POLITICS & POLICY

The 14th Dalai Lama, one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders, will provide words of wisdom to current and future Queensland business leaders when he visits Brisbane for a lunch forum in June.

Conflicts rise between the American and Pakistani authorities as senior officials of the Obama government demand explanation from the latter on how Osama bin Laden managed to hide in Pakistan on Tuesday.

Vietnam’s announcement of lower growth target owing to spiraling inflation sets the mood at ADB annual governors’ meeting in Hanoi this week.

A high-level seminar to discuss possible reforms in the international monetary system to make it more capable of promoting greater global monetary and financial stability will be held Wednesday during the annual governors’ meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Taking its cue from the inflation jitters set by other neighbors in the Asia-Pacific Region, the Reserve Bank of Australia has maintained the country's benchmark rates steady on the fifth straight meeting at 4.75 percent.

The Australian government is mulling giving mining permits in the once prohibited Woomera defense area to develop resource projects estimated to be worth as much as A$35 billion ($38.2 billion).

The Australian central bank on Tuesday has announced it would keep its main cash rate steady at 4.75 percent as expected. But analysts predict the decision might temporary as the government might raise interest rates later in the year to keep inflation in the light of massive trade and mining boom.

The sovereign wealth fund of Australia has sold out its holdings in mine and ammunition makers as the country prepares a treaty that will impose a ban on deadly weapons manufacturing and stockpiling.

Osama Bin Laden was living for the past few years not in a cave as many thought, but in a relatively luxurious compound in Abbottabad, a town 32 miles (51 km) north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Here are interesting facts about his hideout:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is certain that Islamabad authorities are collaborators in the war on terror despite the announcement that Osama bin Laden had a support network in Pakistan which was hiding the most wanted terrorist.

A Pakistani IT consultant "taking a break from the rat race by hiding in the mountains" unwittingly posted a stream real-time updates on Twitter of the attack at Osama bin Laden's mansion in city of Abbottabad without realizing it was a well-planned raid by U.S. forces against the world's most wanted terrorist.

The Pakistani government quickly hailed the death of Osama bin Laden as a "major setback" to global terrorism, but the killing of the world's most notorious terrorist near its capital Islamabad is seen to increase pressure to Pakistan which has long been suspected of aiding terrorist groups.

Ten years into the hunt against the world's most feared and hated terrorist, Osama bin Laden was finally killed in an encounter with U.S. forces at a mountain tourist town of Abbottabad, Pakistan. But the hunt for bin Laden has cost American taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars, excluding the hundreds of billions more allocated to other parts of the budget used to strengthen domestic security.

One of Osama bin Laden’s wives served as a human shield during the attack by US special troops, according to a chief US official.

The death of bin Laden is not really significant, in terms of its effect on the war in Afghanistan or anywhere else, says an RMIT University international security expert.

U.S. President Barack Obama has validated death reports of the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

The death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should also serve as a warning to the United States and its allies as this can open more attacks of terrorism, therefore, more vigilance should be practiced by citizens world-wide, President Barack Obama said in his televised address.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi endured a NATO air strike but with his youngest son and three grandchildren killed on a Tripoli house on Sunday, according to a government spokesman.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said the new budget to be presented next week is seen to create some 500,000 jobs within two years and reduce the country's unemployment rate to 4.5 percent.

An American group opposed to male circumcision has claimed to have gathered sufficient number of signatures that calls for a ban against the practice of circumcision in San Francisco as a ballot measure for November elections.

A city east of the Philippine capital Manila is trying to set a world record for the most number of circumcised boys on May 7. The city government of Marikina has announced its "Tule (Circumcision) Party" to highlight the event.

A two-day meeting of climate change finance negotiators in the United Nations sponsored summit in Mexico City resulted in little progress for the Transnational Committee (TC) of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the fund that will help poor and developing nations cope with the adverse effects of climate change.

The Philippines’ Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez resigned on Friday amid a swirl of controversy and criticism in her office’s handling of big corruption cases and the agency's allegedly low conviction rate.

Australia's internet service providers are wary that the planned National Broadband Network (NBN) may push up their prices much to the dismay of customers.

The much-awaited Royal Wedding is just hours away and billions of people are dying to see the members of the Royal Wedding party who will be joining Prince William and Kate Middleton as they walk the aisle at Westminster Abbey.

The NSW Government has taken action to stop low paid workers from receiving pay rises to adequately reflect the value of their work, instead of recognising the valuable work of women in the community sector, the Australian Services Union (ASU) claims.

United States President Barack Obama released his detailed birth certificate as he slammed lingering rumors that he was not American born as distressing “silliness”.

Australia has agreed to intensify military cooperation with China, in a bid to boost ties, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today.

Senator Doug Cameron, Labour's Left, has urged the Australian government to "pedal harder" in processing asylum seekers to help ease budding tensions in detention centres.