There is a growing trend to improve national food security by investing in foreign farmlands. But will it actually work, or does it raise a whole new range of social and political risks, asks Adrian Lewers of Lloyd’s insurer Beazley.

Slowing business and rising unemployment are a cause for concern in Latvia as it faces a bleak winter, although government plans to boost Riga’s entertainment sector may bring some welcome heat back to the country’s ailing economy, reports Courtney Fingar.

The rare, or ‘green’, earth metals market, of which China dominates 98% of global trade, is being targeted by Japan.

Recent activity shows that China is growing as a source of outward investment in the automotive industry, as well as continuing to be a key global destination market.