Trade : US continues to block appointment of new AB members (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The United States has again blocked a joint proposal by 120 WTO members calling for the start of the selection process to fill six vacancies on the seven-member Appellate Body (AB).

UN : Investor-State dispute settlement "reform" discussions at UNCITRAL (PRIV)
(Kinda Mohamadieh, Geneva)
The UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III held its resumed 38th session between 20 and 24 January in Vienna to discuss reform of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

UN : China ranked world's second largest arms producer trailing behind US (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Donald Trump, the vociferously unpredictable US president, has long chastised China for seeking "unfair" advantage over trade and tariffs, violating intellectual property rights and "manipulating" the country's currency to its advantage.

Africa : Nations caught in conflict re-commit to inclusive education (PRIV)
(IPS, Djibouti City)
Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh knows that his country is in need of an education system that is "innovative, based on universal principles and values and adaptive of the local realities".