POLITICS & POLICY

From Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd. U.S. stocks sank for a third straight day as falling commodity prices added to investor anxiety over the euro and a jump in Italy's borrowing costs.

Papua New Guinea was engulfed in a political turmoil on Monday when its Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Sir Michael Somare as the prime minister, a post that parliament bestowed earlier to Peter O'Neill. But O'Neill refuses to turn over his post, so the country technically has two leaders.

A U.S. Air Force drone monitoring pirates off the East African coast crashed in the airport of Seychelles on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of China has finally come up with a set of draft safety rules to ensure not only the efficiency but also safety of the country's nuclear plants once it goes online again.

The Australian sharemarket certainly could not put 'consistency' down on its resume as one of its strong points. Over the past 20 business days, local shares have improved exactly half of the time and have gained by an uninspiring 2.5 pct over the past three months.

China denounced Canada's decision this week to withdraw from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, accusing it of reneging on its commitment to help reduce global carbon emissions.

Toyota Tsusho Corp., trading company of Japan's biggest automaker, Toyota group, announced recently it has entered an arrangement to supply coal-bed methane to BG Group Plc.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

The Queensland government awarded on Wednesday to Adani Mining and Dudgeon Point Project Management (DPPM) land for a new coal port south of MacKay. The planned port would have an export capacity of 180 million tonnes.

China will definitely raise the bar for natural gas importation as it gets more aware of the impacts of its fuel emission contributions to the environment over the last decade.

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground for the second straight day with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 0.3 pct or 14.8 pts to 4236.9. The market's two largest sectors, the miners and the financials are both weaker. The financial sector, which includes the big four banks, makes up more than 30 pct of the Australian market while the miners account for around 25 pct of its size.

Canada is withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, according to its Environment Minister Peter Kent.

A Rutherglen man's effort to find the remains of his brother under a disused mine near Avoca got a boost from the Victoria government, which offered to reimburse up to $25,000 in cost to the digging.

Iran has shot down 'official request' from the United States that its spy drone that went astray in Iranian territory, underscoring that the Americans violated the Islamic Republic's airspace while attempting to gather intelligence.

As the world continues to rely more on liquefied natural gas (LNG), prices will slowly be given a separate mechanism and move away from being linked to crude oil over the next decades.

China's Fenxi Mining Group has been chosen by Kenya to develop coalmines that cover at least two blocks from the Mui basin in the country's eastern province.

Global miner BHP Billiton on Tuesday announced it had approved to sell a portion of stakes of 8 per cent in its South African coal arm to a consortium of black investors led by investment firm Pembani Group (Pty) Ltd. to help meet regulation requirements of black ownership targets.

Despite the growing risks to global growth caused by the European debt crisis, Australia's resource and energy exports are expected to hit $206 billion for 2011-12. It is a 15 percent rise from the past 12 months, said the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE).

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said shadow cabinet had resolved on Monday to maintain the Coalition's current position on the same-sex marriage push, ahead of a likely Labor conscience vote on the issue.

The Australian sharemarket could not stage a comeback this afternoon with all eyes remaining on Europe for any potential leads. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) fell 1.4 pct or 59.7 pts to 4251.7. This the third time in five days that the local sharemarket has lost ground.

One possible scenario that China is looking into is slashing taxes in 2012 to help boost economic growth in the face of an export slowdown.

A special panel established by the Government to look into the ageing population in relation to the economy has reported that the seniors present opportunities that the government has yet to tap.

A jobless man angry for not receiving unemployment benefits threw his shoes at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while he was speaking at a ceremony in the city of Sari, Mazandaran Province on Monday. The shoes missed the president, who dodged it, and hit the banner behind him instead.

France's Total SA has recently upped its equity holdings in Russian OAO Novatek, buying an additional 2 per cent into the company for $800 million. Total SA's overall stake control in Russia's fastest-growing gas producer is now at 14.1 per cent.

Bomb disposal experts defused a letter bomb received by the Greek embassy in Paris, France on Monday.

The Australian sharemarket is unfortunately wiping out all of yesterday's gains with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 1.4 pct or 60.1 pts to 4251.3. Monday's improvement was like a ray of sunshine squeezing its way through an otherwise very cloudy sky.

Despite erratic global supply and skyrocket prices, French chemicals company Rhodia had entered into a strategic alliance with China Rare Metals and Rare Earth Co. Ltd. (Chinalco) where both companies will develop opportunities in the rare earth metals business.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard appointed Greg Combet on Tuesday to oversee the new steel industry rescue package. His appointment is part of the cabinet reshuffle initiated by Ms Gillard.

An Iranian lawmaker said Monday that Iran will replicate a captured U.S. drone and produce a better version of the unmanned spying plane for its own use.

What transpired was routine adjustment to further strengthen the cabinet, this according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who also rejected suggestions that she had to deal with specters of dramatic departures prior to the latest revamp.