Trade : Agriculture talks push ahead, plans for May 19 mini-Ministerial (PRIV)
(Martin Khor, Geneva)
Agriculture negotiations in the small-group Room E format have been going ahead this week, under time pressure for a second revised draft on modalities to be produced in time for a planned "Mini-Ministerial" meeting in the week starting 19 May.

Trade : Bush faces uphill battle on Colombia trade pact (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
As US President George W. Bush Tuesday formally submitted his free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia to Congress, most analysts agreed that the White House faces a tough, uphill fight to get it approved, particularly in the House of Representatives.

Colombia : Fight over trade deal is on (PRIV)
(IPS, Bogota)
Although the Democratic Party has made it clear that it will oppose the free trade agreement with Colombia, President George W. Bush sent the trade deal Tuesday to the US Congress, which now has 90 working days to vote on it.

Iran : Public sees reduced US threat (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
While still distrustful of US intentions, the Iranian public believes that the threat posed by Washington has diminished over the past year and favours increased exchanges between the two countries, including direct talks on stabilising Iraq and other issues, according to a major new survey released here on 7 April by WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO).

Europe : "Closer than ever" to Israel, regardless (PRIV)
(IPS, Brussels)
Israel has been described as "closer to the European Union than ever before" by a leading Brussels official, even though a new EU report laments the ongoing killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

Environment : European mountain top vanishes (PRIV)
(IPS, Berlin)
The peak of the Stubai Mountains in the Austrian Alps has vanished. It was around a couple of months back, but since then no one can say exactly when it disappeared.