Trade : Pluri-talks on e-commerce takes up controversial issues (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Participants in the proposed plurilateral agreement on "WTO electronic commerce" have begun discussions on controversial issues such as "source code" that could worsen the existing "asymmetries" and "lawlessness" in the global information order, trade envoys told the SUNS.

China : Liberation, not liberalization, responsible for economic miracle (PRIV)
(IPS, Berlin/Kuala Lumpur)
Berlin/Kuala Lumpur, 19 Nov (IPS/Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*) -- Any balanced assessment of the so-called Chinese economic miracle will recognize that it was extremely successful, not only during the reform period from 1979, but also since Liberation in 1949 despite the setbacks of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

UN : With UNSC in paralysis, are there new hopes for Rohingya Muslims? (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) stands virtually paralysed in the face of genocide charges against the government of Myanmar where over 730,000 to one million Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh since a 2016 crackdown by Myanmar's military.

Turkey : Grapples with challenges of food self-sufficiency (PRIV)
(IPS, Vienna)
Despite latest research showing Turkey lagging in overall food sustainability, progress in sustainable agriculture appears to be a bright spot in the country's troubled agriculture industry.

Health : As donors ramp up polio funding, worries of comeback persist (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Efforts to wipe polio off the face of the planet took a step forward this week, with a multi-billion-dollar fund-raiser in the Middle East helping eradication schemes tackle a virus that disproportionately kills and cripples children in poor countries.