Global food prices soared 10 percent in July, increasing the threat to millions of the world's poor especially in Africa and the Middle East, the World Bank said Thursday.

Drought and soaring temperatures in the United States and Eastern Europe have savaged some of the key grain crops that feed much of the world, with prices for corn (maize) and soybeans hitting records.

Emirates airlines launched, in partnership with Montblanc, a promotion offering travelers an opportunity to win a trip to the luxury manufacturer’s Artisan Atelier in Hamburg, Germany.

Travelers on the airline will be able to enter a raffle draw upon their purchase of the Princesse Grace de Monaco Ballpoint Pen from Emirates’ Duty Free.

China on Thursday signed a $3.5 billion deal to buy 50 Airbus A320 jets during a visit by German leader Angela Merkel, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The agreement between ICBC Leasing and Airbus was part of a series of agreements signed by China and Germany at the start of a two-day visit by Merkel aimed at boosting trade between the two economic powers.

British bank Barclays on Thursday named retail and business banking head Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive, replacing Bob Diamond who resigned last month over the interbank rate-rigging scandal.

"Barclays announce that Antony Jenkins has been appointed as a director and as group chief executive of Barclays with immediate effect," the group said in an official statement.

Inflation in Spain picked up to an annualized 2.7 percent in August, from 2.2 percent in July, the second consecutive month that the rate has risen, provisional statistics published on Thursday showed.

The national Institute of Statistics (INE) did not provide details, stating only that the result was due principally to a rise in fuel prices.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met China's premier Thursday on her second visit to Beijing in seven months, as Europe's debt crisis begins to drag on the two global economic powers.

With the nearly three-year-old Eurozone debt crisis showing signs of spreading to China, the world's second largest economy, Beijing views Germany as a key player in tackling the problem.

Global oil prices fell on Wednesday as traders reassessed the impact of Hurricane Isaac on output in the rig-heavy U.S. Gulf Coast, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October shed 92 cents to $111.66 a barrel in late morning London deals.

Preventing the European Central Bank from buying bonds issued by countries like Italy and Spain could drive up inflation in Germany, 0 warned Wednesday in an interview.

Monti's comments published in the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore a few hours before he was due in Berlin argued for resuming a revamped ECB bond-purchasing program that has been opposed by the influential German central bank.

The world's biggest air-conditioner maker Daikin Industries of Japan will acquire Goodman Global of the United States for 300 billion yen ($3.8 billion), a report said Wednesday.

Daikin decided to acquire the top U.S. manufacturer of home air conditioners as it seeks to develop the Americas, where its presence is weak, the Nikkei economic daily said.

Brazil's state-owned energy giant Petrobras said Tuesday it will deploy the world's first floating oil terminal capable of refueling tankers on the high seas.

"The new technology will ensure lower costs, by reducing the distance covered by oil transport vessels," the company said in a statement.