Oil prices have surged to fresh two-and-a-half year highs after fierce fighting in Libya damaged the country’s largest oil field.

GLOBAL dairy prices are at the “high end of the cycle” and may decline as a record rally threatens to curb demand and farmers may boost supply, according to Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s largest exporter.

WHEN it comes to timing you can be sure the Swiss have covered all the angles. As the countdown clock on the Austria-Switzerland EURO 2008 bid website clicks down to mere hours and minutes, decision day is almost here and the Alpine countries’ campaign seems to have peaked at just the right time.

SCOTLAND’S first minister Jack McConnell fears the Scotland/Ireland bid for the 2008 European Championships in may already have been scuppered.

Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell fears the Scotland/Ireland bid for the European Championships in 2008 may already have been scuppered.