POLITICS & POLICY

Under Australia immigration’s new accreditation program, the period of time a skilled worker can stay in the country will be doubled from three to six years for selected businesses under updates to the 457 visa system.

In a bid to address China's electric power shortages, China Power International Development Ltd. and China Coal Energy Co. Ltd. have announced a $784 million joint venture to build and operate coal-fired plants in the northern province of Shanxi.

Australia was named the second-best country in the world to live in based on the United Nations Human Development Index released on Thursday.

In a bid to conserve energy and resources, limit environmental damage and boost revenues of local governments, China has started implementing this month an extended regional sales-based tax on domestic sales of crude oil and natural gas. In the near term, the said sales tax will also be slapped on coking coal and rare earths.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s hasty decision to call for a referendum on the Euro zone bailout package has caused adverse effects ranging from the fall of stock markets all over the world to fears of a global downturn.

Local stocks are coming under selling pressure in early trade, despite optimism returning on Wall Street and in Europe. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 20.4pts or 0.5pct to 4230.9 at lunchtime in the East.

Notwithstanding prices of coking coal projected to fall further into 2012, Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. together with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan has approved a $4.2 billion expansion deal for two coal projects in central Queensland.

Australia has been listed as the sixth among 28 big economies that bribes public officials on overseas business meets, according to a survey by the Transparency International titled 2011 Bribe Payers Index (BPI).

Namoi Cotton Cooperative Ltd., Australia's largest cotton processor, has received a much needed marketing boost from the China National Cotton Group.

An online petition sponsored by SupportOurSharks.com is currently gathering signatures to protest the decision of Western Australian government to allow the hunting of a shark that killed its the third victim in the state. As of Nov. 2, the petition has gathered close to 18,000 signatures.

U.S. stocks bounced back after a sharp two-day selloff, as investors took hope in the Federal Reserve's pledge to support the economy and looked ahead to a meeting of world leaders in Cannes. In a reflection of recent volatility, the blue-chip Dow gained 219 points in morning trading before slashing those gains in half by the afternoon.

The ADP Employment Survey showed that the US private sector added 110,000 jobs in October. The result was ahead of forecasts and all the job gains came from small and medium sized businesses. In addition September job gains were revised higher from 91,000 to 116,000.

Price fluctuations and production surges of precious metals have largely been determined by how investors cling to their investments.

A week after member-nations of the European Union opted to support an extended fund to bail out problematic Euro zone economies, pressing developments are taking place that have been the cause of concern for countries all over the globe.

It seems Australia's terms of trade have reached its highpoint, and now has no other way to go but down, confirming speculations that the country's economy has lost a bit of steam.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Wednesday slammed the Greens and traced the drowning of 27 asylum seekers to the non-establishment of the Malaysia refugee swap deal, which was supposed to create safe pathways for refugees to come to Australia.

The copper consumption by the world's second-largest economy will continue to slow down in 2012 as construction of new homes in China continue to lessen, auto sales remain slow-moving, and railroad investments remain low.

Bankers in Australia have rejected the Greens idea that banks should be excluded from a corporate tax break because banks make excessive profits.

The local share market is being heavily sold off at lunchtime in the East, after US and European share markets tumbled overnight on fears the European bailout package could be jeopardised. Greece's Prime Minister unexpectedly called for a public referendum on the package, causing investors around the globe to sell out of equities on fears the Greek public won't accept it. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 63.5pts or 1.5pct to 4233.7.

The MV Rena remains intact despite water swelling in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, where it is still wedged on Astrolabe Reef as bad weather persisted in the area, bringing swells of up to 5 metres. Officials have feared that the recent bout of bad weather could finally break the Rena in half, and they feared the worst Tuesday night.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan called National Australia Bank (NAB) on Tuesday greedy for giving borrowers a smaller interest rate cut.

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.