POLITICS & POLICY

President Obama will visit Australia next month after two failed attempts last year.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, assured on Monday the 35-nation governing body of Vienna-based U.N. agency that Fukushima atomic power plant reactors are now stable.

The ongoing Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Brazil has the world glued on the television and instead of the traditional top 15, the producers have decided to add one more spot top the finalists.

Australia: Yesterday the AUD fell steadily throughout the day as our equity markets posted significant losses. The AUD fell from a high of USD1.0470 early in our trading session yesterday, down to USD1.0320 at the end of the day.

Australian steelmakers are seeking a reduction of interest rates and warned that if the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would continue with the current trend, the long-term future of the steel manufacturing industry in the country would be at risk.

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Australia on November 16 and 17, the White House announced on Tuesday.

World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao boldly announced to media that he would like to run as a vice presidential candidate in the Philippines in year 2016.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Monday won Caucus support to push ahead with her Malaysian refugee swap.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Monday that it would observe closely the moves of supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, particularly if the two would try to purchase Franklins or other independent grocers.

New Japanese Industry Minister Yoshio Huchiro resigned on Saturday after only eight days on the job . He quit because of a controversial remark that he mde regading the areas near the Fukushina Daiichi nuclear plant, which he referred to as ghost town

Singapore-based Tiger Airways is quickly picking up from the close to six-week ban on its Australian operations as it tapped former Virgin Blue CEO Andrew David to run the airline following the scheduled departure of chief executive Tony Davis on Nov. 1.

Rupert Murdoch is involved in another controversy, this time in his native Australia. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Bloomberg that Murdoch’s Daily Telegraph is “running a campaign on regime change.” Mudoch’s spokesman Greg Baxter said there is no campaign against the government by News Ltd., News Corp’s Australian unit.

Australian Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher denied on Monday on the resumption of her court testimony that she had intent to shoplift $92.92 worth of food items from an Adelaide grocery on Dec. 15, 2011.

A tragedy marked this year's China's Mid-Autumn Festival as 12 students from primary and middle schools in Tangtianshi town drowned to death and 16 others were injured as their overloaded ferry boat sank in Fuyi River off Shaoyang County in Hunan Province late Friday.

Samantha Stosur wrote sports history when on Sunday, she displayed composure in a tense final match with American Serena Williams to pull off a stunning 6-2 6-3 upset at the 2011 U.S. Open, which ended Australia’s decade-long title drought in any Grand Slam event.

The first gay rights rally in support of same sex marriage was held recently near the office of independent Member of Parliament Bob Katter.

The $1 million cap on government bank deposit guarantee will not lapse in October 2011 as initially planned, but a new permanent ceiling will take effect in February 2012. The new cap will be down to $250,000 per person.

Support for incumbent Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is at a record low, according to a survey by Fairfax/Nielsen released Monday. But the Australian Labor Party still has hopes of winning if it brings back Kevin Rudd.

A Tunisian coalition called "Free Women Union" was recently created "to enhance the visibility of women in public life," reported Business News Sept. 7.

President Barack Obama, seeking to rescue the troubled U.S. economy and his own prospects for re-election, embarks on an uphill battle on Friday to win Republican support for a make-or-break $447 billion jobs plan.

Japan's economy shrank further and exceeded more than the government's initial estimates in the second quarter as the stronger currency diminished efforts for the country to fully bounce back since the March earthquake. The G-7 member-countries will likely be asked for fiscal intervention to weaken the appreciating yen, that so far did more bad than good to the entire economy.

South Australian Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher admitted on Friday in her trial in Adelaide that she unintentionally took groceries as part of her depression which caused her to lose control and plunge into depths of despair.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell criticised on Friday that some public workers - who are at the same time parents and joined the massive Thursday strike against the state's pay policy - would get paid while off their jobs.

Australia’s accommodation industry is planning to encourage member businesses in Broome to participate in the expanded Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme, which has been announced today.

An international human rights group demanded that Vietnam close down drug rehabilitation centers that are subjecting inmates to abuse and forced labor.

‘Carbon’ and ‘Tax’ seem inextricably linked in political debate but they are separate issues and should be viewed as such, a group of Melbourne’s leading industry CEOs was told on Friday.

In a meeting held in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sep 7, Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro has asked assistance from Australia's Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism, Martin Ferguson in acquiring coal and other resources for power-generation needs, NHK World report says

With still no reprise from a harm's way, Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda set foot on the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to personally see the extent of the damage and massive efforts in decontaminating the areas plagued with high radiation.

A new report has belied federal authorities’ perennial harping that the spirited rise of the resources sector keeps the local economy afloat amidst global declines and pressures from within.