
Stimulus and bailout packages undertaken to cope with the economic crisis can have an impact on trade and investment and need to be managed carefully, according to the head of the World Trade Organization.

One of the cruise industry's top executives this week openly criticized new environmental rules that he says will have a profound impact on cruise lines.

Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana has moved to lance the bubble of speculation that followed reports of his mention of the Andorra (*) status at a talk to political and business leaders in Seville last week.

China and Argentina have signed agreements to allow the import to China of de-boned beef, dairy products, apples, bamboo and barley, China's quarantine administration said on Wednesday. However no mention was made of an expected deal on corn.

The Euro remains near 11-month lows against the US dollar as European debt concerns continue to focus on Portugal. With the Portuguese government due to auction 500m Euros of bonds later, analysts are waiting to see the extent of market interest.

UK BAE Systems has secured a two year extended agreement with Chilean ship build and repair organisation ASMAR to provide support to the country's navy Type 22 and Type 23 frigates in a move that is set to enhance Chile's naval capability.

The Euro has fallen against the dollar and major European markets have dropped sharply, a day after ministers agreed a bail-out for the Irish Republic. On Sunday, European ministers reached agreement over a bail-out worth about 85bn Euros.

Belgium has joined Portugal, Spain and Italy on the hit list of countries that may be heading for financial crisis. Like Ireland, struggling to fend off criticism of its austerity package, there are signs that international bond investors are starting to view Belgium as living on borrowed money and borrowed time.

United States secret diplomatic messages released Sunday through WikiLeaks reveal that Brazilian authorities arrested “several suspects allegedly involved in terrorism financing activities”, but basically accused them of different charges “so as not attract attention from the press or high government levels”.

International delegates have adopted new protections for seven species of shark but rejected ones for bluefin tuna, signaling that fisheries managers are willing to safeguard some of the world's most threatened marine predators but not others.