POLITICS & POLICY

In April 2009, Australia was ranked No. 11 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) among the world’s richest countries based on gross domestic product with a GDP of US$1.011 trillion.

'Occupy Brisbane' protesters have moved from Post Office Square to the city's Queen's Park Tuesday morning. Some of the 'Occupy' protesters, who have been gathering up for 18 days now, refused to move but police forcibly removed them until they were out of the premises. However, no arrests were made.

The announcement by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou that he is pushing through with a referendum on the EU rescue agreement has not only jolted financial markets but gave rise to more apprehensions of a pending economic destabilization and even recession.

Australia's controversial 30 percent minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) law gets introduced to Parliament on Wednesday amid political grandstanding and divided sentiment of voters.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will check if millions of client accounts are missing after American brokerage firm MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday over its $6.5 billion eurozone debt exposure.

Australian coal seam gas producer QGC has entered into an agreement with GE and Penrice Consortium to build a brine pilot plant (BPP) at Penrice's chemical works at Osborne, South Australia.

Global markets extended their losses overnight on renewed concerns over the European crisis. News that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a referendum to approve a second EU bailout deal for the country rattled investors. Should the referendum be defeated, all the work put in by European leaders to save the region would have been undone. It could lead to a disorderly default in Greece and bank failures across Europe.

US ICSC chain store sales rose 0.7pct last week to be up 3pct on a year ago. ICSC research expects sales to rise 4.5pct in October. US construction spending rose 0.2pct in September to be down 1.3pct on a year ago. US ISM-Manufacturing activity eased from 51.6 to 50.8 in October. However in a positive sign the key sub-index of new orders rose above the 50 level for the first time in four months, while the price paid index fell to the lowest level since April 2009.

Looking back through the years, Kate has gone fashion transitions from the catwalks of a college fashion show, to a Halloween witch costume, to a prince's lovely bride.

In what seems to be a confirmation to earlier reports that China has been offered to purchase iron ore for fourth-quarter contracts at a much cheaper rate, a top official from China's steel had verified that Chinese steel companies are discussing to set-up a new pricing mechanism with the world's big miners, a move seen to benefit both iron ore suppliers and consumers.

The Canada-based Australian bodyguard of Al-Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, has surfaced and belied allegations that his client was a mass murderer.

Euro nations are banking on the 6th annual Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Cannes, France from Nov. 3 -4 to help hold back a looming global economic slump.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and European Commission Vice President Baroness Catherine Ashton are meeting in Canberra to foster teamwork in security, development assistance and climate change.

A 16-year-old boy died in a fatal vehicle accident involving six other teenagers including a 14-year-old unlicensed driver on Halloween night in Melbourne. Another 16-year old died in a separate car accident, and a 19-year-old in critical condition following an incident of hit-and-run.

Growth in China's manufacturing sector had dropped in October, suggesting the economy of the world's second-largest market player continued its gradual slowdown in response to government measures to cool growth and temper high inflation.

The latest seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group - PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI®) contracted in October, albeit at a slower rate than recent months, rising 5.1 points to 47.4. The decline was particularly pronounced across the clothing and footwear sub-sector and sub-sectors linked to the construction industry.

Boeing announced Monday it is leasing the space shuttle processing hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for use as operational base for its commercial manned spacecraft business.

China, the world's foremost supplier of rare earth minerals, will be introducing in November specialised invoices for designated rare earth producers to curb the rampant illegal production of the rare earth elements in the country.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has imposed the much needed cash rate cut of 25 basis points to 4.5 percent that will help improve the Australian economy in the coming months.

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama did not even imagine that she would one day face a worm while performing White House duties. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was beside her, did not also expect it to happen.

The local share market is in the red in early trade, following a weak session on Wall Street and ahead of this afternoon's Reserve Bank interest rate decision. Overnight, Wall Street sold off by more than 2pct as profit takers moved in at the end of the month. However over the course of October, stocks rose by 9.6pct, marking one of the best monthly performances on the Dow Jones Index in years. In early trade, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 43.4pts or 1pct to 4317.1.

NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour has urged government agencies to effectively cooperate with each other up to national levels to protect children from sex offenders who have been previously convicted for sexual offenses.

The Australian Securities Exchange suspended all of trades of MF Global Australia due to the filing for bankruptcy on Monday night by its parent company in the U.S. Deloitte was named administrator of MF Global operations in Australia.

The intercession of Australian Prime Minister Julie Gilliard is seen as one of the major reasons for the prompt resolution of the Qantas labour dispute.

Although Qantas is back in the air following the intervention by Fair Work Australia (FWA) over the industrial dispute, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce did not escape recrimination for his unilateral decision to ground the planes and crew on Saturday.

The government of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has decided to go on with economic reforms and austerity measures purportedly to take advantage of the EU covenant that could reduce the country’s huge debt.

Global markets retreated sharply overnight, as Italian and Spanish bonds fell amid concern that European leaders will struggle to raise funds to contain the region's debt crisis.

The Chicago purchasing managers index eased from 60.4 to 58.4 in October, just short of forecasts centred on a result near 59.0. But the employment index rose from 60.6 to 62.3. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index improved from minus 14.4 to +2.3 in October. But the New York ISM index eased from 538.0 to 534.9 in October.

A Supreme Court-led inquiry has recommended that the state government of New South Wales considering privatising the rest of its electricity industry.