Trade : Major ICs step up efforts to smuggle E-com pluri at WTO (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Davos)
Major industrialized countries and their developing country allies have stepped up their efforts to smuggle-in plurilateral negotiations on electronic commerce by stealth at the World Trade Organization while erasing the unresolved issues of the Doha multilateral trade agenda, several trade ministers and envoys told SUNS.

Trade : E-com WTO rules via pluri will undermine MTS credibility (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Davos)
Attempts to bring "digital two dozen rules" into the World Trade Organization by the sponsors of the plurilateral initiative on electronic commerce will permanently undermine the credibility of the multilateral trading system based on consensus, South Africa's trade minister Rob Davies told SUNS on Friday.

United Nations : Renewed partnership to end hunger by 2025 in Africa (PRIV)
(IPS, Addis Ababa)
After a period of prolonged decline, world hunger is on the rise. Africa has the highest rates of hunger in the world, and they are increasing.

Opinion : Indigenous peoples & local communities vital to global environment (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington DC)
Indigenous Peoples and local communities are some of the best environmental stewards.

Ethiopia : Closure of notorious prison - sign of real reform or smokescreen? (PRIV)
(IPS, Addis Ababa)
Ethiopia's most notorious prison lurks within the capital's atmospheric Piazza, the city's old quarter popular for its party scene at the weekend when the neon signs, loud discos and merry abandon at night continue into the early hours of the morning.