DEVELOPING nations cranked up pressure on the rich to open their long-protected markets as world trade talks floundered yesterday, while the US and Europe blamed each other for the deadlock.

Hundreds of South Korean protesters who have been scuffling with police at a WTO meeting in Hong Kong switched to peaceful Buddhist tactics today, repeatedly kneeling and kowtowing as they marched to the convention centre where the trade talks are being held.

About 4,000 anti-globalisation activists – some carrying a giant spider and others wheeling along statues of emaciated people – marched today in the first mass protest against the World Trade Organisation’s summit in Hong Kong.