POLITICS & POLICY

Amid a plan by China to start collecting a $1.55 per tonne carbon tax, the measure is becoming more unpopular in countries and regions where it has been imposed or would soon be collected.

Years of protracted courtroom battles and political mudslinging reached their peak on Monday in Malaysia as the country's High Court issued its ruling that the country's leading opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was not guilty of sodomy.

With mounting issues concerning the world's largest economy, should the United States with an estimated 231 million voters this year consider an economist as its new president?

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in inaugurating the 99th Indian Science Congress that India's position in the world of science has been declining.

The Australian sharemarket has been unable to make up its mind this morning with shares gaining in the first hour of trade only to track lower at lunch. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is currently down 0.3 pct or 10.6 pts to 4153.9. Almost all sectors are weaker with the industrials the biggest losers so far.

From: MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD U.S. stocks fell Friday for a second straight day as worries about Europe overshadowed a drop in U.S. unemployment to its lowest level since February 2009, but the market finished the week with strong gains.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened up this morning slightly below 1.0200, after a better than expected jobs report in the US provided further proof the US economy is improving, although, the negative sentiment from the sovereign debt woes of Europe continue to overhang the financial markets.

It certainly has been a volatile week for the Australian sharemarket. We kicked off the year in positive fashion with shares improving for two consecutive sessions. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) rose by 1.07 pct on Tuesday (the first trading day of the week) followed by a 2.03 pct improvement on Wednesday. The situation went a little pear shaped in the later part of the week though with the XAO slumping by 1.01 pct on Thursday. Shares today dropped by 0.8 pct or 32.1 pts to 4164.5.

After completing a successful 10-million tonne per annum expansion program at its Hazira plant, India's Essar group announced it will start using cheaper, low-grade iron ore fines to make steel.

Years of protracted wars and financial dangers force United States to realign military spending but will not weaken armed forces.

China's total crude steel demand for 2012 has been projected to grow 4 per cent to 700 million tons even as Chinese steel mills remain cautious to buy the commodity, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said on Thursday.

An Australian government plan to brand the Anzac Day celebration has little support in the country.

China will not abide by the emissions trading scheme (ETS) of the European Union, which took effect on New Year's Day and requires polluting industries to pay specific amount of taxes.

The Australian Labor Party places great importance on industrial relations as shown by the lesser incidence of disputes under the Labor government, according to Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten.

India's largest iron ore producer, NMDC Ltd., is currently in negotiation talks for a $300-million coal mine acquisitions in Mozambique and Russia.

Gold jewelers in India took to a restocking binge after prices of the precious yellow metal fell due to a strengthened rupee.

After a strong year in 2011, with gains registered at roughly 15 per cent in just 12 months, gold has been forecast to average $1,850 a troy ounce for 2012 and 2013 by HSBC. The question now hangs: Is gold - long considered a safe haven to guard one's assets - still worth buying? The answer could still be yes.

The Australian sharemarket has been flirting with both positive and negative territory for much of the morning but has spent most of its time in the red. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down 0.5 pct or 22.8 pts to 4173.8.

Young Pirates, the youth wing of Swedish political party Pirate Party, has registered as a religion and church allowing its 3,000 members to freely practice their faith: file-sharing.

Jan. 30 may just be a regular date and day for most global citizens, but for Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp., Jan. 30 may well be its sweetest taste at victory over its highly controversial Malaysian LAMP advanced materials plant.

Three Australian soldiers have been wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan, reports said. The attack unfolded against the soldiers from Mentoring Task Force 3 during an operational mission on January 2, about 60 kilometres north-west of the Multi-National Base at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province, the Australian Defence Force revealed in a statement on Thursday.

The Philippine government rules out any ransom negotiations over kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell, and says it will continue with its operations until Rodwell is safely rescued. Four men who wore police uniforms stormed into Rodwell’s house in a village near the seaside town of Ipil in Mindanao region on December 5.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Aussie Dollar unwound the last two days of gains, hitting a low of 1.0232 against the greenback overnight following falls in European markets and a mixed read on Wall Street.

From Morrison Securities Pty Ltd. U.S. stocks turned mostly higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 extending gains into a third day, as an improving labor market helped curtail concern about Europe's debt troubles.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has suspended to the second half of 2012 a planned implementation of new, tougher criteria for commercial lenders.

Australia is suffering a soft-drink shortage, at the most inappropriate time of the year when one needs to quench thirst to battle the summer heat wave.

A solitary sentry wearing a world-shattering war garb was standing outside Michael Bachmann's depressing caucus party held at the West Des Moines Marriott last night while watching the tragedy.

A different surprise welcomed the New Year in Tokyo. An earthquake that has a magnitude of 7.0 shuddered people's holiday celebration on Jan. 1.

The Australian sharemarket gave back part of its weekly gains today with all sectors ending the session in the red. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) slumped by 1 pct or 42.9 pts to 4196.6. It is important to remember however that shares rose by over 3 pct over the first two trading days of the week (Tuesday and Wednesday).