POLITICS & POLICY

Overseas travelers arriving and leaving on Thursday face clearance delay at international airports as customs officers will go on strike again for 24 hours over a pay dispute with the government.

The Australian Defence Force Investigation Service is investigating why a sailor aboard HMAS Toowoomba died from a gunshot wound in his cabin while the frigate was docked at Mumbai port in India.

An indictment for war crimes charges greeted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he arrived in Australia on Monday.

WikiLeaks no longer has money to operate and may shut down by December if cash donations does not come in soon, its founder Julian Assange announced in a press conference in London on Monday.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD has risen to a six-week high overnight on the back of strong gains in commodities and continued optimism on an impending solution for Europe.

U.S. stocks jumped Monday, pushing the Nasdaq Composite into positive territory for the year and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to the cusp of it, though stocks moved off session highs in late trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 78 points, or 0.7%, to 11889 in late afternoon action. Caterpillar was leading blue chips, gaining 4.8% after the maker of construction and mining equipment reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its outlook for the year....

A reading on the Chinese manufacturing sector lifted sharply in the latest month. HSBC´s China Flash PMI rose from 49.9 to 51.1 in October. Any reading above 50 suggests stronger growth in the manufacturing sector.

Tourism Australia and Jetstar entered into a $10-million partnership in an attempt to boost the country's visitor arrivals, particularly those from Japan.

Australia's National Retail Federation foresees a 2.8 percent increase in retail sales in time for the 2011 holiday season notwithstanding the chronic consumer improbability over the stock market, increasing unemployment and economic events in Europe.

Job security in Australia had become more elusive for many workers in the country. According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), casual employment rates doubled in 25 years.

Western Australia topped the list of broker Commonwealth Securities's quarterly State of the States report. WA displaced the Australian Capital Territory in the roster based on highest growth rate.

Resource-related projects are expected to significantly boost the engineering and commercial construction sectors over the 2011/12 and 2012/13 financial years, according to Australia's leading construction companies.

Thai authorities are now battling in two fronts: the immense flooding and residents resisting the government's strategy to divert the rising waters away from Bangkok.

Euro nations may be coming closer towards a resolution of the sovereign debt crisis as more specific solutions may be reached after another EU summit on Wednesday.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD has opened above 1.0300 this morning, as financial markets continued to look for a positive resolution of the European debt crisis, following the weekend's EU emergency summit.

MORNING REPORT (7am AEDT)French President Nicolas Sarkozy has backed down on demands for the European Financial Stability Facility to be able to borrow from the European Central Bank to address the region´s debt crisis. European leaders will meet again on Wednesday evening to finalise a solution to the debt crisis.

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.