POLITICS & POLICY

Full competition in the telecom industry has resulted in almost 50 per cent drop in average mobile voice price, a report released on Friday said.

Dozens of anti-government protesters stormed Kuwait's parliament as hundreds of activists protested outside demanding the resignation of the prime minister and dissolution of the legislature on Wednesday.

The AUD continued to drift lower overnight trading below 1.0000 as European debt issues continue to weigh on markets.

Global markets slid overnight, on the back of a deepening European debt crisis. Borrowing costs in Europe continued to rise, keeping investors at bay and causing heightened risk aversion. A euro-area official was reported as saying there are no plans for aid for Italy from the EFSF, and the Super Committee talks in the US have reportedly stalled with less than a week until the deadline to propose a plan to cut the deficit. Everything just seems to be going wrong at the same time.

From Craig James, Commsec Chief EconomistMORNING REPORT - (8am AEDT) US Philadelphia Fed factory activity fell from 8.7 to 3.6 in November. The result was below economist expectations of a result around 8.0. On a positive note the more forward looking indicator of business conditions six-months from now rose sharply from 27.2 to 41.9 - the highest reading in almost 7 years.

Commodity explorer and miner, Alkane Resources (ASX: ALK), has upgraded its resource of zirconia and rare earths at Dubbo in the central west of NSW.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released on Thursday a discussion paper on proposed liquidity coverage ratio requirements of the new Basel III rules.

Help for Flinders Mines continue to pour in as it announced on Wednesday it has entered into a non-binding agreement with an independent rail provider to scout possible solutions to transport iron ore on a multi-user rail line from the Pilbara to nearby ports on the Western Australian coast.

Chilean copper producer Antofagasta and Canada's Barrick Gold have been denied a mining lease application by Pakistan's Baluchistan province over the Reko Diq copper-gold project.

New South Wales Attorney General Greg Smith proposed on Thursday limiting the number of times an Australian could legally change name. He wants to limit it to three times and to impose as well tougher requirements in a bid to prevent criminals from hiding from the law.

At least four foreign resource firms have expressed interest to conduct talks with Mumbai-based firm Varun Industries after it announced the discovery heavy minerals reserves at its blocks in Madagascar.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling allowing former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo to receive medical treatment abroad, the Philippine government prevented her from leaving NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) in Manila.

Police had arrested a suspect in a shooting incident at the White House on Friday night.

Despite existing self-regulation adopted by the food processing industry in 2009, television food advertisements promoting the so-called junk foods still make their way to considerable number of Aussie children, a new study said.

Falling global prices of iron ore as well as internal country problems had hurt India's mining industry as exports of its iron ore dropped 25 per cent to 35.38 million tonnes from April to October, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) said in a statement.

The debate over the Labor-government proposed lifting of uranium export ban to India has taken a new turn with the inclusion of visiting U.S. President Barack Obama's name in the arguments for or against the proposal.

France has protested an Israeli airstrike on Gaza that killed one Palestinian policeman and hurt the French consul, his daughter and pregnant wife, who suffered a miscarriage as a result.

An alleged attempt by the Thai government to bring back ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from exile in Dubai through a royal amnesty has been exposed disgusting the opposition and raising the spectre of another political crisis.

Optus sought on Thursday for Telstra to be transparent on its use of the $11 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) windfall to ensure it would not use the money to stifle competition.

A unit of the Bank of China (BOC) is arranging to enter the iron ore swaps business next year to exploit the growing demand for hedging from steel mills and traders.

For millions of bike riders across Australia, local government efforts of ensuring for a cycle-friendly environment has become a norm for most of the country’s key metropolis, according to a new study issued this week by Bicycle Network.

Global miner BHP Billiton Limited is set to embark on two multi billion projects over the next three years.

Vending machines have come a long way from their roots. From their simple beginning as a way to sell postcards in the late 1880s, vending machines now sell everything from a pack of gum to shiny new cars.

The average salary of Australian workers grew by 3.6 per cent yearly, newly released date from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. The rate is almost the same as that of inflation rate which means wage growth was just modest and manageable.

China said its territorial dispute with neighbors should not be discussed in the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday.

On Wednesday, US oil prices jumped to five-month highs triggered by a US pipeline stake sale that traders surmise could potentially reduce transport blockages and boost demand for US and Canadian crude.

After it successfully bought a majority stake in Australia's Legacy Iron Ore in September, India's largest iron ore miner NMDC Ltd. pursues its aggressive expansion plans of acquiring overseas mines, this time eyeing companies in Brazil and the US.

London-listed company African Minerals recently achieved a remarkable milestone with its shipment of a first batch of iron ore from its mine in central Sierra Leone, the country's first export of the commodity after almost 30 years.

The buildup of U.S. Marines permanently stationed in Australia will start next year with the arrival of 250 soldiers rising to 2,500 by 2017, U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard jointly announced Wednesday night.