SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Arrow Energy Ltd <AOE.AX> asked for trading in its shares to be suspended on Friday, stoking speculation that Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and PetroChina <0857.HK> would sweeten their joint $3 billion offer for the coal-seam gas producer. Arrow's trading halt will allow it to update the ...

CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) - China has told Australian diplomats they will not be given access to part of the trial of an Australian employee of Rio Tinto charged with commercial spying, Canberra said on Friday. Australia has registered its "disappointment" with Beijing over the ruling but will not make further attempts to allow officials access, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs ...

Australia's Hollywood A-listers, prime minister and top tycoons were to launch a new campaign for Aboriginal jobs on Friday with a spectacular light show at Sydney's iconic Opera House. Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe will join Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Andrew Forrest, the country's richest man, whose "Generation One" campaign aims to find jobs for disadvantaged ...

US President Barack Obama dramatically postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia until June, so he can battle for a historic health reform bill that could shape his legacy. The decision, which will slow Obama's effort to intensify US engagement with the dynamic Asia Pacific region, was forced by the need to woo wavering Democratic lawmakers with a knife-edge ...