Trade: Doha Round "legacy issues" can't be ignored in favour of new issues (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The legacy issues of the Doha Round cannot be ignored in the push for starting negotiations on the new issues (such as investment facilitation and binding rules on e-commerce), and the WTO members must decide "by consensus" that the Round has been concluded, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry, said on 18 July.

Trade: India optimistic over course-correction for Buenos Aires MC11 (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The Indian commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (19 July) expressed "optimism" about finalizing two-thirds of the work on the proposed deliverables for the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting by the time when an informal trade ministerial summit takes place in Marrakech by mid-October.

United Nations: Educating children one radio wave at a time (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Nigeria's conflict has displaced more than a million children, leaving them without access to education. However, an innovative radio program aims to transform this bleak scenario.

United Nations: WHO urges governments to raise taxes on tobacco (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Seven million people die each year from tobacco-related causes, according to a new report published by the World Health Organisation on 19 July.