Sydney  - Fortescue Metals Group Ltd said Tuesday that it had received Australian government approval for Chinese steel maker Hunan Valin Iron and Steel to pay 645 million Australian dollars (441 million US dollars) for a 17.5-per-cent stake in the nation's third-largest iron ore miner.

Under what's known as a stand-still agreement, Valin will undertake to hold no more than 17.5 per cent of Fortescue.

Fortescue chief executive Andrew Forrest, who owns 35 per cent of Fortescue, said in August his company would remain Australian controlled.

Rabat, Morocco  - Morocco

Madrid  - The central bank of Spain, a country whose banking system has remained largely untouched in the ongoing world financial crisis, has intervened to save regional savings institution Caja Castilla-La Mancha (CCM), the government said Sunday evening.

The Bank of Spain took control of CCM on Sunday and removed its board of directors, the government said.

Spain's Finance and Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said the savings bank had a large liquidity problem, in comments after a cabinet meeting.

Manama, Bahrain  - Bahrain's local economy benefited to the tune of 600 million dollars as a result of its hosting of the 2008 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, according to figures released on Saturday by the country's investment arm.

Mumtalakat Holdings Company, which owns Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), said the figure represented a 9 per cent increase from the 2007 revenues.

The company said the 2008 race, for the first time in its six-year history, drew nearly 100,000 spectators and corporate guests over the course of its three days.

Bangkok  - China's Tsingtao Brewery Co has set up a joint venture with Thai partners to invest 2 billion baht (55.5 million dollars) in beer production near Bangkok, media reports said Saturday.

Theparak Luengsuwan, one of the Thai investors, said at a press conference that Tsingtao has chosen Thailand over Malaysia for its first-ever overseas brewery partly because of a free trade agreement the kingdom has in place with Australia.

Madrid  - For years, tourism had been one of the main engines of Spain's economy, but its role is being increasingly questioned.

Not only has Europe's economic slowdown hit the tourism industry, with the number of foreign visitors plunging by nearly 16 per cent in February.

Spain's traditional tourism model based on the sea and sun is also facing increasing competition from cheaper destinations, and global warming poses far-reaching challenges for the tourism industry.