Trade: Plurilateral ties complicate New Zealand envoy's role as GC chair (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
As the new chair of the World Trade Organization's General Council (GC), Ambassador Clare Kelly of New Zealand, steps up consultations on the ongoing multilateral deadlock over the e-commerce moratorium and work program, the fact that her own country is a member of two controversial and ostensibly WTO-illegal plurilateral initiatives could raise conflict-of-interest concerns, according to people familiar with the development.

UN: Afghanistan sliding deeper into crisis amid mass returns, aid cuts (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
Poverty continues to worsen in Afghanistan, with three in four people - around 28 million Afghans - unable to meet their basic needs in 2025, as modest economic growth is being overwhelmed by rapid population growth, declining international aid, intensifying climate shocks, and continued restrictions on women's rights.

Syria: Funding shortfall forces WFP to cut food aid, end bread subsidy (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
Critical funding shortfalls are forcing the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to sharply curtail its operations in Syria, reducing emergency food assistance by 50 percent - from 1.3 million to 650,000 people - in May.