POLITICS & POLICY

Three American exchange students are detained in Cairo for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces from the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters demanding a civilian government were clashing with riot police trying to disperse them.

More investments are expected to come from India once Australia decides to officially include the country as one of its uranium buyers, according to political and business leaders from New Delhi.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has assured the public the name of her brother Thaksin is not on the list to be endorsed for pardon this year.

Australian miner Hastings Rare Metals' Heavy Rare Earth Project in Western Australia could rank as one of the world's top heavy rare earth projects after a scoping study underlined the project's massive rare earths content as well as potential economic returns for the company.

An opposition lawmaker threw a tear gas inside the South Korea's parliament Tuesday in protest to a plenary session to ratify a controversial bill establishing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S.

Following months of intense lobbying and backdoor concessions, Prime Minister Julia Gillard finally won the support of her House colleagues as the Parliament’s lower chamber voted on Wednesday morning to approve the Minerals Resource Rent Tax Bill 2011.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has fallen further and is trading at USD 0.9835 as persistent concerns about the Euro Zone's sovereign debt crisis create more uncertainty in global financial markets.

From Craig James, Commsec Chief EconomistMORNING REPORT (8am AEDT) The second estimate of US GDP was revised down from 2.5pct to 2.0pct. The downward revision reflected a cut in inventories and lower investment spending. US ICSC chain store sales rose 2.8pct last week compared with a year ago. ICSC research expects same store sales to rise 3.5pct-4pct in November. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index improved from -6 to 0 in November.

From Stan Shamu, Market Strategist ( IG Markets)Global markets extended their losses overnight on concerns that European leaders are running out of options to solve the debt crisis. This sent French and Italian yields higher yet again. In the US, market weakness was triggered by slower-than-expected GDP data in the third quarter. The revised number came in at 2% after an initial estimate of 2.5%. However, losses were pared on news that the Federal Reserve and International Monetary Fund may...

The $11-billion Mineral Resource Rental Tax (MRRT) was passed Wednesday morning because of the Labor government's $100 million pay-off deal with the Greens.

The Australian sharemarket unfortunately fell for the third straight day today with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 0.7 pct or 29.4 pts to 4204.2. Although today was not an ideal session, keep in mind that shares in the U.S fell by over 2 pct while the European markets fell by as much as 3.5 pct.

The Australian government has assured mining companies and opposing sectors their demands will be met in the final version of the proposed mining tax bill.

Barring any more glitches, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is virtually assured of sailing her proposed minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) though the Parliament’s lower chamber this week, paving the way for a near-certain approval by the Senate early next year.

The mining tax proposal of the Labor government, set to be voted on likely by Wednesday, appears to be a more popular measure than the proposed lifting of uranium exports to India.

Forces of Libya's interim ruler, the National Transition Council, are searching Terhouna city, 90 kilometres southeast of Tripoli, for the youngest son of former leader Moammar Gadhafi and head of an elite brigade from the fallen regime.

Qantas Airways has rejected suggestions that it allowed negotiations with union officials to be bogged down by deliberate delays in order to secure intervention from Fair Work Australia (FWA).

Australian banks are no longer relying heavily on the wholesale funding markets. Instead it has turned to the retail deposit for low interest rates since the start of the global financial crisis.

Australia is bent on completing its mission in Afghanistan regardless of the setbacks its troops absorbed in the past few months, according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The US healthcare system is a mess, as both health insurance and medical treatment costs continue to soar exponentially year after year. But one way some companies are helping to address this dire situation is to begin penalizing workers that represent the biggest drain on the system (smokers and the obese) with higher healthcare premiums.

Blaming below-par professionalism and negligence, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed this week that underground operatives supplying information from Hezbollah and Iran have been busted earlier this year.

From Craig James, Commsec Chief EconomistUS existing home sales rose by 1.4pct to an annual rate of 4.97 million in October. Economists had expected sales to fall to a result near 4.80 million. The National Association of Realtors said that the proportion of distressed sales eased from 30pct to 28pct. Home prices are down 4.7pct on a year ago. And the inventory of homes fell from 8.3 months to 8.0 months.

The 21-day period for Qantas management and unions to agree on new contracts lapsed on Monday with no negotiation extension made by the parties, so the dispute will now have to be settled by the Fair Works Australia (FWA).

Clashes between demonstrators and police around Cairo's Tahrir Square continued for the third day on Monday raising the death toll to at least 24 and the number of injured people to 1,700.

From Stan Shamu, Market Strategist, IG MarketsGlobal markets declined overnight after US lawmakers failed to reach a deficit-cutting agreement. This failure to act is magnifying the European debt issues that investors are currently trying to deal with. Moody's came out to say that rising French government borrowing costs and an uncertain economic position continues to pose a threat to the outlook for France's AAA credit rating. This confirms what most investors have feared for a while....

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Risk aversion was the flavour of the trading session last night as concerns briefly shifted from Europe to the US as their deadline for deficit reduction looms.

The British and U.S. governments announced Monday a ban on credit and financial transactions with Iran's banks and central bank as punishment for building nuclear weapons. Canada's government is also expected to impose the same sanctions.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the fourth time in five days today with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) easing 0.3 pct or 13.1 pts to 4233.6. The market was split in half today with the energy, industrial, healthcare and telecommunication services all ending higher however weakness from the mining and financial sectors was enough to drag the broader market into the red.

Aurora Minerals has announced the discovery of more than 600 meters of broad copper mineralization at its GBO prospect, along with promising intersections at its Pink Elephant prospect from Stage 2 drilling at its Glenburgh Copper-Gold Project in central Western Australia.

For as long as the world mulls the global economy is headed for a recession, panic acquisition of the safe haven yellow metal will continue, pushing demand and prices to further go up.