POLITICS & POLICY

Close to 100 people at the Argyle Diamonds subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group are poised to lose their jobs as the company implements a cost-cutting plan amid plans to divest the diamond business unit.

There are big questions over the budget priorities of the new Queensland government which has said it could not afford the $6 billion to upgrade the state's IT systems, axed 400 information technology contractors, yet provided $200,000 to the production company behind the TV programme Big Brother.

With prices of key steel-making ingredient iron continue to dip in the world market, with no potential rainbow at the end of the tunnel seen yet in the next few months, global miners are reduced to implement drastic strategies to keep the business afloat.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD has opened unchanged following a quiet night in currency markets with the US closed for Labor Day celebrations.

Analysts agree that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will most likely retain the current overnight cash rate of 3.5 per cent on Tuesday when its monetary policy board meets.

AFTERNOON REPORT (4.45pm AEST)It was a volatile day on the local share market. Stocks started the trading day in the red, then received a boost mid-session, after weak Chinese manufacturing data boosted hopes of forthcoming stimulus. By close, stocks were marginally higher; with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 12.6pts or 0.3pct to 4351.6.

Gina Rinehart drew much flak after publishing an advice of some sort to Aussies getting minimum wage, saying those who are "jealous of those with more money" should "spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." See some of the "Scumbag Gina Rinehart" memes circulating on the Web.

A funding dispute over a proposed 2.6 billion euro ($3.3 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant between Iran and a Chinese consortium has been postponed.

At least 18 iron ore mines have been granted permission by the High Court of India on Monday to resume mining activities in Karnataka after a more than a year of suspension on environment concerns, pointing to what could mean 5 million tonnes a year of renewed production.

George Bush and Tony Blair, two of the most recognizable world leaders in the past decade, need to face up with the consequences of their previous actions over Iraq, according to South Africa’s Desmond Tutu.

Australia's retail sector showed unexpected poor sales in July and broadly trickling down to the fragile profits of businesses still gaping for low demand for exports in Europe.

Philippine gold and copper miner Philex Mining Corp. may be forced to indefinitely suspend operations at its Padcal mine in Benguet province as the mining firm mulls to replace the facility following a second wave of leak spill last week.

Will Australia benefit from a greying workforce? The Federal Age Discrimination Commission thinks so, stressing that allowing workers aged 55 and up to continue working could prove as “the secret to our future prosperity.”

The ongoing hunt for the rogue Afghan soldier tagged as the ‘insider’ gunman who killed three Aussie Diggers last week yielded arrests of suspects and the deaths of two suspected insurgents.

The Australian share market opened weaker this morning even with the strong run on off shore market and commodities on Friday night. The US markets closed higher on Friday after Federal Reserve, Chairman Ben Bernanke, said that he hasn't ruled out further action to boost the US economy.

Sparks are a-flying in a heated debate after Australia approved over the weekend the sale of giant cotton farm Cubbie Station to a Chinese consortium.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is changed following the Jackson Hole symposium with US Fed Chairman Bernanke announcing few surprises.

Another load off the shoulder of Internet giant Yahoo as China finally freed a dissident partly jailed when the company gave out information that led Chinese police officials to Wang Xiaoning.

Largely affected by the continued slide in the prices of iron ore in the world market, the Australian dollar, for the first time in five weeks, has dropped below the $US1.0300 mark.

Thai-owned PTTEP Australasia has accepted full responsibility for the August 2009 oil spill that led to thousands of barrels of oil gushing for weeks on territorial seas between Western Australia and Indonesia.

Toronto-listed rare earths miner Great Western Minerals Group (GWMG) said it is ready to offer to consumers the precious elements by mid-2013 as it had started the refurbishment of its previously producing rare-earths mine Steenkampskraal in South Africa's Northern Cape province.

The two Australian soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan this week have been named. One of them was engaged to get married.

After losing two major mining investments due to project cancellations, South Australia remained confident it would continue to remain a favored mining destination of global miners.

Even Australian miners know how costly it is to build projects in the native land. So rather than risk it in Australia at this time of dropping commodity prices, might as well build a project portfolio elsewhere in the world where administrative and construction costs are low to ensure higher profit return. And Africa could just be the answer to that.

Gay marriage could soon gain the protection of New Zealand laws as the country’s Parliament voted this week in favour of the same-sex union bill authored by opposition Labor MP Louisa Wall.

Heartbreaking losses in the past two days will not break the resolve of Australia to complete its Afghan Mission, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Thursday following the deaths of five diggers on Wednesday, three of them killed by ‘green-on-blue’ assault.

The Dow industrials fell to a four-week low after remarks by European leaders escalated investors' fears about the euro zone, while a measure of economic sentiment in the region slid to a level not seen in more than two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 106.77 points, or 0.8%, to 13000.71, the lowest level since Aug. 2.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: European jitters have once again crept back into the market as risk sentiment weakened overnight.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Thursday that despite the strong fundamentals of the Australian economy, the country must diversify beyond the resource sector even if commodity prices are expected to improve in the future.