Trade : JSI group on e-com discusses a "digital trade facilitation" agreement (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Members of the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) group on electronic commerce held a virtual meeting on 11 June to consider a "digital trade facilitation and logistics" agreement.

United Nations : The Sahel - "in every sense of the word a crisis" (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The combination of rife insecurity, food insecurity and more than 7.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance has left the Sahel a region in crisis, with the global coronavirus pandemic expected to exacerbate the situation.

Malawi : Cash transfer almost ready but election fever may prevent lockdown (PRIV)
(IPS, Blantyre)
Malawi remains one of the few nations in the world that has not gone into a coronavirus lockdown as the government rushes to meet the conditions of a court order to implement a cash transfer scheme for the poor before doing so.

Argentina : Solar power fills gaps in under-serviced rural areas (PRIV)
(IPS, Buenos Aires)
Rice farmers in the Argentine province of Entre Rios often look like mechanics.