Iraq's Oil Ministry says crude exports averaged 2.596 million barrels a day in February, far from levels planned to provide the nation with badly needed cash for ongoing military operations against Islamic State extremists.

Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said on Wednesday the exports grossed about $3.402 billion, based on an average price of $46.795 per barrel. Iraq's 2015 budget is based on an expected price of $56 per barrel with a daily export capacity of 3.3 million.

China has given the go-ahead for three more free-trade zones, state media reported, despite the country's first project in Shanghai proving disappointing 18 months after its establishment.

A meeting of the Communist Party's politburo hosted by President Xi Jinping on Tuesday approved zones in the southern province of Guangdong, eastern province of Fujian and northern city of Tianjin, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

H.J. Heinz Co. is buying Kraft Foods, creating one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world with annual revenue in excess of $28 billion.

The deal was engineered by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and the company that owns Heinz, Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. Berkshire and 3G will invest $10 billion in what will come to be known as The Kraft Heinz Co.

Noble Markets said Tuesday it is adopting Nasdaq technology for its planned Bitcoin exchange, aiming to give institutional investors a credible platform for trading the digital currency.

The startup said it would implement Nasdaq's X-stream Trading technology, already used by more than 30 smaller markets worldwide, to bring the Bitcoin trade to the Wall Street mainstream from often murky fringe exchanges.

The inexorable decline of the single currency offers ambitious Chinese firms a bargain buffet of eurozone business, analysts say, with this weekend's multibillion deal for Italian tyremaker Pirelli only the latest course in an acquisition binge.

Less than a year ago the euro was worth nearly $1.40 on international markets. Earlier this month it stood at less than $1.05, down by a quarter as the European Central Bank embarks on a massive stimulus program while the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to start raising interest rates.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed an improved tone in discussions with debt-mired Greece, after meeting visiting Greek premier Alexis Tsipras Tuesday.

Steinmeier met Tsipras at his hotel in central Berlin one day after the Greek leader held crunch talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in which both called for an end to the bitter recriminations the countries have traded in recent weeks.

Beirut, March 2015 .At this year’s Horeca, the region’s premiere annual hospitality and food mega-event, unexpected surprise collaboration is set to be unveiled between two big influencers on the Arab scene.

Tawlet Souk el Tayeb, is teaming up with Rana Salam, one of the most established and highly regarded graphic designers and artists from the Middle East, to create a highly anticipated 4-day installation at the exhibit.

Hospitality Services held a press conference on March 10, 2015 at Phoenicia Hotel Beirut to announce the 22nd edition of its key annual event, HORECA.

The press conference was under the patronage of Minister of Tourism, Mr. Michel Pharaon, and in the presence of presidents of associations and syndicates from the hospitality, foodservice and tourism industries as well as the media corps, who emphasized the importance of HORECA for these industries in Lebanon and the region.

Britain's annual inflation rate slowed sharply to zero in February for the first time, pulled down by falling prices for recreational goods, food, furniture and oil, official data showed Tuesday.

"The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was unchanged in the year to February 2015, that is, a 12-month rate of 0.0 percent, down from 0.3 percent in January," the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Greece and the European Union could reach a deal as early as this week to allow the release of badly needed aid funds for Athens, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Tuesday.

"In my opinion, by the end of the week we will reach a new understanding that will be enough to unblock the most urgent funds," Schulz said in an interview published in Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.