Egypt said on Tuesday it plans to build a new Suez Canal alongside the existing 145-year-old historic waterway in a multibillion-dollar project to expand trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

It's fair to say that some mouths dropped in some quarters when word got out that the vice president of supply chain for McDonald's in the UK said he had handshakes rather than formal contracts with key suppliers. In dispensing with the written word, the fast-food chain formed long-term relationships with its partners in food, packaging and distribution, and included them in planning – even helping to set prices and volumes. Said Warren Anderson, "We don’t have contracts, but we do have our very assured supply partnerships with our food and paper suppliers," he said. "A gentleman’s handshake is just as powerful here."

A group of ocean carriers has founded the Container Ship Safety Forum (CSSF), a global business-to-business network that will address safety and management practices in the container-shipping industry.