Trade : Efforts underway to establish plurilateral dispute settlement system (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Efforts are underway to establish a plurilateral dispute settlement system at the World Trade Organisation, with arbitration under Article 25 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) as its mainstay, following the Appellate Body becoming dysfunctional from 11 December, trade envoys told the SUNS.

Opinion : Why is growth slowing in China? (PRIV)
(IPS, Berlin/Kuala Lumpur)
Berlin/Kuala Lumpur, 10 Dec (IPS/Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*) -- China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 14%. Since then, its growth rate has declined by more than half to 6.6% in 2018.

UN : Economic & humanitarian catastrophe threatening Pacific Islands (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) last month, he pointed out the dramatic impact of climate change triggering natural disasters around the world - from glaciers that melt, ice caps that disappear and corals that bleach.

Bangladesh : Mainstreaming leprosy-affected people a big challenge (PRIV)
(IPS, Dhaka)
When Feroza Begum was first diagnosed with leprosy in 2006, it felt as though she had been struck by a thunderbolt due to the deep-seated prejudice in her society that the disease is a curse from Allah (God).