's approval of an austerity law.

U.S. StocksU.S. stocks pared an afternoon advance late in a session whose choppy trading was dominated by European sovereign-debt worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23 points, or 0.2%, at 11524, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 3 points, or 0.3%, to 1213.

MORNING REPORT (7am AEDT)US initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 403,000 in the past week. The 4-week moving average of claims held at a 6-month low. The Conference Board Leading Index rose by 0.2pct in September.

News of the capture of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has led to rejoicing in Libya which has gone through several months of armed conflict as the country apparently ended the 42-year strongman rule of Gaddafi.

On the second day of the general strike that has paralyzed most parts of Greece especially its capital city, protesters clashed with anti-riot police as the mass actions participated in by the private and public sectors closed down government offices, shops, schools and airports became quite unmanageable.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip arrived in Canberra Wednesday after a 22-hour flight, and got themselves busy right away, responding to crowds of cheering children and beginning their 11-day stay in Australia. While it has been discussed and predicted by commentators that this will be the last time the Queen would take on a long journey to step in Australia, the Buckingham Palace aides have rejected that idea.

Despite the criticisms that the Labor government received for the proposed carbon tax, four major global green investment groups backed the carbon tax and said it will provide economic benefits to Australia.

The magazine has revealed its "Top 49 Men" list, with the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, Prince William, and influential athletes and actors topping the list.

Christopher Nolan, director of "The Dark Knight Rises," tells The Los Angeles Times he may include footage from the Occupy Wall Street protests in the final installment of the Batman movies.

There seems to be no end in sight for sexual harassment cases in the workplace.

The recently-crowned Miss Ireland, Holly Carpenter, has admitted that she took a lot of The Duchess' fashion sense when she flies for the Miss World competition on Nov. 6 in Earls Court in England

The series of Wall Street protests and mass actions being conducted by Greek citizens in Athens against the highly unpopular austerity measures of Prime Minister George Papandreou have one thing in common.

More Australians are taking public transportation to move around and biking to reach their destinations. The shift toward more environment-friendly and healthier transport options is one of the findings of the State of Australian Cities 2011 report released on Thursday.

The ACT Planning Strategy, which aims to make Canberra a more sustainable city into the future, will not be achieved unless the government reviews and recasts other policies that will directly work against achieving this outcome, the Property Council of Australia has warned.

As European banks struggle to commit as to how much their book values should be stated against the backdrop of deep sovereign bonds restructuring, Australian banks have remained strong and viable, according to a top officer of the Reserve Bank.