as a tool of blatant protectionism.One official said that the relatively technical nature of the cause of the breakdown underlined a lack of political will to reach an agreement that would be a tough sell to voters in many countries.The Indian trade minister, Kamal Nath, in a briefing with reporters, said he was very disappointed but that developing countries were deeply concerned about issues which affected poor and subsistence farmers.Washingtons negotiating team was also under pressure from the countrys powerful farm lobby, and the European Union was under pressure from its own.Lourdes Catrain, a trade partner at the law firm Hogan & Hartson, said the real danger created by failure after getting so close was that the seven years of hard negotiations will be lost and there will be no guarantees on the starting point of a future round.The proliferation of bilateral deals and the continuing expansion of exports from both developing and developed countries have raised doubts among some Doha skeptics about the necessity of a global agreement. But experts said it was important, particularly as a bulwark against rising protectionist sentiments.There are people who argue that no Doha outcome is better than a weak Doha outcome, but I dont agree, said Katinka Barysch, the deputy director of the Center for European Reform in London.Stephen Castle reported from Geneva, and Mark Landler from Frankfurt.*************************************************************Oil hike sparks 'serious concern', BBC, June 7.Oil hike sparks 'serious concern' - some suggest crude could reach $150 a barrel by July.The US and the four largest economies in Asia are to voice "serious concerns" over "unprecedented" oil prices. Energy ministers are meeting in Japan a day after a record one-day jump in the crude oil price, to $139 a barrel. Under pressure from the US, Japan, China, India and South Korea have agreed on the need to end fuel subsidies, blamed for boosting demand. But correspondents say there are major differences over the speed and extent to which the changes should be made. The soaring cost of oil is causing growing strain to economies around the world, with some governments facing protests and other pressures from consumers and businesses. Both the Indian and Malaysian governments have recently raised fuel prices in order to cut the subsidies they provide. Officials and ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) key industrialised nations, as well as China, India and South Korea, are meeting for two days in the northern city of Aomori. In a statement to be issued after the talks, the US and Asian countries are expected to say rising oil prices pose a great burden, especially on developing countries and are "against the interest of both consuming and producing countries", news agencies reported. It will also say that "phased and gradual" withdrawal of price subsidies - blamed by some for fuelling demand in emerging economies - is "desirable", the French news agency AFP said. But India insisted there was no agreement to remove the subsidies altogether, China made clear it had no time frame for moving towards lower subsidies, and Japan's trade minister confirmed they had agreed