Trade : Lamy, UN rights expert in row over food security (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
A squabble broke out between World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, on the sidelines of the eighth WTO Ministerial Conference, which concluded on 17 December.

Health : MNC patent monopoly and takeover of generics in India (PRIV)
(K. M. Gopakumar, New Delhi)
A new study reveals that multinational pharmaceutical companies are exploiting their product monopoly to charge high prices under India's product patent law as well as gradually taking over the domestic generic sector.

Finance : Argentina shows world how to beat the crisis (PRIV)
(IPS, Buenos Aires)
What is happening in the European Union and the United States today happened a decade ago in Argentina, when it was a hotbed of protest and the streets of major cities were seething with people telling their leaders they had had enough. And then a new story began to be written.

Iraq : How Maliki and Iran outsmarted the US on troop withdrawal (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's suggestion that the end of the US troop presence in Iraq is part of a US military success story ignores the fact that the George W. Bush administration and the US military had planned to maintain a semi-permanent military presence in Iraq.

United States : Greater oversight urged for human trials in research (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
The current US system for protecting the subjects of federally funded medical research, both in the US and around the world, has room for significant improvements, a presidential bio-ethics panel concluded late last week.

Note to Readers : Holiday Notice (PRIV)
(, )
In view of the year-end recess in most UN activities and to enable the staff to have some rest, SUNS will not be published during the holiday period. The next issue #7287 will appear on 16 January. We wish all our readers best wishes for the season and a Happy New Year.