Saudi Arabia has eclipsed Russia as the world's biggest oil producer first time in six years after the country in the Middle East jacked up its crude output to a 31-year high in March.
In what could be a firm testament of its cooling economic activity, a number of China's raw commodity trading houses have suspended their cargo shipments of coal and iron ore amid the continued drop of the prices of the two commodities in the world market.
The bulk of Australian troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2014 as scheduled but Prime Minister Julia Gillard has assured the Asian nation that her commitment will be sustained further in the form of development aids.
Beleaguered MP Craig Thomson has spoken and was mostly successful in buying more time for his stay in the Parliament, which was threatened by ongoing efforts from the Coalition to move him out of the way.
Osaka-based Kansai Electric has received its 70,000 metric tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo shipment order from the Pluto LNG project of Australia.
The name South Australia was not attractive enough and a business group is firmly convinced state authorities should consider a complete rebrand to lure more investments and possibly more tourists.
The Nasdaq Composite index rose the most since December as hopes of political progress in Greece and talk of government efforts to buoy China's economy trumped a steep decline in Facebook's newly public stock
The shoe is now on the other foot in Australian politics as Opposition leader Tony Abbott is under pressure to remove a Liberal backbencher under investigation for alleged assault.
The Australian sharemarket managed to improve for the first time in five sessions today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gaining by 0.6 pct or 25.6 pts to 4124.4. Shares were up by as much as 1 pct in early trade, fell by 0.12 pct at around lunch however managed to recover in the last few hours of trade.
Friday our market had what many would call a "shocker" we had widespread selling as losses continued throughout the day by the close the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) has slumped by 110 points to 4,098 points. By the close the ASX had wiped out all of its 2012 gains, listing the worst weekly performance (down 5.6% this week) since September 2011.
The annular solar eclipse has been observed in Asia, and is now on its way to completion in the U.S. In Tokyo, school children went out wearing solar viewers to watch the moon's approach as it covers the center part of the sun from Earth's view.
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake recently hit the north-central part of Italy which caused the death of at least 6 people and injured at least 50 individuals. The earthquake also caused the collapse of numerous historical architecture sites like castles, clock towers, and churches.
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has wed long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan, announcing the nuptials through a status update on the social networking site.
The country's budget plan for the financial year 2012-2013 was not only configured to deliver a surplus but also to prepare the Australian economy for a likely disturbance of global fiscal settings this year.
Western Australia is poised to have its first uranium mine project, to be operated by Toro Energy.
For the first time ever after more than a century, Iran discovered oil in the waters of the Caspian Sea, state-run FARS news agency reported.
Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar
continues in languish in the 0.9800's after the G8
meeting held on the weekend produced no "revelations"
of how to deal with the economic woes of Europe.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said on Monday that he would not stand in the way of a repeal of the carbon tax if Opposition leader Tony Abbott becomes the next prime minister of Australia.
Blue chips extended a streak of declines the likes of which haven't been seen in almost 40 years, amid continued euro-zone concerns and Facebook's lackluster debut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its 12th loss in 13 sessions, the worst 13-session performance since October 1974. The average lost 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38.
Today certainly was not an enjoyable day for those involved in markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 2.6 pct or 109.7 pts to 4098.8. Almost all sectors ended in the red today, with the mining and financial sectors the worst performers. Today was the biggest daily pullback for the ASX in 2012 and the worst weekly performance (down 5.6 pct this week) since September 2011. Australian shares wiped out all of the market's gains for the year in a matter of days.
Embattled independent MP Craig Thomson is expected to blame in Australia's Parliament on Monday a Health Services Union (HSU) official for allegedly destroying documents that would clear him of charges.
Canadian miner Corvus Gold obtained the $5.5 million needed to fund and push through with the planned works at its North Bullfrog project in Nevada.
Weeks before a parliamentary election, Mongolia has approved a draft law that bans or limits the potential ownership of any foreign state-owned companies of its massive natural resources.
The euro crisis is definitely worrisome, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday, but Australians can look forward on a robust economy, which she added is supported by an investment pipeline totalling to about $450 billion.
The Australian government affirmed on Friday allegations of animal cruelty that involved two Australian live animal exporters owing to their business connection with Indonesian abattoirs, which reportedly slaughtered animals using sub-standard techniques.
The debate between Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Sydney Airport authorities over the reason behind plane delays continues.
It seems Lynas Corp. and its embattled rare earths processing plant in Malaysia could be included in a list of hot topics for discussion in what could be a most opportune timing as Malaysia signs a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia on Tuesday.
The Australian share market ended a little lower yesterday, despite a positive start to the session. The ASX 200 Index (XJO) fell 8 points to 4,157 points.
China has expanded the number of rare earths it will export to the global market, from 10,546 metric tonnes to 21,226 metric tonnes, the country's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Thursday.
Although Queensland state public employees could still take their morning and afternoon tea break, under cost-cutting measures initiated by the new state government, they must bring their own tea and coffee sachets.
