Trade: Process to address AB crisis kicks off, facilitator appointed (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
An informal meeting of the WTO General Council on Thursday saw General Council Chair Ambassador Junichi Ihara of Japan kicking off a process of targeted discussions for resolving the curre nt crisis in the WTO's Appellate Body (AB).

Rights: Survey on UN sexual abuse shifts focus on virtual fugitives from ju stice (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
A survey of sexual harassment at the United Nations has uncomfortably shifted the focus to some of the senior UN officials who have either escaped censure - or punishment - despite a rash of charges against them, including abuse and misconduct.

Mexico: Climate change threatens Atlantic coast (PRIV)
(IPS, Mexico City)
"I couldn't plant my cornfield in May, because it rained too early. I lost everything," lamented Marcos Cante, an indigenous farmer, as he recounted the ravages that climate change is wreak ing on this municipality on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Opinion: Why we should care about vulnerable coastal communities (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
According to UN statistics, approximatel y 40 per cent of the world's population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast , and overall the world's coastal population is increasing faster than the total global population.