Trade : India re-calibrates its TFS proposal (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
India has re-calibrated its proposal on trade facilitation for services (TFS) at the World Trade Organization by suggesting that the proposed TFS agreement will only cover commitments scheduled under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), trade envoys told the SUNS.

United Nations : Iron ore industry makes gains in 2016, says UNCTAD (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The iron ore industry saw a marked improvement last year after the slower growth, lower ore prices and squeezed profit margins in 2015, a new report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said.

Development : Water is precious, fragile, dangerous - it can sustain or destroy (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome/Dhaka)
Water is precious, fragile, and dangerous. It can sustain or destroy.

Development : Collectively managing South Asia's stressed water resources (PRIV)
(IPS, Dhaka)
Experts and policymakers here say regional cooperation is a must to resolve long-standing water problems in South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and to harness the full value of water.

Africa : Migrant women face "shocking sexual abuse" on journey to Europe (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
Up to 80 per cent of Nigerian migrant women and girls arriving on Europe's shores in Italy could potentially be sex trafficking victims, spotlighting the horrific levels of abuse and violence migrants face along their arduous journeys for a better future, according to a UN study.

Nicaragua : Climate change brings migration to Caribbean coast (PRIV)
(IPS, Matagalpa)
If the impact of drought and poverty in the municipalities of the so- called Dry Corridor in Nicaragua continues pushing the agricultural frontier towards the Caribbean coast, by the year 2050 this area will have lost all its forests and nature reserves, experts predict.