THE dismissal of a case in the United States which accused chemical companies of war crimes by supplying the US Army with Agent Orange in the Vietnam War, triggered angry protests from Vietnamese victims yesterday.

Investor apathy pushed stocks lower today as Wall Street nervously awaited a key decision on interest rates, the transfer of power in Iraq and next month’s second-quarter earnings.

The European Commission will next Wednesday ease a six-year-old biotech food ban and take a step toward defusing a trans-Atlantic trade clash by allowing the import of a Syngenta AG gene-modified sweet-corn variety.