Investors wondering whether the agricultural commodities bubble has burst will get some important clues in next week's annual crop plantings report, considered a bellwether for the direction of farming activity for the year.

The author of "the Stern Review" on the economic impact of climate change, Lord Nicholas Stern, talks to CNBC Europe about biofuels and climate change.

Investors wondering whether the agricultural commodities bubble has burst will get some important clues in next week's annual crop plantings report, considered a bellwether for the direction of farming activity for the year.

Investors wondering whether the agricultural commodities bubble has burst will get some important clues in next week's annual crop plantings report, considered a bellwether for the direction of farming activity for the year.

Millions of Chinese began the biggest holiday of the year without power on Wednesday but tens of thousands of stranded passengers had found trains, buses and planes to get back home for family reunions.

The Chinese government is stepping up disaster relief after parts of the south and east were struck by their worst snows in half a century, though the weather is expected to become milder this week.

China's snow-stricken railways were creaking back into action on Friday, but with power cuts still crippling swathes of the country, President Hu Jintao visited a coal mine and urged workers to boost production.

Millions of Chinese shivered through power cuts and water shortages on Wednesday and millions more were stranded by snow that has blanketed parts of central and southern China.