Far from being a celebration, General Motors' 100th year in business is turning out to be one of the most wrenching in its long history. The Detroit-based company lost its spot as the world's biggest carmaker Toyotalast month, after hanging on to it by the narrowest of margins last year. It also faces the massive task of shifting its focus from the big sports-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks that have dominated its North American product line-up - and its profits - for the past 15 years.

By Stefan Wagstyl, Thomas Escritt, Kester Eddy, Theo Troev and Neil Macdonald In a remote corner of Hungary close to the Ukrainian border, engineers are starting construction of the biggest power station in the former communist states of south-east Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first pair of 400-mega-watt units at the

India needs to add the equivalent of about half the electricity generating capacity of the UK each year - or about 30 gigawatts - if it is to maintain its present rapid rate of economic growth, a new report shows. Yet the country in the past decade has managed to build an average of only 4GW of fresh capacity a year, a fraction of what the study by McKinsey & Co estimates will be required if the economy is to continue to expand at 8 per cent a year.

US poultry producers on Tuesday accused Europe of protectionism after efforts by Brussels to resolve the long-standing ban on US imports were rejected by food safety experts. An emphatic vote by veterinary experts in the standing committee on food chain and animal health

Rich countries came under attack yesterday at the United Nations food summit for their biofuel subsidies and production targets, declining spending on development aid for agriculture and large subsidies to European and US farmers. Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, told heads of state and governments gathered in Rome that "nobody" understood why cereals had been diverted from human consumption "mostly to satisfy a thirst for fuel vehicles".

European Union finance ministers struggled yesterday to forge a response to food and fuel price inflation, proposing remedies from windfall taxes on oil companies to the suspension of various food import tariffs. Several ministers, notably Wilhelm Molterer of Austria, denounced what they termed "speculation" on commodities futures markets, saying it partly accounted for recent increases in food and oil prices. But the attack attracted little support and was omitted from a letter to EU heads of state and government, who will discuss food price inflation at a Brussels summit on June 19.

Abu Dhabi is preparing to launch a large-scale agricultural project in Sudan to develop more than 70,000 acres of land as part of the oil-rich Gulf emirate's efforts to secure food supplies. The project comes amid growing interest from Middle Eastern states to use land overseas to ensure food security. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have also held talks with Sudan and are considering agricultural projects of their own in Africa's largest nation, officials confirmed yesterday.

Leading Hong Kong clothing manufacturers are coming together to reduce the environmental impact of their factories in response to growing pressure from international retailers. The group, the Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium, is being launched today, World Earth Day. Many Chinese suppliers are being told to clean up operations from their US and European customers. Leading the charge is Wal-Mart. The world's biggest retailer will in October convene a meeting of 1,000 of its suppliers to set goals for reducing their impact on the environment.

Rio Tinto last night slammed Chinese steelmakers over increasingly aggressive negotiating tactics, after the China Iron & Steel Association called for its members to boycott the Anglo-Australian mining group's spot sales of iron ore. The steelmakers have failed to agree a 2008-09 annual contract price with Rio and BHP Billiton despite months of talks. Earlier this year, the Chinese authorities delayed issuing permits needed to import some shipments of Australian iron ore, a move that was also considered a negotiating ploy.

Realism comes with a hefty price tag. Iraq was supposed to have put paid to the internationalist impulse in foreign policy. The gathering outrage at the behaviour of the military junta in Burma reminds us that foreign policy, like life, is never quite so simple