
Spain could become stalled in protracted weak growth and high unemployment unless it undertakes reforms to raise productivity and cut costs, the International Monetary Fund said in a report published on Wednesday.

Adventurer and host of the popular Man vs Wild series Bear Grylls has injured his shoulder during an Antarctic expedition. According to CNN the 34-year-old former SAS soldier was being flown back to the UK to receive medical attention.

The recent sharp declines in oil and food prices mark the end of what has been the most historic commodity price boom of the past century, says the World Bank in its report Commodities at the crossroads.

The World Bank Global Economic Prospects 2009 predicts that global GDP growth will slip from 2.5% in 2008 to 0.9% in 2009 and world trade will contract by 2.1% next year, something not seen since 1982. Developing country growth is expected to decline from a resilient 7.9% in 2007 to 4.5% in 2009 with growth in rich countries next year most likely negative.
An influential committee of British MPs is to investigate the controversial arrest of Tory MP Damian Green, including the search of his office in Parliament, and politicians' involvement in the incident was announced on Tuesday.

A German cruise liner announced Tuesday it plans to fly its passengers over the Gulf of Aden, instead of sailing them through, out of fear of pirate attacks in the region.
China the world's largest steel producer is seeking iron ore suppliers cut prices to meet the falling international price of steel which has dropped to 1994 levels, according to an official with China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), reports China's official news agency Xinhua.
China's fisheries industry expects to end the year with stable growth and fish farm production increasing 3% over the last twelve months, according to an official report released on Tuesday in Beijing from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

A total pork-product recall from Ireland has been implemented after slaughterhouse tests confirmed high levels of a cancer-causing toxin in meat. The substance has come from contaminated feed and is a big blow to Ireland's domestic and export pig industry.

Britain's Commons Speaker Michael Martin is looking increasingly exposed amid deepening dismay among MPs over his failure to stop the police raid on the Westminster office of Tory frontbencher Damian Green.