Trade : Price-based, simple-to-use SSM indispensable, asserts G33 (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The price-based Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) "is an indispensable trade remedy instrument" for most developing countries, and one that must be simple to use and be effective "for ensuring food security, livelihood security, and rural development of the millions of farmers, mostly small and marginal, in the developing world," the Group of 33 (G33) asserted in a paper circulated on Thursday at the World Trade Organization.

United Nations : CBD key tool in conserving ecosystems (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
In a bid to pressure policymakers to take urgent action to implement a major United Nations treaty on the preservation of plant and animal species, the world body has launched a global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity.

United Nations : Goals on education under widespread attack (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The relentless attacks on educational institutions in war zones - along with growing threats against academics, teachers and school-going children - have jeopardised one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - education for all by 2015.

Afghanistan : Taliban regime pressed bin Laden on anti-US terror (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
Evidence now available from various sources, including recently declassified US State Department documents, shows that the Taliban regime led by Mullah Mohammad Omar imposed strict isolation on Osama bin Laden after 1998 to prevent him from carrying out any plots against the United States.

Singapore : Migrant workers' families face uncertainty ahead (PRIV)
(IPS, Singapore)
Instead of spending weekends at shopping malls in this bustling city-state, Rod Luacan and his family now keep themselves busy with activities in church on Sundays.