Open Skies, Open for Merger Open skies agreement between EU and US will lead to slew of airline mergers, smaller national airlines will have difficulty competing with cross-border operators such as Virgin, BA and Lufthansa Times BA ready to bid £1b for BMI 28.03.07 Telegraph, Aviation, Competition Law, EU Competition

Isolated UK Signs EU-US Air Deal UK 'reluctantly' signed EU-US deal to liberalise transatlantic air routes, minister Douglas Alexander insists UK can withdraw if US fails to open market by 2010, aim is for Open Aviation Area Times Virgin may bid for BMI Telegraph EU will withdraw if there is no phase two agreement by 2010 23.03.07 Financial Times, Aviation, EU Competition, EU Law

Vote on EU-US Aviation Deal UK favours limited deal with US on transatlantic routes, would like reforms in US to parallel opening of EU market, right of European carriers to operate internally in the US, to own US airlines 22.03.07 BBC, Aviation, EU Competition

Corruption Tainting German Business Siemens, VW, DaimlerChrysler and BMW are among firms raided or brought to trial by German anti-corruption authorities in recent times, a successful export economy has drawn executives into illicit deals 15.02.07 NY Times, Corruption, VW Corruption Case

Wide UK Poultry Ban String of states impose ban on import of UK poultry, cull of Bernard Matthews turkey farm nearing completion, Cobra not expected to broaden exclusion zone 06.02.07 Financial Times, Agricultural Law

Manchester Scoops Supercasino Surprise win for Manchester in taking first licence for supercasino BBC Losers, London Dome and Blackpool, consider taking legal action Guardian EU may take on US ban on online gambling sites run from Europe, sees it as restriction of trade 31.01.07 Reuters, Competition Law, Gambling Law, Local Authority Law, Online Gambling, Planning Law

Vietnam to Join WTO Vietnam is to become 150th member of WTO, food and textiles will be main sectors affected, foreign direct investment £10b in 2006 11.01.07 BBC, Foreign Direct Investment

Vodafone Bids in India EU trade commissioner Mandelson has contacted Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath calling for equality for Vodafone against local competitors in bid to acquire Hutchison Essar 09.01.07 Times, Mobile Telecoms

EU to Push Bush on Trade Talks Mandelson to urge Bush to 'get personally involved' to ensure world trade talks brought back on track, presently on a 'knife edge' 08.01.07 BBC

Russia Turns on More Energy Projects Having shunted Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi out of half of Sakhalin-2, world's largest gas field, Russian authorities are now 'checking licences' connected to Exxon Mobil and Peter Hambro Mining 13.12.06 Telegraph, Energy Law, Russia