Agriculture : Talks adjourned till 18 April, key issues unresolved (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
An informal meeting of the Special Session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture that took place on Tuesday was adjourned until Friday afternoon, with the Chair of the negotiations saying that he was making use of the break to allow members to continue to work on resolving their differences on the issues of sensitive products, and tropical and preference products.

Trade : North-South gaps still evident at final NAMA meeting (PRIV)
(Martin Khor, Geneva)
Gaps in positions among WTO members, mainly along North-South lines, were still evident at the final meeting of the NAMA (non-agricultural market access) negotiating group before the issuing of the next modalities text.

Agriculture : Overhaul of agriculture systems needed, says new report (PRIV)
(Lim Li Ching, Kuala Lumpur)
An independent and multi-stakeholder international assessment of agriculture has concluded that a radical change is needed in agriculture policy and practice, in order to address hunger and poverty, social inequities and environmental sustainability questions.

Iran : Tough new sanctions could backfire, experts warn (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
In the more than five years since the George W. Bush administration's misdirected adventurism in Iraq, the fundamental balance of power in the Middle East has shifted.