Supplying healthy US hospital food, Disney’s staff canteen, the Mammoth Mountain ski resort in California and miners canteens in Australia all helped Compass post a strong 7.7 per cent rise in first-half profits today.

Private certification schemes are the unsung heroes of a market economy. They are far more effective than state regulation. It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have always had reservations about Fairtrade-labelled products. The foundation pounces on critics with its well-oiled publicity machine, always responding with anecdotes. But doubts remain.

Compass Group, the world's biggest caterer, said yesterday that challenging economic conditions in Britain and parts of Europe would lead to slowing organic sales growth in the first half compared with the same period the year before.

The departure of Greece from the eurozone would be a "huge political mistake", according to German chancellor Angela Merkel.

After the charming acoustic set Chamber Music Society, and just-pipping Bieber to a Grammy for Best New Artist, bassist, singer and composer Spalding tries to breathe new life into the dead form of smooth jazz-fusion.

As global bodies gather in Marseilles to discuss water supplies, Sarah Morrison reports on the waste that will create a thirsty world by 2050

What Al-Nasser says is commonly uttered, sotto voce, at the UN, but rarely so publicly declared. It's commonplace to point the finger at the "Permanent Five" members of the Security Council. But they will never give up the veto, whatever they may say. This time the Syrians are the victims of China's and Russia's obstructionism, but one can also point to the US for blocking discussion of Palestine. Nor should we relish the oft-repeated panacea of enlarging the Council's membership.

HSBC’s global profits have risen to £13.8 billion, a 15 per cent annual rise and one of the healthiest profits ever reported by a British company.

Surging demand for pork, beef and dairy in China and India saw profits at the British animal breeding group Genus jump 22 per cent to £23.3m in the six months to December.

The banking giant HSBC has launched a £4bn fund to help small businesses boost exports as its latest forecasts showed the UK's trade recovery lagging well behind global rivals.

It seems implausible. For his guide to crime fiction, Barry Forshaw set himself the task of cataloguing and analysing some 200 books by over 70 authors while at the same time delivering helpful insights into the national character of five countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. To make things harder still, he interviewed a selection of authors, translators, commissioning editors and academics, and included lengthy extracts.

Extremely long and in need of a good slap

The deal